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Rays Add Luke Bard To 40-Man Roster

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The Rays have added reliever Luke Bard to their 40-man roster, tweets Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. He won’t be heading to the big leagues immediately, though, as the team is keeping him on optional assignment to Triple-A Durham. Tampa Bay transferred Chris Mazza from the 10-day to the 60-day injured list to open space on the 40-man roster.

It’s atypical for a team to add a player to the 40-man without an immediate big league promotion, but a contractual nuance explains the decision. Bard signed a minor league deal in Spring Training, and Topkin notes that agreement came with an opt-out provision around this time. Bard either had triggered or was set to trigger the opt-out, leaving the Rays to decide whether to add him to the 40-man or grant him his release.

That Tampa Bay took the former route suggests they see him as a viable MLB relief candidate, even if he’s not headed to the majors at the moment. Bard has surrendered three home runs in only 8 2/3 innings with Durham, but he has nine strikeouts and has only issued two walks. The front office obviously believes the home run issue is a small sample blip, and Bard could soon get back to the majors for the first time since 2020.

The 31-year-old righty (the younger brother of Rockies closer Daniel Bard) has appeared in parts of three MLB seasons. That stint came with the Angels from 2018-20, with the majority of his workload coming in the middle year. Bard tallied 66 innings over 46 outings, posting a 5.05 ERA. He was a bit homer-prone in his MLB time as well, but he generated swinging strikes at a decent 12% clip and only walked 6.5% of batters faced. Bard missed all of last season recovering from right hip surgery and was outrighted off the Angels’ 40-man roster last October.

Mazza also signed a minors pact with Tampa Bay over the offseason. He broke camp with the MLB team but made just two appearances before landing on the injured list, retroactive to April 18, due to lower back spasms. Today’s transfer means he can’t return for sixty days from the date of his original placement, so he’ll be out until at least late June recovering.

The 32-year-old Mazza recently progressed to throwing live batting practice, as team broadcaster Neil Solondz tweeted yesterday. That seems to indicate he won’t be out for too much longer, but he was certain to require a minor league rehab assignment anyhow. He can embark on that assignment to get back into game shape before becoming eligible to return to the club. Rehab assignments for pitchers can last for as long as 30 days.

Rays Claim Ralph Garza, Select Chris Mazza

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The Rays have claimed reliever Ralph Garza off waivers from the Red Sox, tweets Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. They’ve also selected reliever Chris Mazza onto the Opening Day roster. To create 40-man roster space, Brendan McKay and Pete Fairbanks have been placed on the 60-day injured list.

Boston claimed Garza off waivers themselves a couple weeks ago, but their subsequent attempt to pass him through waivers came up empty. The 28-year-old made his big league debut last season, splitting the year between the Astros and Twins. He tossed 30 1/3 innings over 27 outings, pitching to a 3.56 ERA despite slightly worse than average strikeout and walk rates (22.8% and 11%, respectively).

Garza still has a pair of minor league option years remaining, and the Rays have already sent him to Triple-A Durham. He’ll serve as a depth option for a bullpen that now includes Mazza. The 32-year-old pitched in 14 games for Tampa Bay last season, posting a 4.61 ERA. He only punched out 18.8% of opponents, but he dished out walks at just a 6.3% clip. The Rays outrighted Mazza but brought him back on a minor league deal this winter, and he’ll again crack the big league roster.

McKay has been plagued by injuries for the past few years. He’s made just seven minor league appearances since 2019, as he required shoulder surgery in 2020 and suffered a forearm strain last year. McKay underwent thoracic outlet surgery last November. That wasn’t expected to affect his readiness for this season, but he’s apparently not recovered and will be out of action until at least early June again. Fairbanks has a partially torn lat and might not pitch until after the All-Star Break.

Jon Heyman of the MLB Network reported Mazza’s forthcoming promotion this morning.

