Rays’ Taj Bradley To Open Season On Injured List
Rays right-hander Taj Bradley, who underwent an MRI after being scratched from yesterday’s spring start, will open the season on the 15-day injured list after being diagnosed with a pectoral strain, manager Kevin Cash announced this morning (X links via Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times). Bradley will be shut down from throwing entirely for “at least” the next two weeks and will be reevaluated at that point. Even in a best-case scenario where he’s cleared to resume throwing at that point, he’d need to build back up and go on a minor league rehab assignment before he’s an option to rejoin the big league rotation.
Bradley’s pec strain is the latest in a series of health troubles for a Rays rotation that is among the most talented in the sport but is also currently among the most injury-ravaged. He’ll join Shane McClanahan (Tommy John surgery in August), Jeffrey Springs (Tommy John surgery in April) and Drew Rasmussen (internal brace surgery in July) on the injured list for a Tampa Bay club that is still awaiting the return of former top pitching prospect Shane Baz, who underwent his own Tommy John procedure in 2022.
On the surface, Bradley’s loss may not seem critical. The 22-year-old debuted to considerable fanfare in 2023 but turned in an uneven season, ultimately finishing the year with a 5.59 ERA in 104 2/3 big league frames. For a pitcher who entered the season widely considered among the sport’s top 50 to 75 overall prospects, it wasn’t the most exciting debut. Bradley had his share of strong performances but struggled more often than not in his first taste of the majors.
Despite the shaky bottom-line run prevention numbers, however, Bradley offered plenty of reason for optimism. His 28% strikeout rate is well north of the league average, while his 8.5% walk rate is solid. He averaged a strong 96.2 mph on his heater and posted slightly better-than-average marks in swinging-strike rate (11.3%) and opponents’ chase rate (32%). His primary issue last year, both in the big leagues and in Triple-A, was seeing an inordinate percentage of his fly-balls end up leaving the yard (19.2% in the majors, 23.1% in 10 Triple-A starts).
That hasn’t been an issue for Bradley at all in the past, however, even in his first run through the Triple-A level in 2022. Prior to the ’23 season, Bradley actually had posted a considerably lower-than-average HR/FB mark throughout his minor league career. Metrics like xFIP and SIERA, which normalize a pitcher’s HR/FB rate, viewed him in a far more favorable light (3.83 and 3.82, respectively). And with 142 1/3 innings pitched in 2023, Bradley was set to enter the 2024 season without any real limits on his workload. A breakout season seemed quite plausible.
Any such steps forward will be placed on hold indefinitely for the time being, which is a major setback for a Rays club that’s already uncharacteristically thin on rotation depth. Tampa Bay will enter the season with Zach Eflin, Aaron Civale and converted reliever Zack Littell in the top three spots of the rotation. Twenty-six-year-old Ryan Pepiot, acquired from the Dodgers in the Tyler Glasnow trade, will likely grab the No. 4 spot on the staff. He’s long been a touted prospect himself and carries excellent results in the majors to date, but injuries have regularly limited him as well. He opened 2023 on the 60-day IL with a Grade 2 oblique strain and pitched just 64 2/3 frames overall.
Rotation alternatives in camp include Jacob Lopez, Tyler Alexander and Chris Devenski, all of whom are on the 40-man roster. Alexander has started games for the Tigers in the past and had been ticketed for a swingman role with Tampa Bay, but he could conceivably get a look early in ’24 now. He and Devenski were both being stretched out to handle at least three innings at a time in camp anyhow, and either could be pushed beyond that point.
In terms of non-roster players, former NPB starter Naoyuki Uwasawa and prospect Mason Montgomery are the most interesting candidate names in the group. Uwasawa, 30, has a career 3.19 ERA in nine NPB seasons and tossed 170 innings of 2.96 ERA ball for the Nippon-Ham Fighters in 2023, but he’s a soft-tosser with sub-par strikeout rates even in Japan. He’s been rocked for 13 runs in just 5 2/3 innings in spring training thus far. Montgomery, meanwhile, has just 16 innings above the Double-A level under his belt and has been tagged for three runs in his 4 1/3 spring frames.
