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Rays Reinstate Brooks Raley, Ryan Thompson, Transfer J.P. Feyereisen To 60-Day IL

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The Rays made a flurry of moves this afternoon following a weekend series in Toronto, reinstating left-hander Brooks Raley and right-hander Ryan Thompson from the restricted list and returning righties Phoenix Sanders and Javy Guerra to Triple-A Durham. Raley and Thompson were not allowed to enter Canada due to their vaccination status but will rejoin the team for tonight’s opener of a three-game series in Boston.

The team also recalled left-hander Josh Fleming and optioned right-hander Cristofer Ogando to clear a spot on the active roster. To make room on the 40-man roster for the recently selected Ogando, the Rays transferred J.P. Feyereisen to the 60-day IL. The move pushes the return of the high-leverage righty — who’d logged 24 1/3 innings without allowing an earned run before hitting the IL in early June —  to early August at soonest.

The return of Raley and Thompson will come as something of a relief to a bullpen that covered 17 innings over the course of winning three of four in Toronto, including three innings by Sanders, one by Guerra, and two by Ogando (per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, manager Kevin Cash even joked that Raley and Thompson might go a combined 9 innings in their return). While Thompson has struggled to a 5.33 ERA (4.62 FIP) across 25 1/3 innings so far this season, the 34-year-old Raley has been something of a revelation in 2022, posting a sparkling 2.22 ERA (2.09 FIP) behind an elevated strikeout rate (31.7% against 27.2% for his career) and improved walk rate (7.9% against 8.6%).

Rays Announce Several Roster Moves

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The Rays have selected the contract of right-hander Javy Guerra and recalled righty Phoenix Sanders from Triple-A Durham, per a team announcement. They’ll take the roster spots of left-hander Brooks Raley and righty Ryan Thompson, who have been placed on the restricted list in advance of the Rays’ road series in Toronto.

Tampa Bay also announced that left-hander Jeffrey Springs, who had been slated to start tonight’s game in Toronto, has been scratched and placed on the family medical emergency list. Matt Wisler is instead serving as an opener tonight, and lefty Ryan Yarbrough has been recalled from Triple-A in his place. He’ll be an option to work the bulk of tonight’s innings behind Wisler.

This will be the second stint of the season for Guerra with the Rays. Once a top shortstop prospect with Boston, Guerra moved to the mound during his time in the Padres’ minor league system and has since had brief big league stints as a reliever with Friars and Rays. He pitched 7 1/3 innings for Tampa Bay earlier this season but was rocked for nine runs on 11 hits and four walks with four strikeouts during that brief spell.

Guerra, however, has been lights-out in Triple-A, where he owns a 1.29 ERA with a huge 32.1% strikeout rate against an 8.3% walk rate in 21 innings this season. Half the balls put in play against him have been grounders, and although Guerra served up three long balls in the Majors earlier this season, he’s yet to yield a round-tripper with Durham. While he’s being selected to the roster out of necessity at the moment, it’s hard to argue that he hasn’t earned another look anyhow with that standout performance.

The 27-year-old Sanders made his MLB debut with the Rays earlier this year and has pitched well both in the big leagues (1.80 ERA in 10 frames) and in Durham (3.38 ERA in 18 2/3 innings). The Rays’ 2017 tenth-round pick, Sanders only had his contract selected to the Majors this season, so he’s in the first of what can be three minor league option years for Tampa Bay.

Yarbrough, 30, was the Rays’ innings leader from 2019-21 but has seen his results trend in the wrong direction dating back to the 2021 season. He was optioned for the first time in three years earlier this season and has since pitched 19 innings of 4.74 ERA ball in Durham. He won’t have an easy task, returning to face a righty-heavy Blue Jays lineup at the hitter-friendly Rogers Centre, but an impressive showing could help him to pitch his way back into the big league plans.

Rays’ Ryan Thompson To Undergo Thoracic Outlet Surgery

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Rays reliever Ryan Thompson will undergo surgery to address thoracic outlet syndrome, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter link). That’ll officially end his 2021 season, although the team expects he’ll be ready for Opening Day 2022.