Rays Re-Sign Chris Mazza

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The Rays have re-signed Chris Mazza, the righty announced on Twitter. With big league transactions frozen, it’s no doubt a minors pact. Mazza was eligible to sign after being outrighted and electing minor league free agency in early November.

Tampa Bay acquired Mazza from the Red Sox over the 2020-21 offseason. The 32-year-old went on to make 14 appearances with the Rays, tossing 27 1/3 frames as a multi-inning relief option. Mazza was a reliable strike-thrower but not an overpowering bullpen arm, posting below-average strikeout and ground-ball numbers. He worked to a 4.61 ERA in the majors but had a more impressive 3.16 mark in 37 frames with Triple-A Durham.

It was the third straight season logging big league time for Mazza, originally a 27th-round draft choice of the Twins. He broke into the bigs with the Mets in 2019, then spent 2020 with Boston. Over his three seasons, the California native owns a 4.89 ERA/4.73 SIERA across 73 2/3 innings. Mazza is out of minor league option years, so if he pitches his way onto the Rays 40-man roster in Spring Training, he’ll need to remain on the active roster or be exposed to waivers.

Phillies Claim Ryan Sherriff From Rays

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The Phillies have claimed left-hander Ryan Sherriff off waivers from the Rays, per a club announcement. Should he stick around, Sherriff will look to help solidify a leaky Phillies ’pen that pitched to a 4.60 ERA (sixth-worst in the bigs) and 4.61 FIP (fourth-worst) in 2021. Sherriff posted a mediocre 5.52 ERA across 14 2/3 innings (16 appearances) this year, albeit with 16 Ks and a 3.65 FIP that suggest he may have suffered from a bit of bad luck. For his career, the lefty has been good for a 3.65 ERA (3.98 FIP) in 44 1/3 innings.

Originally a 2011 28th-rounder of the Cardinals, Sherriff debuted in the majors in 2017, making 18 relief appearances in St. Louis before undergoing Tommy John surgery in the middle of the 2018 season. The Cards released him shortly thereafter, and he landed in Tampa on a minor-league pact shortly thereafter. He didn’t get back to the bigs until midway through the pandemic-shortened 2020 season but put up by far the best numbers of his career when he did, not giving up a single earned run in 9 2/3 innings — albeit while striking out only 2. He also covered two scoreless innings for the Rays in the 2020 World Series.

Though he made the opening day roster, Sherriff spent the season on the Triple-A shuttle, covering nearly twice as many innings for Durham as he did for Tampa. With just over a year in aggregate service time, Sherriff comes with considerable control and could become a mainstay for the Phils if he manages to establish himself in Philadelphia. How he’ll be asked to slot in remains to be seen, but sticking around in the Phillies’ notoriously leaky bullpen should prove a much easier task than it had been at the back end of Tampa’s stable of high-end arms.

Tampa Bay has also outrighted right-handers Oliver Drake, DJ Johnson and Chris Mazza in addition to lefty Cody Reed. All four of Drake, Johnson, Mazza and Reed will become free agents.

Rays Recall Chris Mazza, Option Louis Head

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We still have two days left in the regular season, so the Rays roster churn continues. Chris Mazza has been recalled from Triple-A, while Louis Head has been optioned, though he’ll remain on-hand as part of the taxi squad, per the team.

Head is no stranger to the taxi squad. The 31-year-old has put together a solid rookie season with a 2.31 ERA/3.11 FIP in 35 innings of work. Head has a 23.9 percent strikeout rate, enviable 6.7 percent walk rate, and 31.1 percent groundball rate. Despite keeping the ball in the air, he’s limited long balls to just a 1.5 percent home run rate.

Mazza will be available out of the bullpen for these final two regular season games. Mazza, also 31, has appeared in 13 games for the Rays, pitching to a 4.97 ERA/4.35 FIP across 25 1/3 innings.