Cash indicated that the Rays will consider several in-house options to replace Bradley in the rotation, though another injury on an already thinly stretched pitching staff will undoubtedly lead to both speculation and some internal discussions about adding from outside the organization. The Rays’ projected $99MM Opening Day payroll (via RosterResource), somewhat incredibly, is already a franchise-record for the club. That casts doubt on whether they’d even be able to bring in one of the second-tier remaining arms in free agency, such as Michael Lorenzen or Mike Clevinger.
That said, there will also be several veteran arms on minor league deals elsewhere in the league who’ll likely opt out in the latter stages of camp, plus a slew of pitchers made available via DFA and waivers as other clubs set their Opening Day rosters. It wouldn’t be terribly surprising to see the Rays add some extra depth in some form between now and Opening Day, particularly if they begin to get the sense that Bradley’s injury will require a longer shutdown period than that best-case outlook of two weeks.
Taj Bradley To Undergo MRI Due To Pectoral Tightness
Right-hander Taj Bradley was scheduled to start today’s Grapefruit League contest for the Rays but was a late scratch. The righty is dealing with pectoral tightness and will get an MRI, per Kristie Ackert of the Tampa Bay Times (X links).
At this point, it’s unclear if the club considers the issue to be severe or if scratching Bradley was more precautionary, but the MRI suggests at least some level of concern. For the time being, it will likely be a source of worry for the club and its fans, especially with the precarious nature of the club’s rotation depth.
Last year, each of Jeffrey Springs, Drew Rasmussen and Shane McClanahan underwent a UCL surgery of some kind. McClanahan is likely to miss the entire 2024 season while Rasmussen and Springs are likely looking at midseason returns. In addition to those injuries, the club also flipped Tyler Glasnow to the Dodgers in a cost-cutting move.
Coming into 2024, the Tampa rotation projects as Zach Eflin, Aaron Civale, Zack Littell, Ryan Pepiot and Bradley, with plenty of question marks in that group. Eflin made 31 starts last year but has battled persistent knee issues in his career and 2023 was just his second time getting over 130 innings in a season. Civale has dealt with various ailments, including shoulder, forearm and wrist injuries, having never hit 125 frames in any big league season of his career. Littell has primarily been a reliever and was only moved to a rotation gig by the Rays last year. Pepiot, acquired in the Glasnow deal, has been a notable prospect but has less than 80 big league innings to his name. His 127 2/3 innings in 2022, between the majors and minors, are his personal high.
Bradley came into 2023 as one of the club’s better prospects but didn’t hit the ground running in the big leagues. He posted a 5.59 earned run average in 104 2/3 frames last year, despite strong strikeout and walk rates of 28% and 8.5%, respectively. He may have been hampered by a 67.7% strand rate but his 23 home runs allowed on the season also may have played a role in that. ERA estimators remained fairly bullish that he deserved better than his bottom line results, as he had a 4.79 FIP and 3.82 SIERA last year.
Regardless of how one interprets last year’s results, Bradley clearly came into camp as a key part of the rotation mix. With the absences of McClanahan, Rasmussen and Springs and the general uncertainty around the healthy options, Bradley was clearly going to be in the plans in Tampa.
If he ends up needing to miss any time, the club will have to dig even further into its starting depth. Shane Baz is on the roster but will be facing workload limitations this year after he missed all of 2023 recovering from Tommy John surgery. Japanese hurler Naoyuki Uwasawa is in camp on a minor league deal but there were concerns about his viability in the majors and he has allowed 13 earned runs in 5 2/3 spring innings thus far. Jacob Lopez is also on the 40-man but has just 12 1/3 innings of major league work thus far.
There’s a fair amount of precarity in that group overall and any further subtractions will only exacerbate the situation, so the club will surely be hoping that the MRI doesn’t find anything terribly concerning for Bradley’s health.
AL East Notes: Means, Bautista, Verdugo, Bradley
The Orioles have had a wildly successful 2023 campaign, with an 84-51 record that places them 2.5 games ahead of the Rays in a highly competitive AL East division. Despite that success, the club’s clear Achilles heel throughout the season has been the starting rotation, which has produced just 8.3 fWAR this year, 19th in the majors and only better than San Francisco among clubs currently in playoff position. While the club added right-hander Jack Flaherty at the trade deadline to bolster their staff, he’s struggled to a 6.41 ERA in 19 2/3 innings of work with Baltimore.
