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Rays Roster Moves: Chris Archer placed on DL with left abdominal strain, Diego Castillo recalled

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Chris Archer is the newest Ray to land on the DL. (Photo Credit: Fan Rag Sports)

(8:00 PM update) After a trip to Philadelphia for an appointment with core muscle specialist Dr. William Meyers, the Tampa Bay Rays have placed Chris Archer on the 10-day disabled list with a left abdominal strain, retroactive to June 3. In his place, they have promoted right-hander Diego Castillo.

After a dismal first month of play, Archer became a much more effective pitcher in May, posting a 2.47 ERA and 3.35 FIP.

He was frustrated on Sunday, saying that he knew a stint on the DL might be in the cards after he had pitched with tightness in his groin.

…And obviously it hurts because the only thing I take pride in and have an ego about is pitching once every five days, said Archer. Regardless of the results, I want to be there for my team. I’m going to do everything I can to be out there but not do anything silly to over-exert myself.

The loss of Archer is yet another blow to the Rays, who have scrambled for arms all season long due to injuries and their unique usage of regular bullpen days. Still, both Archer and manager Kevin Cash told Marc Topkin (Tampa Bay Times) the report was good news and the hope is that Archer will only miss a couple starts. He can be reinstated as early as June 13.

Cash also posited that Matt Andriese will get the opportunity to pitch more innings starting Friday, when Archer was scheduled to make his next start. Yet Cash has not decided whether Andriese would start the game or they would use an “opener.”

Castillo, 24, has performed to a 1.03 ERA in 19 appearances for Triple-A Durham, with 32 punch outs to seven walks over 26-1/3 innings (4.57 K/BB). The big right-hander is the prototypical fastball/slider pitcher that boasts an upper 90’s four-seamer (that has touched 101 mph) that generates a lot of ground balls, and a devastating slider. Castillo tends to give up a fair number of hits when hitters time him up, and he does have the propensity to get into trouble when he overthrows his pitches, rendering them flat. He, however, has good overall control and command of his pitches. Baseball America ranked him the Rays’ 29th best prospect, and has been the closer at every level thus far.

Castillo is expected to pitch at the “back of the bullpen” and in high leverage situations.

The New What Next: Rays vs Nationals — an Interleague series preview

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The Rays travel from one Washington (pictured: SafeCo Field in Seattle) to another, where they’ll face the Washington Nationals, starting Tuesday. (Photo Credit: Rickie Dixon)

The Tampa Bay Rays travel from one Washington to the other, where they are set to start a brief, two-game Interleague series with the Nationals on Tuesday night. Tampa Bay followed a five game win streak by dropping four in a row — including a three-game sweep at the hands of the Mariners — while Washington dropped three of four to Atlanta after winning six straight against the Marlins and Orioles (respectively).

(Stats Credit: ESPN)

Expect a low scoring series. Neither team has been the definition of “offensive juggernaut” this season, with the Rays playing to a .558 winning percentage, by way of BaseRuns, thanks to a +30 run differential, while the Nationals have been moderately better via the same metric, playing to a .601 WP% thanks to a +52 run differential.

The similarities between the two are even more glaring when you look at what Tampa Bay and Washington has done in the batter’s box of late, with the Rays eking out just a touch more offensive production over the past two weeks.

(Stats Credit: FanGraphs)

What’s more, both pitching staffs have been incredibly stingy the last two weeks, with the Rays’ hurlers performing to a combined 2.31 ERA/3.13 FIP (starters 2.22 ERA/2.13 FIP, relievers 2.36 ERA/3.79 FIP) over that span. The Nationals’ pitching staff has also been impressive, performing to a combined 2.12 ERA/3.04 FIP (starters 2.69 ERA/3.00 FIP, relievers 1.13 ERA/3.12 FIP) over the last 14 days.

Pitching Probables

Kevin Cash will lean on Nathan Eovaldi (1-0, 0.00 ERA) and the Rays bullpen, while friend of the Rays Dave Martinez will counter with Max Scherzer (9-1, 1.92 ERA) and Tanner Roark (2-6, 3.61 ERA).

(Stats Credit: FanGraphs)

Nathan Eovaldi spent last season rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, then missed the first two months after having arthroscopic surgery for loose bodies in his pitching elbow. Yet at long last, the flame throwing righty made his highly anticipated return to the mound and did not disappoint. After he walked the second batter of the game, Matt Olson, with one out in the first, Eovaldi went to work and retired the next 17 batters in order.

