Rays Place Craig Kimbrel On 15-Day IL, Announce Other Moves
The Rays have placed right-hander Craig Kimbrel on the 15-day injured list with a right wrist strain, per a team announcement. The move is retroactive to May 28th. The club is also recalling lefty Cam Booser and righty Trevor Martin from Triple-A. In addition, righty Andrew Wantz is being designated for assignment, removing him from the 40-man roster.
Kimbrel joined Tampa Bay on a major league deal last week. That came after he was designated for assignment by the Mets and elected free agency. Kimbrel only got into one game with his new club, striking out two hitters in a scoreless inning on May 26th. Now, he’ll be on the shelf for two weeks, continuing a frustrating age-38 season for the once-great closer.
Kimbrel had a 6.00 ERA in 15 innings with the Mets before joining the Rays. Although his 4.39 expected ERA was much better, that’s obviously still not a good mark and shows that Kimbrel is a shell of his old self even accounting for poor luck. Kimbrel is averaging 93.6 MPH on his four-seamer in 2026, continuing his decline from 2023, when the pitch averaged 95.8 MPH. Dating back to the start of 2025, Kimbrel has a 4.18 ERA in 28 innings, with opposing hitters putting up an .806 OPS against him.
At best, low-leverage relief is what the Rays can expect from Kimbrel when he gets back. Tampa’s starters rank third in the Majors with a 3.11 ERA, but their bullpen ranks 25th with a 4.74 mark. Bryan Baker and Kevin Kelly have both been excellent, especially Baker in the closer role. In contrast, Jesse Scholtens is underperforming his 4.99 expected ERA by two runs, and he’s now on the injured list himself. The other qualified relievers have a 4.67 ERA or higher. Lengthy track record aside, Kimbrel probably has a short leash when he returns from injury, as the Rays won’t risk worsening their bullpen long-term with only a slim lead over the Yankees in the AL East.
In the meantime, Booser and Martin are back in the Majors as fresh arms. Booser was optioned before Opening Day and hasn’t appeared in the Majors this season, though he has a sharp 1.80 ERA in 20 innings at Triple-A. That mark comes with a 6.3% walk rate, so the Rays might be counting on improved control from Booser in the big league bullpen, at least over his 13.3% walk rate last year with the White Sox. The same can be said of Martin, who’s allowed eight walks in 15 innings at Triple-A this year but has generally limited free passes in the minors.
Wantz loses his roster spot after a single game with the Rays. He allowed five earned runs on 54 pitches in 1 2/3 innings yesterday’s 14-3 loss to the Angels. Wantz was only selected the day before, though he was out of options and needed to be designated to be taken off the roster. Wantz has been outrighted before and can technically reject an outright assignment if he clears waivers. However, he’s only thrown three innings in the Majors since the start of 2024, so it’s possible Wantz remains in the organization and waits for a call-up to re-establish himself.
Photo courtesy of Jamie Sabau, Imagn Images
Rays Designate Aaron Brooks For Assignment
The Rays have designated right-hander Aaron Brooks for assignment and recalled fellow righty Trevor Martin from Triple-A Durham in a corresponding move, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Their 40-man roster is now at 39 players.
Brooks, 36, signed with the Rays earlier this month after beginning the season in the Mexican League. His contract was selected to the major league roster last weekend, and he made his team debut Wednesday evening. It didn’t go well. The journeyman righty recorded only one out and was tagged for three earned runs on a pair of walks and a homer. That could end up representing the entirety of his time with the Rays; he’ll now be traded, placed on outright waivers or released within the next week. Brooks has been outrighted in the past and thus has the right to reject a minor league assignment if he passes through waivers unclaimed.
This now becomes the seventh season in which Brooks has logged at least one big league appearance. He has just under three total years of major league service time, during which he’s compiled 207 innings with a 6.48 ERA, a 15.2% strikeout rate and a 7% walk rate.
Though he hasn’t had much success in the majors, Brooks has pitched in parts of 10 Triple-A seasons and piled up more than 800 innings there. A 4.80 ERA doesn’t stand out, but he’s spent most of his Triple-A career pitching in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League and has had some successful seasons there. Brooks also spent two years pitching with the Korea Baseball Organization’s Kia Tigers, for whom he logged a 2.79 ERA in 229 1/3 innings from 2020-21.
Rays Select Trevor Martin
The Rays announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Trevor Martin. He’ll take the active roster spot of fellow righty Mason Englert, who has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to right forearm tightness. To open a 40-man spot, righty Michael Grove has been transferred to the 60-day injured list.
Martin, 25, was a third-round pick of the Rays in 2022. Tampa used him as a starter in his first professional seasons but converted him to a reliever last year. From the start of 2025 to the present, he has thrown 62 2/3 innings, split between Double-A and Triple-A, having allowed 2.73 earned runs per nine. His 9.5% walk rate is a bit high but his 25.2% strikeout rate is a few ticks above average. He averages about 95 miles per hour on his fastball, per Statcast, while also featuring a cutter, splitter, slider and changeup.
That stat line includes 9 1/3 scoreless innings to start this year. He has worked around a 14.6% walk rate in the early going but putting up zeroes has seemingly attracted the attention of the front office. Martin gets the call for the first time and will make his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game.
Though Martin has done his part, the injury situation has played a role as well. Tampa lost Edwin Uceta and Steven Wilson to injuries in spring training. Since then, Garrett Cleavinger and now Englert have hit the IL as well. Manuel Rodríguez is still recovering from last year’s Tommy John surgery. Marc Topkin of The Tampa Bay Times relays that Englert and manager Kevin Cash don’t consider his injury to be serious, so perhaps he will be back relatively quickly. Martin has a full slate of options and could be shuffled between Triple-A and the majors as those guys get healthy or when fresh arms are needed.
As for Grove, he underwent shoulder surgery while with the Dodgers last year and missed the entire campaign. He was bumped off the roster at the end of the season and became a free agent. The Rays signed him last week and immediately placed him on the 15-day IL. His exact timeline isn’t clear but this transfer suggests the Rays don’t expect him to be back in the majors soon. He won’t be eligible for reinstatement until June.
Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images