Given this, it should be a major relief to Orioles fans that left-hander John Means may be nearing a return to the big league club. MLB.com’s Jake Rill relays that manager Brandon Hyde indicated to reporters that Means will make another rehab start with Triple-A Norfolk but could be available to join the club’s big league rotation following that. Means, of course, hasn’t pitched since April 2022 after undergoing Tommy John surgery but sports a 3.72 ERA and 4.59 FIP in 353 1/3 innings of work since the start of his rookie campaign back in 2019. If the 30-year-old lefty can recapture his steady, mid-rotation performance from prior to his surgery in time for the postseason, he’ll surely be an asset to a rotation that figures to include right-handers Kyle Bradish, Grayson Rodriguez, and Kyle Gibson.
More from around the AL East…
- Sticking with the Orioles, closer Felix Bautista hit the injured list with “some degree of injury” to his UCL last week, though since then specifics regarding his situation have been sparse. Hyde provided an update regarding Bautista to reporters this afternoon, with Rill relaying that the club is waiting for inflammation in Bautista’s elbow to go down before deciding on next steps. While Bautista already underwent an MRI, Rill notes that more tests could be in the 28-year-old’s future as the club tries to determine the best course of action for their breakout relief ace.
- Red Sox outfielder Alex Verdugo exited today’s game against the Royals due to what the club termed as hamstring tightness. Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe caught up with Verdugo following the game and the 27-year-old downplayed the severity of the issue, suggesting that he “felt a little something” in his hamstring during the sixth inning and that it should be taken care of with a day or two of rest. Should Verdugo miss more time than that, the club has Wilyer Abreu, Cedanne Rafaela, and Rob Refsnyder as options to fill out the outfield alongside Adam Duvall and Masataka Yoshida.
- The Rays recalled rookie starter Taj Bradley today, with the 22-year-old hurler taking the place of the recently-injured Jason Adam on the active roster. Bradley’s first sixteen starts with Tampa were something of a mixed bag; while the youngster dazzled with a 30% strikeout rate against a 7.9% walk rate, his 5.67 ERA in 74 2/3 innings left a great deal to be desired in terms of both results and volume. Of course, it’s worth pointing out that Bradley’s BABIP allowed was the sixth-highest figure in the majors among pitchers with at least 70 innings of work this year, while his strand rate was tenth lowest. That combination indicates some degree of bad luck in Bradley’s results, though a whopping 17.3% of his fly balls leaving the yard for home runs serves as an indicator that not all of his struggles have been pure misfortune. Bradley will look to end his rookie campaign on a high note as a member of the rotation alongside Tyler Glasnow, Aaron Civale, Zach Eflin, and Zack Littell.
Rays Option Taj Bradley
The Rays are optioning right-hander Taj Bradley to Triple-A Durham, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter links). Reliever Ryan Thompson will be recalled to take his roster spot for now, though a spot will soon be required for Aaron Civale, having been acquired from the Guardians earlier today. The Rays have now announced the moves. The club also selected righty Erasmo Ramírez yesterday, optioning righty Calvin Faucher in a corresponding move.
Tampa has dealt with a number of injuries to its rotation this year, with Jeffrey Springs and Drew Rasmussen both out for the remainder of the season due to their injuries. Josh Fleming is also on the 60-day injured list and has an uncertain timeline. That has seen them roll with a rotation of Tyler Glasnow, Shane McClanahan, Zach Eflin and Bradley of late. Eflin recently required an MRI on his left knee, which was an ominous development given his history of knee issues, but he’s been cleared to start Tuesday.
Around that foursome, the Rays have been occasionally deploying some bullpen games, but they added Civale into the mix with a trade today. That could have still left room for Bradley to stick around, but it seems that Tampa would prefer to send him to Durham to get some work in there. He came into this season as one of the top prospects in the league but hasn’t quite made a smooth transition to the big leagues. He has allowed 5.67 earned runs per nine innings through 16 starts so far, though there seems to be a lot of bad luck in there. He’s striking out 30% of opponents while walking 7.9%, both of those numbers being better than league average, but his .342 batting average on balls in play and 64.8% strand rate and both on the unlucky side.