Eovaldi relied primarily on his upper 90’s fastball (topping out at 98 mph), and worked quickly and efficiently on the mound, needing just 70 pitches (46 strikes, 66% strike ratio, 32 fastball) to burn through the Athletics’ lineup. He lived at the top of the zone, and just off the plate, but brought his fastball back over the black occasionally. He also leaned on his splitter (14 thrown, eight strikes, three whiffs) and slider (nine thrown, five strikes, one whiff) when he needed a punch out, and his cutter to coax weak contact (seven ground ball and fly ball outs).

Sure, he got some help from the fielders behind him — Johnny Field made a sliding catch in the third and then a leaping grab on Matt Joyce to end the frame, Carlos Gomez made a diving catch on Pinder’s liner in the sixth — but the fact that he was able to limit hard contact speaks volumes.

Max Scherzer picked up his ninth win of the season on Wednesday, scattering two hits and a walk over eight scoreless frames while fanning 12. Scherzer took out his frustrations, from a poor start two turns ago, on an overmatched Orioles’ lineup that didn’t get a runner into scoring position until Manny Machado hit a one-out double in the seventh inning. The 33 year-old right-hander has now struck out double-digit batters in eight of 12 starts this season, carrying a 1.92 ERA into his start on Tuesday. This season Scherzer he has relied primarily on his whiffy 95 mph four-seam fastball with slight armside run, while also mixing in an 84 mph changeup that dives down and out of the zone, a whiffy 86 mph slider boasting two-plane movement, an 89 mph cutter that has some natural sink, and a 79 mph curveball. He is 4-2 with a 2.91 ERA in eight career starts against the Rays. Key Matchups: CJ Cron (1-3, RBI), Matt Duffy (2-2, 2B, HR, 2 RBI), Carlos Gomez (1-4), Brad Miller (1-3, HR, RBI), Wilson Ramos (1-2), Mallex Smith (2-4)

The Rays have not yet announced a starter for Wednesday’s bullpen day. I will update this when one becomes apparent.

Tanner Roark allowed two runs on two hits in a loss on Sunday against Atlanta. Roark entered the game in the ninth with the score tied at two, yet allowed two hits that would cost Washington — a double to Dansby Swanson, followed by a walkoff home run to Charlie Culberson. Roark, in spite of that out of the ordinary relief appearance, has taken a loss in each of his last two appearances. His 2-6 record is misleading, as the 31 year-old sits with decent peripherals, and has demonstrated the ability to work deeply into games, pitching six or more innings across all but one of his 12 turns this season. This season Roark has relied primarily on his 92 mph sinker using a two-seam fastball grip, while also mixing in a 92 mph four-seam fastball, a 75 mph curveball with exceptional bite and slight glove-side movement, an 85 mph slider, and an 84 mph changeup with a ton of backspin and some armside run. In spite of an opposing .289 BA/.319 OBP/.356 SLG/.675 OPS line from Tampa Bay, Roark is 1-0 with a 1.29 ERA in one lone start against the Rays. Key Matchups: Christian Arroyo (1-2, 2B), Matt Duffy (1-3), Carlos Gomez (2-3), Brad Miller (3-3, 2B)

Rays Roster Moves: Anthony Banda to receive Tommy John surgery; Yonny Chirinos reinstated

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Anthony Banda, right, joins Jose De Leon and Brent Honeywell on the DL for UCL reconstructive surgery after previously suffering a left forearm strain. (Photo Credit: Chris O’Meara)

Tampa Bay Rays LHP Anthony Banda is headed for Tommy John elbow surgery that will keep him out at least until late 2019 if not 2020, given the typical year-plus recovery timeline for the procedure.

Banda joins Jose De Leon and Brent Honeywell on the road to recovery from Tommy John surgery. Both De Leon and Honeywell hope to be ready at some point in the 2019 season. And while it’s not completely out of the question that Banda would be able to join them late next season, the team will likely exercise caution with his rehabilitation.

The 24-year-old southpaw owns a 3.64 ERA with 10.5 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9, and a 38.4% ground ball rate in eight appearances (42 IP) with Triple-A Durham (4-3, 3.64 ERA), and has made three appearances with Tampa Bay, where he went 1-0 with a 3.68 ERA. He was with with Durham most recently, pitching six innings on Thursday.