Rays Select David Hess

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The Rays have selected the contract of right-hander David Hess, per a team announcement. Left-hander Dietrich Enns was optioned to Triple-A in a corresponding move. Hess is joining the Rays’ big league roster for the second time this season. Tampa Bay doesn’t need to make a corresponding roster move due to the fact that righty Chris Mazza is on the Covid-19-related injured list in Triple-A, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times points out (Twitter link).

Hess, 28, has bounced back and forth between the two Florida clubs so far in 2021. He inked a minor league pact with the Rays in the offseason and, after a very strong start to the year in Triple-A, was traded to the Marlins and plugged into their big league bullpen. Miami cut him loose a few weeks later, and he quickly returned to the Rays on another minor league deal. He’s since been selected back to the MLB roster, designated for assignment and outrighted before now being selected back to the Majors.

It’s been a rather tumultuous year, transactions-wise, for the former Orioles right-hander. In terms of performance, Hess has pitched quite well in Triple-A, where he carries a 3.28 ERA with very strong strikeout and walk percentages (27.2 and 5.4, respectively) in 35 2/3 frames. He’s been tagged for 16 runs in 18 MLB frames this year, although seven of those came in one brutal inning for the Marlins at Coors Field. Despite signing a pair of minor league deals with Tampa Bay and already being selected to the MLB roster once this year, Hess still hasn’t thrown a pitch in the Majors as a member of the Rays, so he’ll be making his team debut if he gets into a game this time around.

David Hess To Rejoin Rays

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The Rays are bringing David Hess back into the fold, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (via Cathy Peek McEwen). In a corresponding move, Chris Mazza has been optioned to Triple-A, per Rays’ host Neil Solondz (via Twitter).

Hess was traded from the Rays to the Marlins earlier this season. After 14 appearances covering 18 innings with a 8.00 ERA, the Marlins designated him for assignment and he elected free agency. Hess will presumably join the Rays bullpen in the near future.

The 28-year-old Hess spent seven seasons in the Orioles organization after being selected in the fifth round of the 2014 draft. He debuted with Baltimore in 2018 and was an up-and-down member of their staff over the next three seasons, pitching to a 5.86 ERA through 190 1/3 innings.

COVID Notes: 6/16/21

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Here are the latest updates on coronavirus-related situations around baseball…

Latest Updates

  • The Astros are placing outfielder Kyle Tucker on the COVID-19 IL, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle was among those to relay. Tucker has missed the past two games as he’s been feeling under the weather. Infielder Abraham Toro is up from Triple-A Sugar Land to take his active roster spot. [UPDATE: General Manager James Click told reporters (including Mark Berman of Fox 26) Tucker has been placed on the IL because he developed COVID-like symptoms. The team hopes “it’s a short-term” absence.]

Earlier Notes

  • The Rays placed right-hander Collin McHugh on the COVID-related injury list, and called up right-hander Chris Mazza from Triple-A to take McHugh’s spot on the active roster.  McHugh is receiving rapid testing after feeling sick this morning, manager Kevin Cash told The Tampa Bay Times’ Marc Topkin and other reporters, so the COVID-IL placement is precautionary.  After missing the 2020 season with injuries, McHugh has rebounded to post a 2.70 ERA/2.38 SIERA over 23 1/3 innings for the Rays this year, with an elite 37.1% strikeout rate and an above-average 7.2% walk rate. [UPDATE: McHugh has tested negative for the virus and is feeling a bit better, manager Kevin Cash told reporters (including Topkin).]

Rays Promote Taylor Walls, Claim Deivy Grullon From Mets

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The Rays have officially promoted infield prospect Taylor Walls, as was originally reported yesterday in the aftermath of the club’s four-player trade with the Brewers.

This is one of multiple transactions for the Rays, as Tampa also claimed catcher Deivy Grullon off waivers from the Mets, then optioned Grullon and the newly-acquired Drew Rasmussen to Triple-A.  Right-hander Chris Mazza was also sent to Triple-A after being activated off the 10-day injured list.  Left-hander Cody Reed was moved to the 60-day injured list to open up a 40-man roster spot.