ERA estimators such as his 4.15 FIP and 3.53 SIERA paint a nicer picture of Bradley’s debut season thus far, but he will be bumped off the active roster nonetheless. This won’t impact him from a service time perspective, as he had already been optioned a few times earlier in the season and wasn’t going to get a full year of service time here in 2023 even before this move. With tomorrow’s trade deadline looming, there’s still a chance for the Rays to add another starter, with hurlers like Jack Flaherty, Michael Lorenzen and Eduardo Rodriguez just some of those thought to be available.
But for now, it seems the rotation spot will go to Zack Littell, as Topkin relays the righty will start on Friday. Littell had been working as a reliever earlier in the year but recently made some starts as an opener, with his workload gradually increasing. Seven of his last eight outings have been longer than a single inning and he tossed five frames in yesterday’s contest, allowing two earned runs on eight hits, striking out four while walking none.
He was a starter in the minors earlier in his career but has been a primary reliever since 2019. It’s unclear if the Rays plan on him moving to a starter’s role permanently, but it wouldn’t be the first time they went down this road. Both Springs and Rasmussen were working out of the bullpen before the Rays started stretching them out, successfully moving them both to rotation jobs before their current injuries. On the season as a whole, Littell has a 4.85 ERA in 29 2/3 innings, though with a .376 BABIP, 22.7% strikeout rate, 3.8% walk rate and 46.9% ground ball rate.
Ramírez, 33, signed a one-year deal with the Nationals in the offseason. But he posted a 6.33 ERA though 23 appearances and got released, landing with the Rays on a minor league deal. He worked a multi-inning role for the Bulls, tossing 23 innings over nine appearances with a 5.87 ERA. His .383 BABIP and 68% strand rate point to some bad luck while his peripherals were strong, with a 28.7% strikeout rate, 7.9% walk rate and 45.2% ground ball rate.
Rays Recall Taj Bradley, Plan To Keep Him In Rotation
The Rays announced this morning that they’ve recalled right-hander Taj Bradley from Triple-A Durham and optioned fellow righty Zack Burdi to Durham in his place. It’s already Bradley’s third recall of the season, but Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports that the top pitching prospect is expected to be installed in the rotation in a more permanent fashion moving forward. Manager Kevin Cash tells Topkin that the Rays “view him as one of our better options to go forward with.”
The 22-year-old Bradley, one of the most highly regarded pitching prospects in all of baseball, has made three starts in his debut campaign at the MLB level. In that time, he’s tossed 15 1/3 innings and held opponents to six runs (3.52 ERA) on 12 hits and two walks with an impressive 23 punchouts. He’s fanned 38.3% of his opponents against just a 3.3% walk rate in that tiny sample and averaged a hearty 96.4 mph on his heater.
Things haven’t been quite as rosy in the upper minors this season. Bradley made three starts following his most recent demotion and was tagged for an ugly 16 runs in nine innings during that stretch, although the bulk of the damage against him came in one nightmarish outing that saw Bradley yield eight runs in a single inning of work. That sour stretch won’t impact his chance to carve out a long-term spot in the team’s rotation, however.
Even if Bradley remains in the rotation from this point forth, he’ll finish out the season with 146 days of Major League service time, leaving him shy of a full year. A top-two finish in Rookie of the Year voting could still supersede that accrual of service time and award Bradley a full year of service, as agreed upon under the 2022-26 collective bargaining agreement. Failing that, he’s on track to reach Super Two status and be eligible for arbitration four times rather than the standard three — the first of which would fall after the 2025 season. As things currently stand, Bradley would be controllable through the 2029 season (again, pending Rookie of the Year voting or future optional assignments).
The Rays have one of the most talented pitching staffs in all of baseball but have been hit hard by injury, even dating back to the 2022 season, when prized prospect Shane Baz underwent Tommy John surgery. Early in the 2023 season, left-hander Jeffrey Springs looked to be taking his game to an even higher level after a breakout 2022 showing, but he made just three starts before requiring Tommy John surgery as well. The Rays also lost righty Drew Rasmussen to a forearm strain that’ll keep him out for at least two months.