Thompson hasn’t made a big league appearance since June 27, when he landed on the injured list with what the team initially termed shoulder inflammation. He embarked upon a minor league rehab assignment in mid-August but apparently continued to deal with issues that’ll require surgical repair. He’s already on the 60-day injured list, so today’s development won’t affect the Rays’ roster situation.

Thoracic outlet syndrome has become increasingly commonplace in recent years, although the track record of pitchers recovering from the procedure remains mixed. A few hurlers (most prominently Matt Harvey and Thompson’s teammate Chris Archer) continued to deal with injuries and/or ineffectiveness upon returning from TOS surgery. That’s not a universal fate, though. Diamondbacks right-hander Merrill Kelly, for instance, underwent thoracic outlet surgery last September but returned to open this season in the Arizona rotation. Aside from a battle with COVID-19, Kelly has remained healthy all season and has settled back in at his general level of 2019-20 performance.

Thompson’s not a household name to many fans around the league, but he’s been part of an under-the-radar yet highly productive Rays’ relief corps. The sidearming righty made his big league debut last season and quickly emerged as one of Tampa Bay’s higher-leverage bullpen options. He owns a 3.28 ERA over 60 1/3 MLB innings with average or better strikeout (24.2%), walk (6.9%) and ground-ball (53.6%) numbers.

Rays To Recall David Robertson

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The Rays are planning to recall veteran reliever David Robertson to the big league roster before tomorrow evening’s game against the Red Sox, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter link). Active rosters expand from 26 to 28 players tomorrow, so no corresponding move is necessary.

It’ll be Robertson’s first big league action since April 2019. The veteran righty suffered a UCL tear that spring, eventually requiring a Tommy John surgery that wiped out both the rest of that season and his entire 2020 campaign. Robertson tossed a couple showcases over the offseason but ultimately didn’t sign over the winter.

Instead, Robertson was among the handful of longtime big leaguers to join the U.S. National team for this year’s Summer Olympics. He showed well enough there to land a major league contract with Tampa Bay, although he agreed to a temporary assignment to Triple-A Durham to build up arm strength. Robertson has been stellar with the Bulls, tossing six scoreless innings with twelve strikeouts and a lone walk issued.

While it has been almost three years since Robertson was healthy, he was one of the league’s most durable and productive relievers for much of his tenures with the Yankees and White Sox. The 36-year-old owns a 2.90 ERA over 663 2/3 big league innings, and he tossed 60+ innings with a sub-4.00 ERA in every season from 2010-18.

Anything resembling that level of production would be key for a Rays’ bullpen that has dealt with myriad health issues this season.  While Robertson will step in as an option for manager Kevin Cash, it seems Tampa Bay can’t count on immediate contributions from either Ryan Thompson or Oliver Drake.

Thompson, who has been out since June 30 with shoulder inflammation, continues to feel soreness and isn’t expected to begin throwing any time soon, manager Kevin Cash told Topkin. Drake, meanwhile, isn’t expected to pitch this season, according to Cash. Drake has been plagued by a flexor strain since last October; he was expected to begin a rehab assignment in July but apparently suffered some form of setback. Both players are already on the 60-day injured list.

Rays Select Dietrich Enns

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The Rays announced they’ve selected the contract of left-hander Dietrich Enns. Righty Chris Mazza was optioned to Triple-A Durham to open active roster space, while fellow righty Ryan Thompson was transferred from the 10-day to the 60-day injured list to clear a 40-man roster spot.

Tampa Bay signed Enns out of independent ball last August, and he’s now in line to make his team debut a little less than a year later. The 30-year-old has two career big league appearances under his belt, both of them with the 2017 Twins. He bounced between a couple affiliated organizations and independent teams before landing with the Rays.

Assigned to Triple-A Durham, Enns pitched his way back to the big leagues for the first time in four years with a very strong season. He’s made fourteen appearances (ten starts), totaling 59 innings of 2.44 ERA ball. Enns’ peripherals back up the elite run prevention, as he’s punched out a whopping 32.3% of batters faced against a tiny 6.5% walk rate. Those numbers are even more impressive when considered against the league’s hitter-friendly environment. Enns ranks 3rd in ERA, fourth in strikeout rate, and third in strikeout/walk rate differential among the 49 Triple-A East pitchers with 50+ innings pitched this season.

