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Rays Designate Wyatt Mathisen For Assignment

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The Rays have designated infielder/outfielder Wyatt Mathisen for assignment, per a club announcement. His spot on the roster will go to top prospect Wander Franco, whose previously announced promotion to the Major Leagues has now been made official with this move.

Tampa Bay acquired Mathisen, 27, from the D-backs earlier this year in a deal that sent cash back to Arizona. He’s yet to appear in a game for the Rays but has had a productive 18-game stint with Triple-A Durham, batting .288/.344/.525 with three homers and five doubles. Mathisen has been a solid batter in parts of three Triple-A campaigns but is a .159/.298/.290 hitter in a small sample of 84 plate appearances at the MLB level — all with the D-backs.

Mathisen began his pro career as a catcher but hasn’t played there since appearing with the Pirates’ A-ball club in 2013. He’s logged time at second base and at all four corner positions in the Diamondbacks organization over the past few seasons and still has a pair of minor league options remaining. Given his Triple-A track record, defensive versatility and the fact that he has a pair of minor league options remaining, Mathisen could well appeal to another club in need of depth. The Rays will have a week to trade him or attempt to pass him through outright waivers.

Rays Promote Wander Franco

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June 22: The Rays have made it official. Franco’s contract has been selected from Triple-A Durham. He’s batting second in tonight’s lineup and playing third base in his Major League debut.

June 20: The Rays announced they’ll select the contract of top infield prospect Wander Franco prior to Tuesday’s game against the Red Sox. Tampa Bay has lost six straight, falling half a game behind Boston in the American League East. With a three-game series against the division leaders upcoming, the Rays have decided it’s time to bring up the league’s most heralded prospect.

Franco, 20, is seen by public prospect rankers as a transcendent talent. Baseball America has ranked him the game’s top prospect in each of the past two seasons, calling him an “exceptionally advanced” hitter with potential plus raw power and average defense at shortstop. In February, Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs ranked Franco as the only 80-grade prospect around baseball, placing him in a tier of his own among non-MLB players. Longenhagen projects him as a top-of-the-scale hitter, raving about his bat control, pitch recognition and raw power, and calls him a possible “generational talent and annual MVP contender.” Keith Law of the Athletic praised Franco’s “ridiculous hand speed,” incredible plate discipline and above-average power projection, suggesting he should immediately be able to post a high batting average and on-base percentage and could be “an MVP candidate at his peak.”

Not only does Franco check all the boxes from a visual evaluation perspective, his minor league performance has been truly incredible. Despite being young for every level at which he’s played, Franco has compiled a .333/.400/.538 line in parts of three professional seasons. He reached Triple-A Durham for the first time in 2021 and showed no signs of slowing down. Through 173 plate appearances with the Bulls, Franco has hit .323/.376/.601 with seven homers despite being the league’s youngest player. Out of 102 qualified hitters in Triple-A East, the switch-hitting Franco ranks seventeenth in on-base percentage and seventh in slugging percentage.

As one might expect for someone who draws such praise for his hit tool, Franco has very rarely gone down on strikes in the minors. His 11.6% strikeout rate in Triple-A this season is the highest of his career, and that’s still less than half the MLB average mark of 23.4%. Over the course of his minor league career, Franco has punched out in just 7.9% of his plate appearances while walking a strong 10% of the time.

Franco is the most talented of a trio of very highly-regarded infield prospects in the Rays system (alongside Taylor Walls and Vidal Bruján). That glut of high minors talent no doubt played a role in Tampa Bay’s decision to trade shortstop Willy Adames to the Brewers for relievers J.P. Feyereisen and Drew Rasmussen last month. Walls got his first big league call in the immediate aftermath of that deal. He’s played quite well, hitting .237/.356/.355 over his first 90 MLB plate appearances while playing strong defense at shortstop.

Walls is generally regarded as a superior defender to Franco, so it remains to be seen precisely how manager Kevin Cash will deploy a talented infield mix that also includes Brandon Lowe, Joey Wendle, Yandy Díaz and Ji-Man Choi. Regardless of whether the Rays immediately install Franco as the primary shortstop or bounce him around the diamond (he’s seen some action at both second and third base in Durham this year in case he’s needed to play a multi-positional role), it’s safe to assume he’ll be in the lineup on a more-or-less everyday basis in some capacity.