Tyler Glasnow, meanwhile, missed the majority of the 2022 season while rehabbing from a Tommy John procedure and has yet to pitch in 2023 due to an oblique strain. He’s expected to return on May 26, per Topkin. That’d align Glasnow and Bradley in the rotation alongside Shane McClanahan, Zach Eflin and Josh Fleming, provided all can stay healthy.
Right-handers Yonny Chirinos and Cooper Criswell provide some depth beyond that group, but the swath of injuries is putting even the perennially pitching-rich Rays to the test. Another notable injury or two would leave the organization in a tougher spot. Tampa Bay has plenty of intriguing arms on the farm (e.g. Mason Montgomery, Cole Wilcox), but the majority of their most highly regarded pitchers beyond Bradley are a bit further down the ladder. Former top prospect Luis Patino has been moved from the rotation to the bullpen in Durham and struggled in both roles. The Rays have looked into stretching out righty Calvin Faucher, but his longest outing to date was 2 2/3 innings — back on April 15. He hasn’t pitched more than two innings in an appearance since. Of course, the team pioneered the usage of openers and is no stranger to bullpen games; that tactic is always an alternative, but does take a toll on the staff over a long term.
For now, the hope will be for Bradley to stabilize one spot on the starting staff and for Glasnow to return in roughly a week’s time. From a bigger-picture standpoint, Bradley will look to follow in McClanahan’s shoes as the next homegrown rotation star from a Rays organization that routinely churns out high-quality pitchers (both draftees and trade acquisitions alike).
AL East Notes: Rays, Orioles, Red Sox
Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times recently dug into the factors behind the Rays‘ decision to demote top pitching prospect Taj Bradley to Triple-A last week. Topkin notes that Bradley’s call to the majors came primarily due to the young right-hander being on full rest when starters were needed to sub in for Zach Eflin and Jeffrey Springs. With Eflin back in action and bulk arms Yonny Chirinos and Josh Fleming joining him, lefty Shane McClanahan and right-hander Drew Rasmussen as rotation options, Bradley was no longer needed to fill out the rotation in Tampa.
Despite Bradley’s strong trio of starts in the big leagues, where he posted a 3.52 ERA and 2.65 FIP over 15 1/3 innings of work, that left the Rays free to send Bradley back to the minors. Topkin highlights Bradley’s need to adjust to pitching every fifth day and maintain his velocity throughout the season as major factors in the decision, though he also notes that the Rays are hoping to avoid a situation similar to the one the Nationals had with Stephen Strasburg in 2012. That season, the club made the difficult decision to shut down their young ace ahead of the playoffs despite a 3.16 ERA in 28 starts, as the right-hander was on an innings limit following Tommy John surgery. Topkin notes that Bradley through 133 1/3 innings in 2022, and may be limited to 160 innings this season.
One other potential factor Topkin mentions is service time. By optioning Bradley, the Rays have assured themselves an additional season of team control over the 22-year-old, who now figures to be a free agent for the first time during the 2029-2030 offseason. That, of course, could change if Bradley finishes in the top two of Rookie of the Year voting this season, as he would be awarded a full year of service time in that case.
More from around the AL East…
- The Orioles today optioned infielder Joey Ortiz to Triple-A, recalling outfielder Kyle Stowers, per a team announcement. Ortiz, who was promoted to the big league club just this past Thursday, appeared in just three games for the Orioles during his first big league cup of coffee, recording two hits and striking out once in 8 at-bats. Stowers, meanwhile, impressed with a .253/.306/.418 slash line in 34 games at the big league level last season but did not record a hit in six at-bats with the big league club prior to being optioned to Triple-A during the second week of the season.
- The Red Sox expect to be without their closer for the next few days, as veteran Kenley Jansen noted to reporters (including Alex Speier of The Boston Globe) that he will be unavailable until at least Tuesday after pitching through back spasms in last night’s blown save against the Guardians. John Schreiber and Josh Winckowski have worked the late innings alongside Jansen in the early going this season, but with Chris Martin likely coming off the injured list today, the 36-year-old veteran may get the ninth inning while Jansen is down.