Thompson landed on the IL with right shoulder inflammation on June 30. He’ll miss at least sixty days from the date of that original placement, meaning he can’t return to the majors until the end of this month. The sidearming reliever has quietly worked to a 2.38 ERA/3.17 SIERA across 34 innings this season.

Rays Place Ryan Thompson On 10-Day Injured List, Recall Ryan Sherriff

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The Rays announced a pair of corresponding roster moves, with Ryan Thompson heading for the 10-day injured list because of right shoulder inflammation and Ryan Sherriff returning from Triple-A.

Thompson’s IL placement is retroactive to June 28th, the day after his last appearance. That outing was Thompson’s first in 36 appearances this year in which he allowed multiple earned runs. On the whole, the 29-year-old right-hander has been stellar with a 2.38 ERA/3.09 FIP in 34 innings.

The Rays are very familiar with Sherriff, who has been up and down the past two seasons, though with limited mound work. Including his four outings this season, Sherriff has 14 appearances covering 13 innings for Tampa since 2020. He allowed just one earned run on 11 hits and three walks while striking out five. Though he’s typically been unhittable against lefties, same-handed hitters have gone 3-for-6 with a walk against him this season.

Rays Announce Multiple Roster Moves

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The Rays announced several roster moves this morning (MLB.com’s Juan Toribio was among those to tweet the full list), including the news that Manuel Margot has been activated from the COVID-19 injury list.  The club also selected the contract of right-hander John Curtiss from its alternate training camp, and also called righty Ryan Thompson back up to the MLB roster.  To create room, Oliver Drake has been placed on the 10-day injured list with right biceps tendinitis, while left-hander Sean Gilmartin and catcher Kevan Smith have been designated for assignment.

Margot’s placement on the COVID list as a matter of procedure, as he was away from the club for personal reasons and had to undergo mandatory intake screening upon returning.  Thompson is also “back” with the team in pretty short order, as he started yesterday’s game against the Yankees and was then optioned to the minor league training grounds.  Continuing the trend of rapid-fire Rays transactions, Gilmartin’s contract was only selected two days ago, and he recorded one appearance of 3 1/3 innings (giving up three runs in an 8-4 loss to the Yankees in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader) before being sent into DFA limbo.

Smith was also a pretty new entry to the roster, as the Rays selected his contract back on July 30.  Manager Kevin Cash told reporters (including Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times) that the Rays would ideally like to retain both Gilmartin and Smith if they aren’t claimed on waivers by another team.

Drake pitched the final inning of the first game of yesterday’s doubleheader, and now has a 3.38 ERA in 5 1/3 innings this season.  The well-traveled Drake has seemingly found some stability in Tampa Bay, with a 3.23 ERA, 3.36 K/BB rate, and 10.9 K/9 over 61 1/3 relief innings since the Rays acquired him prior to the 2019 season.

Curtiss signed a minor league deal with Tampa during the offseason and is now on pace to appear in his fourth big league season.  The right-hander has a 6.75 ERA over 17 1/3 career innings scattered across the 2017-19 seasons, as a member of the Twins and Angels.  Curtiss was also briefly in the Phillies organization last season but didn’t receive any MLB playing time.

Rays To Select Contract Of Ryan Thompson

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11:03am: Southpaw Aaron Loup will also be selected to the 40-man and added to the Opening Day roster, the club has announced. He had been in camp on a minor-league deal.

8:09am: The Rays have decided to carry sidearmer Ryan Thompson on the Opening Day roster, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports. He’ll be selected to the 40-man roster today.

It’ll certainly be interesting to see whether Thompson can carve out a MLB career after an impressive showing during this year’s two training periods. The former minor-league Rule 5er will finally get his first shot after first reaching the upper minors in 2016.

Thompson, 28, is said to deliver a low-nineties heater from an unusually low angle. It’s “pretty, pretty nasty” stuff, according to skipper Kevin Cash. Topkin goes on to discuss the final remaining roster calls facing the Rays, who’ll have to make formal decisions today.

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