The move puts another dent in Tampa Bay’s depth, both in the present and future tenses. More immediately, however, the team welcomed Nathan Eovaldi back to the active roster, and Yonny Chirinos has been reinstated from the 10-day disabled list, although he has been optioned to Triple-A despite a solid start in his season in the majors (0-1, 3.71 ERA).

If Chris Archer is placed on the DL after suffering a groin related injury, Chirinos will become the most likely candidate to take his place on the roster.

LBWMF: Rays drop series opener to the Mariners in extras, 4-3

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Partying on the party deck on a beautiful Friday night in Seattle. (Photo Credit: “Replay” Dave Drobach)

The Tampa Bay Rays battled back from a three-run deficit on Friday and inevitably found themselves in their second extra-innings ball-game in less than a week. They, however, couldn’t overcome the Seattle Mariners, dropping the 13-inning series opener, 4-3 — consequently falling back to the .500 mark. The Mariners are now 17-9 in one-run games, and 6-0 in extra innings.


What a ride! Source: FanGraphs

Seattle struck first, taking a three-run lead before an out was recorded in the fourth inning. After Sergio Romo pitched 1-1/3 scoreless frames as the opener, Austin Pruitt got into, and out of, a jam in the second, although Seattle broke through in the third inning.

With two outs, Jean Segura beat out a slow grounder to short before Kyle Seager and Nelson Cruz followed with back-to-back line drive singles, giving the Mariners a one-run lead.

Then in the bottom of the fourth, Ben Gamel sent a sharp line drive the other way, past a diving Mallex Smith, who had late jump on the play but tried to make his best KK impersonation and missed by a few inches, resulting in a triple. Ryon Healy hit a weak single to center to drive in Gamel. Then another in-between liner (this time toward right-center) lead to another Smith dive and miss, as the ball bounded toward the wall.

But Austin Pruitt tightened up his game and retired 11 consecutive batters — fanning three of them — and did not allow a ball out of the infield.

Meanwhile, Tampa Bay collected three hits in the first two innings against Mike Leake, including leadoff singles in each frame, but did not score. The Rays’ hitters came to the plate ready to hack away at Leake, the right-hander who pounds the zone. He may not be an imposing hurler, yet Leake has been very good of late, and played off the Rays’ aggressiveness at the plate. He coxed many a whiff, induced lots of weak contact at the worst times, and worked quickly and efficiently.

Tampa Bay didn’t get another hit until the fifth inning, when Carlos Gomez and Johnny Field went back-to-back with solo home runs to left-center — the seventh for Gomez, and sixth for Field. They pulled the Rays to within a run.

Down by a run to start the ninth, Tampa Bay rallied against closer Edwin Diaz to even up the score. Joey Wendle walked then stole second as Wilson Ramos struck out. Wendle was subsequently wild pitched to third before Matt Duffy fell behind 1-2. Yet Duffy lined an RBI single to left, which plated Field and tied the game at three apiece. Duffy wound up at third on a run-and-hit single by Daniel Robertson, however, Diaz recovered to strike both Brad Miller and Gomez out to keep the game tied. Jose Alvarado worked around an infield single in the bottom of the frame to send the contest to extras for the second time in four days.

Juan Nicasio and Dan Altavilla followed Diaz and posted scoreless innings in the tenth and the eleventh, while Roenis Elias did the same in the 12th and the 13th. Tampa Bay was able to get a runner into scoring position when Field singled to left and swiped second with two outs in the 12th, however, Smith struck out to end the threat.

After Alvarado and Chaz Roe paired up to put up a zero in the 10th, and Roe worked the 11th — punctuated by a swinging strikeout of Mike Zunino on a filthy slider (see below) — the Mariners broke through in the 13th against Matt Andriese, who pitched a scoreless 12th.

Mitch Haniger worked the count full against Andriese, then homered to right-center, ending the four-hour plus marathon.

The New What Next

Game two of the series is on Saturday. Chris Archer (3-3, 4.29 ERA) will get the start for Tampa Bay, pitching opposite of left-hander Marco Gonzalez (5-3, 3.60 ERA).