Franco is not yet on the 40-man roster, so the Rays will need to make another move to formally accommodate the selection of his contract. We’re well past the point on the calendar at which a newly-promoted player can accumulate a full year of MLB service. Even if Franco sticks in the majors from here on out, the Rays will thus be able to control him through the end of the 2027 season.

He also seems highly unlikely to crack the Super Two threshold for early arbitration eligibility during the 2023-24 offseason. Franco will earn somewhere in the neighborhood of 105 days of MLB service this year if he remains on the big league roster. That’d put him at approximately 2.105 years at the end of the 2023 campaign. In recent seasons, the Super Two cutoff has come in at 2.115 years of service or above. In all likelihood, Franco won’t reach arbitration eligibility until the conclusion of the 2024 season.

Rays fans will be thrilled to get their first look at a player they no doubt hope will become the face of the franchise. Franco has as good a chance as anyone in the minors of emerging as a true superstar over the coming seasons, and the organization believes him capable of making an immediate impact in the 2021 pennant race. The game has seen an influx of fantastic young talents in recent years. By all accounts, Franco has a reasonable shot to become the next member of that group.

Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter link) first reported Franco’s impending call-up.

Dylan Cozens To Pursue Football Career

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Former Phillies/Rays farmhand and current Brewers minor leaguer Dylan Cozens announced on Twitter today that he plans step away from baseball in order to pursue a career in professional football. Cozens thanked the three organizations in which he’s played for all of the opportunities afforded to him since being selected by Philadelphia in the second round of the 2012 draft but says he’ll now opt to chase another dream: playing in the National Football League.

Cozens, 27, was a defensive end and two-sport star in high school. His father, Randy, was drafted by the Denver Broncos back in 1976. Listed at a hulking 6’6″ and 245 pounds presently, it should come as little surprise that a player with Cozens’ size and athleticism had a scholarship offer to play football at the University of Arizona before opting to sign with the Phillies back in 2012.

For several years after that second-round selection, Cozens ranked as one of the Phillies’ highest-ceiling prospects — but one with a good bit of risk. He garnered praise for his immense power, which he displayed with a 40-homer showing in 134 games of Double-A ball in 2016, but Cozens also came to pro ball with somewhat limited baseball experience and a notable penchant for swinging and missing. Cozens struck out in 31.7 percent of his plate appearances in Double-A that year and saw that rate spike to 35.7 percent over the next two seasons in Triple-A.

Cozens received a pair of brief calls to the Majors in 2018-19 but only tallied 45 plate appearances. His 2019 campaign was ultimately cut short when he required surgery to remove bone spurs and repair cartilage in his left foot. The Phillies released Cozens after that surgery — injured players cannot be outrighted, and the team needed a roster spot — and he opted to sign a two-year minor league deal with the Rays in Aug. 2019 rather than return to the Phils. The idea was that he’d finish up his rehab with the Rays in ’19 and play in their system in 2020, though last year’s minor league season obviously didn’t take place.

Cozens inked a minor league deal with the Brewers back in December and has appeared in 31 games this year, batting .177/.343/.329 with two homers, four doubles, a triple and four stolen bases in 100 plate appearances. The steals may surprise some, but despite his size, Cozens has swiped 110 bags in 145 tries as a minor leaguer — a testament to his athleticism.

Cozens will have a long road to walk if he ultimately realizes his dream of reaching the top level in a second major sports league, but he’s young enough that it’s certainly not implausible. Despite having played in parts of nine minor league seasons, Cozens only celebrated his 27th birthday on May 31. Best of luck to him in the next phase of his career.

Rays Recall Drew Rasmussen

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The Rays have called up right-hander Drew Rasmussen, the team announced. The moves comes as the second part of yesterday’s optioning of infielder Mike Brosseau to Triple-A.

Rasmussen was one of the two arms acquired from the Brewers as part of the Willy Adames trade. Since joining Tampa’s system, Rasmussen posted 11 1/3 scoreless innings over eight outings in Triple-A. The 25-year-old put up a 4.24 ERA/3.88 FIP over 17 innings with the Brewers prior to the deal.

Rammussen has all the makings of another high-leverage, power arm capable of soaking up some high-leverage innings out of the Rays’ bullpen. In his short time with the Brewers, his 91.1 mph four-seamer registered in the 95th percentile for fastball velocity league-wide. His high-spin fastball dominates his arsenal at a 68.1 percent usage rate. He’s flashed a four-pitch arsenal at times, but the Rays have a way of simplifying a pitcher’s approach, so it will be interesting to see if he changes his approach at all after changing uniforms.