Rays Select Heath Hembree
The Rays made a series of roster moves today, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Right-hander Taj Bradley and infielder Vidal Bruján have been optioned to the minors, making room for outfielder Jose Siri to be activated from the injured list and right-hander Heath Hembree to have his contract selected. A spot for Hembree on the 40-man was already opened when the club designated righty Hector Perez for assignment on the weekend. Topkin adds that Perez has now cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Durham.
Hembree, 34, has appeared in the past 10 MLB seasons and will make it 11 in a row as soon as he gets into a game. He had many good seasons for the Red Sox earlier in his career, racking up double-digit holds in 2017 and 2018, but he’s gone into journeyman mode more recently. Since the start of the 2020 season, he’s suited up for the Red Sox, Phillies, Mets, Reds, Pirates and Dodgers. He registered a 6.64 ERA over those three seasons with an 11.1% walk rate but also struck out 27.3% of batters faced.
The Rays took a flier on him by signing him to a minor league deal in the offseason. He’s made eight appearances for the Bulls so far this year with a 1.29 ERA, though a 90.9% strand rate has surely helped him keep that down. He’s struck out 25% of batters faced thus far but walked 15.6%. He hasn’t been at his best over the past few years but the Rays have a knack for getting pitchers into peak form and will try to do that with Hembree.
The optioning of Bradley comes as a bit of a surprise because he’s been pitching well, registering a 3.52 ERA through three starts. Topkin and Kristie Ackert report that the move is more about transitioning him to the traditional five-day rotation of the majors, as he had previously been working on a six-day routine and the club didn’t want him to make the adjustment in the big leagues. Without Bradley, the Rays are down to a three-man rotation of Shane McClanahan, Zach Eflin and Drew Rasmussen. They are generally not afraid to do bullpen games, including multi-inning pitchers like Josh Fleming or Yonny Chirinos, though those guys could also make some traditional starts as well. Bradley will likely be back later in the season, once he’s properly made the workload switch.
Perez was selected to the roster on the weekend but designated for assignment a day later without getting into a game. That means his big league résumé still consists of just one game with the Blue Jays in 2020. Since he has a previous career outright, he had the right to reject another such move and elect free agency, but it seems he’ll stick with the Bulls and try to work his way back to the majors.
Jeffrey Springs Expected To Have Tommy John Surgery
Rays left-hander Jeffrey Springs is expected to have Tommy John surgery, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. That will put an end to his 2023 campaign and cause him to miss the start of the 2024 season as well. Earlier today, the club had placed him on the 15-day injured list with right-hander Taj Bradley recalled to take his place on the roster.
The news comes as a devastating blow to what had previously been a feel-good story. Springs, 30, was a 30th round draft pick of the Rangers and didn’t draw a lot of fanfare as a prospect. He got to the big leagues with Texas in 2018 and 2019, but posted an uninspiring 4.90 ERA through his first 64 1/3 innings. He was traded to the Red Sox but then put up a 7.08 ERA in the shortened 2020 season.
A trade to the Rays seemed to turn things around for him. He made 43 appearances in 2021 with a 3.43 ERA, 35.2% strikeout rate, 7.8% walk rate and 34.3% ground ball rate. Last year, the club gradually stretched him out to a starter’s workload over the course of the season. He eventually posted a 2.46 ERA in 135 1/3 innings, striking out 26.2% of batters faced while walking just 5.6% and getting grounders on 40.9% of balls in play. The Rays believed in that breakout enough to give the southpaw a four-year extension with a $31MM guarantee and plenty of incentives.
He was looking to build off that breakout campaign and was off to a strong start here in 2023. He had already tossed 16 innings with a tiny 0.56 ERA, though that will now seemingly go down as the entirety of his work this year. Rehab from Tommy John surgery typically takes 14 months or longer, meaning Springs won’t be an option for the club until midway through 2024 at the earliest.