Chris Archer got the start for Tampa Bay on Monday, and threw six innings of shutout baseball. He allowed four hits, walked two and struck out seven. Even though his slider was inconsistent all day — at times it showed good tilt and finish, while at other times it stayed up in the zone and looked flat — his fastball was more on point, which made his rolling sliders effective as off speed pitches. Even so, his fastball command was erratic as well, as Archer threw just 18 of 35 heaters for strikes, and just 10 of 22 first pitch strikes over his six innings of work. The right-hander is 1-2 with a 2.80 ERA in six career starts against the Mariners, and 1-1 with a 3.38 ERA in three starts at SafeCo Field.

Marco Gonzales allowed one run (un-earned) on four hits and four walks over 6-2/3 innings of work on Monday. Gonzalez has given up just two unearned runs over 19-1/3 innings in his last three starts and is 4-1 with a 2.08 ERA over his last seven, while going six-plus innings in six of those outings. This season the 26 year-old southpaw he has relied primarily on a firm 85 mph changeup with slight armside fade and natural sink, a whiffy 91 mph sinker, and a 79 mph worm killer curveball, while also mixing in n 88 mph cutter good “rise” and strong cutting action, and a 91 mph four-seam fastball. Key Matchup: Wilson Ramos (2-2)

You can read about the series in our preview.

The New What Next: Rays vs Mariners — a series preview

Rays 6/2/18 Starting Lineup

Robertson SS
Cron 1B
Duffy 3B
Ramos DH
Field CF
Refsnyder LF
Gomez RF
Arroyo 2B
Sucre C
Archer RHP

Noteworthiness

— Topper said it best:

Manager Kevin Cash has seen too many baserunning mistakes and says the Rays have to do something about it.

“It’s pretty frustrating,” Cash said after Friday’s 4-3, 13-inning loss to the Mariners. “Look, we play close games and those things are magnified. We’ve learned that over many discussions talking about it.

“We’ve got to kind of go back to the drawing board on some of the baserunning.”

The Rays made four outs on the bases Friday, and it was hard to say which was worse.

Cash seemed to absolve Mallex Smith of blame for being caught stealing to end the first. Matt Duffy was caught in an odd double play in the seventh. Daniel Robertson got picked off first after drawing a two-out walk in the 11th. Joey Wendle was doubled off first to end the 13th.

“It hasn’t been good,” Cash said. “I visited it a couple games ago. It hasn’t been good and it shows up when you’re playing tight games, extra inning games. All those little mistakes prevent you from scoring runs.”

— Mallex Smith’s energy is contagious, but he consistently gets beaten in the box (especially of late), on the base paths, and in the field. Had Smith played the above mentioned hits on a hop instead, the damaged likely would have been mitigated. Perhaps it’s time to start him in left-field, where there’s less ground to cover, and Johnny Field in center.

— Holy right-handed batting order, Batman.

LBWMF: Nathan Eovaldi blanks Oakland in return to the mound

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Nathan Eovaldi pitched like a man on fire Wednesday night. (Photo Credit: Tampa Bay Rays)

Nathan Eovaldi’s first start in a regular-season game since 2016 on Wednesday could not have gone any better. The right-hander threw six hitless innings in Oakland, as the Tampa Bay Rays (28-26) won their fifth game in a row, 6-0 over the Athletics in a combined one-hitter. He became the 12th pitcher in MLB history to start in the majors after having two Tommy John surgeries.

Eovaldi spent last season rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, then missed the first two months after having arthroscopic surgery for loose bodies in his pitching elbow. Yet at long last, the flame throwing righty made his highly anticipated return to the mound and did not disappoint. After he walked the second batter of the game, Matt Olson, with one out in the first, Eovaldi went to work and retired the next 17 batters in order.

Eovaldi relied primarily on his upper 90’s fastball (topping out at 98 mph), and worked quickly and efficiently on the mound, needing just 70 pitches (46 strikes, 66% strike ratio, 32 fastball) to burn through the Athletics’ lineup. He lived at the top of the zone, and just off the plate, but brought his fastball back over the black occasionally. He also leaned on his splitter (14 thrown, eight strikes, three whiffs) and slider (nine thrown, five strikes, one whiff) when he needed a punch out, and his cutter to coax weak contact (seven ground ball and fly ball outs).

At-Bat results for Nathan Eovaldi. (Credit: Brooks Baseball)

Sure, he got some help from the fielders behind him — Johnny Field made a sliding catch in the third and then a leaping grab on Matt Joyce to end the frame, Carlos Gomez made a diving catch on Pinder’s liner in the sixth — but the fact that he was able to limit hard contact speaks volumes.

Dealing with a firm pitch-count in mind, Kevin Cash made the contentious decision to pull Eovaldi after the sixth.