Brosseau has moved up and down between Triple-A and the Majors all season. The 27-year-old has batted just .182/.264/.326 in 148 plate appearances in the bigs. He has not yet appeared in a game at Triple-A.

Latest On Tyler Glasnow, Chaz Roe

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Rays fans can allow themselves some tempered excitement after the latest check-up on Tyler Glasnow. The lanky flamethrower will be shut down for four weeks before beginning to throw again, but that said, they may have located another source of Glasnow’s discomfort, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (via Twitter). The latest diagnosis theorizes that his elbow irritation could at least in part be the result of a bone issue, which Glasnow’s doctors will attempt to treat during this period of rest. Of course, much uncertainty remains for Glasnow, whose injury became a bit of a firestarter for the debate around the use of illegal substances. After his injury, Glasnow was vocal in opposition of MLB’s attempt to curtail the use of illegal substances on the mound by way of an in-season mandate.

Neither Glasnow’s injury nor the “sticky stuff” saga will be resolved in the immediate future, however, so let’s turn instead to the latest news on his Tampa teammate: reliever Chaz Roe has cut his rehab short for the time being. Roe has been out since April with a shoulder strain. The latest issue, however, is not with the shoulder, but rather a case of biceps tendinitis, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter links). It will be another 7-10 days until he’s able to resume throwing.

Rays Acquire Mike Ford From Yankees

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The Rays have acquired first baseman Mike Ford from the Yankees for cash considerations and a player to be named later, both clubs announced. Ford has been optioned to Triple-A Durham. To clear 40-man roster space, Tampa Bay transferred righty Tyler Glasnow from the 10-day to the 60-day injured list.

Ford has appeared in the majors in each of the past three seasons. The left-handed hitter showed plenty of offensive promise as a rookie, when he raked at a .259/.350/.559 clip with twelve home runs over his first 163 MLB plate appearances. Ford, whom the Mariners had selected in the Rule 5 draft the previous year but returned in Spring Training, looked like a potential long-term contributor in the Bronx after that strong debut. He hasn’t been able to follow up on that over the past two years, though.

In 156 plate appearances since the start of 2020, Ford has mustered just a .134/.250/.276 line with five homers. With Luke Voit tearing the cover off the ball last year en route to an MLB-best 22 homers, Ford didn’t have much of an opportunity for regular playing time. Voit’s injury issues this season opened up some recent run for Ford, but the 28-year-old didn’t take advantage. He’s hit just .133/.278/.283 in 72 plate appearances this season with a fairly significant bump in his strikeout rate. That led the Yankees to designate him for assignment last weekend.

Ford’s MLB career is still a collection of fairly small samples. He’s tallied just 319 total plate appearances at the highest level, with a resulting .199/.301/.422 line. Ford has a much bigger body of work at Triple-A, where’s hit a robust .268/.359/.501 in parts of four seasons. With a quality minor league track record, a pair of minor league option years remaining and a low acquisition cost, the Rays felt Ford was a worthwhile pick-up.

Ji-Man Choi has hit very well in limited time between a pair of injured list stints this season. He returned to the lineup this week and figures to assume much of the playing time at first base. Tampa Bay has primarily rotated Austin Meadows and Randy Arozarena between DH and the corner outfield this year. Ford’s likely being brought on as an optionable depth player, and he adds another lefty bat to a first base/DH mix that also includes righties Yandy Díaz and Mike Brosseau.

Glasnow’s move to the 60-day IL is unsurprising. The 27-year-old went on the IL this week after an MRI revealed a partial tear of his UCL. He’s hoping to rehab the injury and avoid Tommy John surgery, but he told reporters after the diagnosis his goal was to make it back for a potential playoff run. Regardless of whether he’ll be able to return at the tail end of the regular season or during the postseason, it never seemed plausible he’d be back within two months.

Brendan Kuty of NJ Advance Media reported that the Rays had acquired Ford shortly before the official announcement. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter link) first reported Ford would be optioned to Triple-A.

COVID Notes: 6/17/21

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The latest notes on the coronavirus:

  • The Rays announced they’ve reinstated Collin McHugh from the COVID-19 injured list. The veteran right-hander went on the COVID IL yesterday as a precautionary measure after experiencing virus-like symptoms. McHugh tested negative for COVID-19 in follow-up testing last night. He’s pitched to a very strong 2.70 ERA/2.39 SIERA over 23 1/3 innings this season.

Rays Place Collin McHugh On COVID-19 IL

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  • 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).]