With Willy Adames off to Milwaukee, the Rays addressed their shortstop vacancy not by calling up uber-prospect Wander Franco, but rather yet another well-regarded Tampa Bay farmhand in Walls.  Defensively, Walls has long been big league-ready, as he is considered a plus defender at shortstop and “widely considered the best defensive player at any position in the Rays’ Minor League system,” as per MLB Pipeline’s scouting report.  Walls has also stolen 66 bases (though in 99 attempts) during his minor league career and hit .327/.468/.490 over 62 Triple-A plate appearances this season.

This is the fifth time Grullon has been claimed off waivers since September 2020, and the second time Tampa Bay has claimed him in as many months.  After initially taking Grullon from the Reds in early April, the catcher was again DFA’ed later in the month and claimed by the Mets.  Through it all, Grullon has yet to appear in any Major League games in 2021, but he’ll now head to Triple-A as a depth option.

Shoulder inflammation cost Mazza just under a month of action.  The righty posted an 8.49 ERA over his first 11 2/3 innings with the Rays, after being acquired from the Red Sox in the February trade that also brought Jeffrey Springs to Tampa.

Reed only went to the 10-day IL on Wednesday, marking the second time this season that Reed has been sidelined by a numbness/weakness issue in his left thumb.  Manager Kevin Cash told Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times and other reporters that Reed has yet to see a specialist about the problem, though it’s probably safe to assume that next step is coming soon.  The left-hander has a 3.72 ERA over 9 2/3 relief innings for the Rays this season.

Rays Make Several Roster Moves

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TODAY: Patino has been officially called up from the taxi squad, the Rays announced.

APRIL 24: The Rays made a quartet of roster moves, including the activation of right-hander Diego Castillo from the COVID-related injury list.  Catcher Deivy Grullon was designated for assignment in a corresponding move to open up a 40-man roster spot, while right-hander Chris Mazza has been placed on the regular 10-day IL due to shoulder inflammation.  Luis Patino has also been added to Tampa Bay’s taxi squad, and is expected to join the active roster tomorrow.  (MLB.com’s Adam Berry was among those to report the news.)

Patino is expected to make his Rays debut Sunday, pitching in some type of piggyback capacity along with scheduled starter Josh Fleming, who told Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times that he isn’t yet sure how the Rays will deploy the combination of Fleming’s relatively soft-tossing arsenal along with Patino’s high-powered fastball.

Patino was the centerpiece of the four-player package sent by the Padres to Tampa Bay last offseason in exchange for Blake Snell.  For a controlled and affordable former Cy Young Award winner, San Diego had to pay a hefty price, and this mean parting ways with one of the sport’s top pitching prospects in Patino.  The 21-year-old righty has had some issues with his command, though his fastball and slider are already considered plus pitches and his changeup isn’t behind, according to MLB Pipeline’s scouting report.  Patino made his Major League debut last season, tossing 17 1/3 innings in the regular season for the Padres (with a 5.19 ERA, 21 strikeouts, and a troubling 14 walks) and then 2 2/3 more frames in the postseason.

Castillo returns after just a one-day stint on the COVID-IL.  Castillo has already recorded four saves in his role as Tampa Bay’s top choice at closer, along with a 2.79 ERA and 33.3% strikeout rate over 9 2/3 innings.

Mazza has an ugly 8.49 ERA over six outings this season, mostly generated during two rough appearances against the Rangers and Red Sox that saw him allow a combined 10 runs over 5 2/3 innings.  Mazza looked better in last night’s game against the Blue Jays, allowing only a single hit in three shutout innings of relief.

After being claimed off waivers from the Reds in early April, Grullon could find himself on the move again without seeing any big league action in a Rays uniform.  Grullon appeared in four games with the Phillies in 2019 and one game with the Red Sox last season, before Cincinnati claimed him away from Boston in December.  Grullon has a .253/.305/.405 slash line and 70 home runs over 2387 career minor league plate appearances in Philadelphia’s system.

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