It was tough, there was no doubt, but we have to do what’s right by him, Cash said. He wanted to stay but realistically he’s not getting to the ninth inning. I’ll just blame (pitching coach Kyle Snyder). I wanted to keep pitching him but Kyle told me to pull him.

Eovaldi wasn’t pleased with the decision, but understood why it was made.

I didn’t want to shake his hand, Eovaldi said. I haven’t gone seven innings in a really long time. So we played it safe and it was good. I would have liked to stay out there until I gave up a hit but I understand the situation as well.

On the offensive end of things, Tampa Bay took the lead against Sean Manaea in the second inning, after Carlos Gomez hit a wind-blown triple into the right-field corner with one out, and Johnny Field laced an RBI double to left-field, past the outstretched glove of a diving Joyce.

Then in the third inning, C.J. Cron was hit by a pitch to start the frame, before Wilson Ramos singled with one out, and Rob Refsnyder crushed a three-run homer to right-center (his second of the year) for a four-run advantage.

Meanwhile, Wilmer Font made his Rays debut in the seventh inning, taking over for Eovaldi. He got Matt Chapman to line to short before Jed Lowrie broke up the no-hitter on a single up the middle. Font also gave Rays fans a scare when Dustin Fowler hit a towering fly-ball to centerfield that Mallex Smith caught up against the wall. No harm done, Font struck out Mark Canha to end the frame.

Font pitched well overall, hitting 97 mph with his fastball and coaxing four whiffs. As Dough Waechter noted during the broadcast, his splitter was absolutely filthy when he spotted it up. He allowed just on batter to reach in two innings of work.

Then in the eighth, Field extended the lead to five on a solo-shot, over the left-field wall, off southpaw Danny Coulombe.

Field’s solo home run | 05/31/2018

Johnny Field hammers a solo home run over the left-field wall, giving the Rays a 5-0 lead in the top of the 8th inning

It was his fifth homer of the year.

Daniel Robertson singled to right two batters later, moved up to second and third on a pair of wild pitches, and then came home on a Cron double to left-center.

Cron’s RBI double | 05/31/2018

C.J. Cron smacks a double to center field, driving in Daniel Robertson to extend the Rays’ lead to 6-0 in the top of the 8th inning

All told, Tampa Bay collected 10 hits. Eight of nine starters had at least one hit, while Ramos and Field had two hits each.

Vidal Nuno ended the game with a scoreless ninth, wrapping up Tampa Bay’s second shutout in three games. Prior to this series, the Rays had not blanked an opponent all season.

With then win, the Rays leapt past Oakland in the AL Wildcard standings. They start the day one game behind the Angels, and five games behind the Mariners, who they will face in a three-game weekend series, starting tomorrow.

The New What Next

Both teams will wrap up a four-game series on Thursday afternoon, with Tampa Bay positioning itself for a sweep. Ryne Stanek (1-0, 3.24 ERA) will start with Ryan Yarbrough (4-2, 3.21 ERA) expected to pitch the bulk of the innings. They’ll be opposed by Daniel Mengden (5-4, 2.85 ERA).

Daniel Mengdon tossed a two-hit gem Saturday against the Diamondbacks, en route to his fifth win of the season. He fanned five and issued zero walks. Mengdon continued to dominate, as he has now given up just four earned runs over his last 33-2/3 innings (1.07 ERA), including a current 17-inning scoreless streak. The 25 year-old right-hander coaxed 13 ground balls in that outing, which has been a big part of his success over this stretch. However, with only 43 strikeouts in 66-1/3 innings this season, and an insanely lucky — and unsustainable — .164 BABIP over the last 14-days, a regression is anticipated. This season he has relied primarily on his 93 mph four-seam fastball with some added backspin, while also mixing in an 85 mph slider with two-plane movement, a 93 mph sinker with little armside run and almost no sinking action, an 83 mph changeup that has some slight arm-side fade, and a 73 mph curveball. Key Matchup: CJ Cron (1-2)

You can read about the series in our preview.

The New What Next: Rays vs Athletics — a series preview

Rays 5/31/18 Starting Lineup

Smith CF
Cron DH
Wendle 2B
Ramos C
Robertson SS
Miller 1B
Refsnyder LF
Arroyo 3B
Field RF
Stanek RHP

Noteworthiness

— A win would cap an already plus .500 month of May.