Glasnow: Enforcing Sticky Stuff Rule Midseason Is “Insane” And Contributed To Injury

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Rays starter Tyler Glasnow hit the IL with a partially torn UCL and a flexor tendon strain today, and he feels that MLB’s decision to finally enforce the foreign substance rules on the books is a contributing factor.  In advance of MLB’s new enforcement policy, Glasnow ceased usage of sunscreen, changing the grips on his fastball and curveball.  Here’s what Glasnow had to say (Bally Sports Florida sideline reporter Tricia Whitaker has the video here):

“Do it in the offseason, give us a chance to adjust to it. But I just threw 80-something, 70-whatever innings, and then you just told me I can’t use anything in the middle of the year? I had to change everything I’d been doing the entire season. Everything, out of the window, I had to start doing something completely new.

And then I’m telling you, I truly believe, that’s why I got hurt. Me throwing 100 and being 6’7″ is why I got hurt, but that contributed. I’m just frustrated that they don’t understand how hard it is to pitch, one, but to tell us to do something completely different in the middle of the season is insane. It’s ridiculous. There has to be some give and take here. You can’t just take away everything and not add something. Pitchers need to be able to have some sort of control or some sort of grip on the ball. And I just don’t want this to happen to somebody else, I don’t want a fastball to sail away and hit somebody in the face like it already has.

I understand you need to take an aggressive approach here, but I just think people are going about it all wrong. And I’m sitting here, my lifelong dream, I want to go out and win a Cy Young, I want to be an All-Star, and then now it’s all just shit on. Now it’s over. I have to try and rehab and come back in the playoffs. I’m clearly frustrated…people need to figure this out. You can’t just tell us to use nothing. It’s crazy.”

According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, Glasnow’s sentiments are “shared by a lot of people across baseball — and not just players.”  Dodgers righty Trevor Bauer is another pitcher who takes issue with MLB’s timing on the enforcement, tweeting, “They’ve knowingly swept this under the rug for 4 years. Now they implement a knee jerk reaction to shifting public perception. Hard to hear them talk about “competitive integrity” when they have no integrity to begin with.”

The pitchers who have been speaking up recently on this topic have sound points: this issue could have been tackled with care in the offseason, and MLB should have tried to get players on board.  As the Nationals’ Max Scherzer put it, “The players should have a say in this. Unfortunately, I don’t think we will. It just appears that MLB is going to do whatever they want with this.”  The use of “sticky stuff” by pitchers has been an unenforced rule for many years, and forcing pitchers to go cold turkey could bring unintended consequences – including injuries.  MLB’s new “enhanced enforcements” go into effect Monday, though some pitchers have clearly been weaning off the sticky stuff this month.

Rays Tyler Glasnow Placed On Injured List With Partial UCL Tear

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2:08 pm: Glasnow’s MRI revealed a partial tear of his ulnar collateral ligament, as well as a flexor strain in his forearm, Adam Berry of MLB.com was among those to relay. It’s a brutal development, considering that UCL tears and flexor strains are often precursors to a Tommy John procedure. The current hope is that Glasnow can rehab the injury without surgery, relays Jeff Passan of ESPN, but it seems he’s in for a significant absence even in the best case scenario. The Rays haven’t released a formal timeline for his return, but he’s been placed on the 10-day injured list.

9:44 am: The Rays are sending Tyler Glasnow for an MRI on his elbow after the right-hander left last night’s start after four innings, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times was among those to report. The team announced Glasnow’s issue as elbow inflammation, with the pitcher telling reporters he felt “a little tug” and “tightness” in the area.

It’s an ominous-sounding diagnosis, but Glasnow himself didn’t sound overly concerned. “I think I got it relatively early. I just was like, I don’t want to go back out and chance it,” he said (via Topkin). “The (velocity) and everything was still there. But it just felt not right.” He did note, though, that the issue was more than mere discomfort. Glasnow missed most of the 2019 season with a forearm strain and suggested there’s a possibility his current issue is similar.

Certainly, the Rays will be holding their breath as they await the results of the MRI. Glasnow is amidst a stellar season, having worked to a 2.66 ERA/2.83 SIERA. He ranks fifth among qualified pitchers in strikeout rate (36.2%) and sixth in strikeout/walk rate differential (28.2 percentage points). He’s also been a true workhorse for a Rays pitching staff that otherwise tends to heavily leverage matchups, as Glasnow is tied for second in the American League with 88 innings pitched.

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