The Rays had started the season with a strong rotation, even though there were a few injuries of note. Shane Baz had his own Tommy John surgery late last year and will likely miss all of the 2023 season. Tyler Glasnow also suffered an oblique strain in the spring and has yet to make his season debut. But Springs, Shane McClanahan, Drew Rasmussen, Zach Eflin and Josh Fleming formed a solid front five, helping the Rays jump out to a 13-0 start and a current 14-3 record.
Now the club will have to navigate the rest of the season without Springs. Eflin is also on the injured list but is expected to be back this weekend after a minimum stay. Bradley made his MLB debut in a spot start for the club last week and will now seemingly get a longer audition to stick around.
Rays Select Cooper Criswell
The Rays have selected the contract of right-hander Cooper Criswell from Triple-A Durham, per a team announcement. In a pair of corresponding moves to accommodate his promotion, right-hander Trevor Kelley was optioned to Triple-A while righty Shawn Armstrong was moved from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day injured list. The Rays also announced that top prospect Taj Bradley is on today’s taxi squad. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets that he’ll likely be added to the 26-man roster to start tomorrow’s game in Cincinnati.
Criswell, 26, made his big league debut with the Angels in 2021 but tossed just 1 1/3 innings, and he had a similarly brief run with the 2022 Rays, tossing 3 1/3 frames. He’s out to a fine start in Durham this year, with a 3.09 ERA and 10-to-1 K/BB ratio in 11 2/3 innings of work. The Rays are expected to use lefty Jalen Beeks as an opener in today’s contest, so Criswell will give Tampa Bay another fresh arm to help navigate the waters of this bullpen day. It could be a brief stay on the big league roster for Criswell, particularly if he throws multiple innings today, as the Rays will need to make another move to get Bradley on the roster for tomorrow’s contest.
Armstrong, 32, posted a 3.60 ERA with a 26% strikeout rate and 6% walk rate in 55 innings as a Ray in 2022. He’s missed the entire season so far due to a neck injury incurred in spring training. The shift to the 60-day injured list pushes his earliest possible return date back to May 29; it’s retroactive to his initial placement on the IL, not the move from the 15-day to the 60-day. Neil Solondz of Rays Radio tweets that Armstrong would’ve likely needed about that long to finish mending and build back up to game readiness anyhow, so the decision was likely a fairly straightforward one for the team.
Rays Select Braden Bristo, Option Taj Bradley
The Rays announced Thursday that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Braden Bristo from Triple-A Durham and optioned top pitching prospect Taj Bradley, who made his MLB debut against the Red Sox, back to Durham in his place. To open a spot on the 40-man roster, Tampa Bay transferred righty Shane Baz from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day injured list. Baz is recovering from September’s Tommy John surgery and could miss the entire season, so his move to the 60-day IL was a formality.
If the 28-year-old Bristo makes it into a game with the Rays, it’ll mark his big league debut after an eight-year minor league journey. The longtime Yankees farmhand was New York’s 23rd-round selection back in 2016, and he spent the next seven years climbing the ranks in their system. Bristo topped out at Triple-A in 2021-22 and never made it to the Majors with the Yanks, however. He elected minor league free agency at the end of the 2022 campaign.
In five innings with the Rays’ top affiliate in Durham thus far, Bristo has yielded three runs on six hits with an appealing 7-to-1 K/BB ratio. He’s had little problem missing bats in parts of three Triple-A seasons overall, fanning a strong 27.3% of his opponents. His 12.8% walk rate in Triple-A, however, is far more concerning. FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen has previously noted Bristo’s high-spin curveball and a heater that can reach the mid-90s in short stints, but command has been an issue for Bristo in the upper minors — at least until this season. It’s a tiny sample, of course, but Bristo has walked just one of his 22 opponents so far.
For now, Bristo will give the Rays an extra arm in the ‘pen. Tampa Bay used Jalen Beeks as an opener in a bullpen game on Monday, and their ‘pen has covered a combined eight innings in the two games since.
Bradley won’t be able to return to the Majors for at least 10 days unless he’s recalled in place of someone who’s being placed on the injured list. Barring that scenario, yesterday’s MLB debut will go down as a spot start for Bradley, who ranks among the sport’s top 50 overall prospects. He tossed five innings against Boston and allowed three runs on five hits and a walk with eight strikeouts.