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Rays acquire Rob Refsnyder from Cleveland; new food and fun options at Tropicana Field

March 27, 2018 By belowaverage Leave a Comment

The Tampa Bay Rays acquired UTL Rob Refsnyder from Cleveland for cash considerations on Tuesday. (Photo Credit: Jennifer Stewart/Getty Images)

The Tampa Bay Rays came one step closer to solidifying their Opening Day roster on Tuesday, acquiring utility-player Rob Refsnyder from Cleveland for cash considerations.

Out of options and holding a needed spot on Cleveland’s 40-man roster, Refsnyder has played parts of three seasons in the big leagues with the Yankees and Blue Jays in right and left field, as well as first and second base.

The 27 year-old Refsnyder once was a well-regarded prospect in New York’s farm system, although he hasn’t produced at the Major League level, performing to just a .233 BA/.306 OBP/.311 SLG/.617 OPS line over 320 career plate appearances. More recently, he had a rough spring, slashing .191 BA/.298 OBP/.362 SLG/.660 OPS in 58 plate appearances.

Refsnyder, however, offers the Rays a versatile glove and gives them another multi-position bench option next to Daniel Robertson. Tampa Bay had been looking for a right-handed outfield bat, so Refsnyder fills that need (by definition, of course) even if his offensive peripherals have lagged.

After the Grapefruit League finale, the Rays reassigned to minor-league camp the other two outfield candidates, Brandon Snyder and Johnny Field, alongside Curt Casali.

Tampa Bay’s roster now sits at 27 pending a trade or release of RHP Daniel Hudson and putting RHP Jose De Leon on the 60-day DL. The Rays have until 11:30 Thursday morning to submit a complete 25-man roster.

What’s new at the Trop this season?

Fans attending Thursday’s home opener against those Massholes will find plenty of new stuff at the Trop. As St. Petersburg’s mayor Rick Kriseman put it, the food offerings at the Trop this year are very St. Pete…(a) nice showcase of just some of what we offer in the Sunshine City!

What follows are Marc Topkin and Christopher Spata’s (Tampa Bay Times) tweeted dispatches of the new what next from the official unveiling on Tuesday.

This new burger at the Trop has sausage and potato chips on it. My chest hurts. pic.twitter.com/hZvr7jjlTA

— Christopher Spata (@SpataTimes) March 27, 2018

Also new: pic.twitter.com/YZ6eIy33hX

— Christopher Spata (@SpataTimes) March 27, 2018

I’m at Tropicana Field seeing what’s new. Here’s Ballpark & Rec, a spinoff of Park & Rec in dtsp. pic.twitter.com/F3xHwXZUoI

— Christopher Spata (@SpataTimes) March 27, 2018

#Rays reuben Cuban sandwich pic.twitter.com/WsmuFtNi9v

— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) March 27, 2018

#Rays also have a Rumfish Grill stand featuring firecracker shrimp, mahi tacos, tuna poke and more pic.twitter.com/w2mcM1PkuO

— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) March 27, 2018

#Rays mahi tacos and firecracker shrimp from Rumfish stand pic.twitter.com/SL54TaTGo3

— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) March 27, 2018

#Rays fried chicken platter from Urban pic.twitter.com/y9Gy8kezsi

— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) March 27, 2018

Maybe the coolest new #Rays food stand – for former player/current coach @roccodbaldelli. Featured item is a meatball sandwich pic.twitter.com/RQDMeR51V3

— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) March 27, 2018

That’s the meatball sandwich from the #Rays new @roccodbaldelli deli pic.twitter.com/36Fo8aHc5N

— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) March 27, 2018

#Rays getting creative with hot dogs at Whoa, Doggy’s stand pic.twitter.com/u1WBbybhrF

— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) March 27, 2018

More local-tied food options at Trop for #Rays fans pic.twitter.com/C2N1FfwO35

— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) March 27, 2018

#Rays debuting self-ordering kiosks in Porch area as well pic.twitter.com/XmeLBsUbP4

— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) March 27, 2018

Another local St. Pete eatery with a presence at the Trop on #Rays Porch in CF pic.twitter.com/wG8ytNpMvf

— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) March 27, 2018

Part of the outside space at Trop’s new Ballpark & Rec area, with games and drinks, plans to keep it open after #Rays games as well pic.twitter.com/NlB9HHfC8N

— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) March 27, 2018

Cool new space at Trop, an indoor / outdoor space Ballpark & Rec from the folks who do Park & Rec in downtown St. Pete pic.twitter.com/Q5ZgNKl3tO

— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) March 27, 2018

What was the @DuckysTampa deck at the Trop under new sponsorship this year with @TWResorts pic.twitter.com/6iwnmAxund

— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) March 27, 2018

Another look at #Rays new Trop turf with lights on pic.twitter.com/8aACjRczYu

— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) March 27, 2018

Dan Jennings released, and other Rays centric roster notes

March 27, 2018 By belowaverage Leave a Comment

Nathan Eovaldi, the starter for Tampa Bay in Lakeland, hit the upper 90’s with his fastball in his final tuneup before the regular season on Monday. (Photo Credit: Tampa Bay Rays)

A few Tampa Bay Rays centric notes with just three-days left until Opening Day of the 2018 season.

— During the their final spring road contest against the Tigers on Monday, the Rays formally released LOOGY Dan Jennings. In doing so, they will pay the reliever $574,597 — one fourth of his $2.375-million non-guaranteed salary.

I said it to him, I’ll say it to you guys — he’s a big-league pitcher, manager Kevin Cash said. I’ll be very surprised if he doesn’t find himself on a big-league roster here soon.

His release had more to do with the team’s plan to carry four multi-inning relievers to support a four-man rotation; Jose Alvarado won the left-handed short relief job.

Jennings will be free to sign elsewhere after he clears release waivers on Wednesday.

It wasn’t a slight to DJ at all, said Cash. The way we’re set up with four guys that we need to go longer we’ve got confidence those guys can do it. And Jose Alvarado belongs on our team.

— The Rays have yet to make a transaction regarding RHP Daniel Hudson, who was also told on Sunday that he would not break camp with the team. They hope to find a trade parter for the hurler to avoid paying $4.5-million to release him.

— LHP Jonny Venters was formally reassigned to minor-league camp on Monday in spite an impressive spring. Venters collected eight scoreless frames in his bid to return to the big leagues for the first time since 2012 after sustaining multiple elbow injuries.

The Rays would like to have Venters at Durham for a potential call-up and/or pitching depth, although they are reportedly willing to trade him as a courtesy if another team was to offer a Major League spot.

— Chris Archer, who was hit by a comebacker on Friday, threw his previously scheduled bullpen session on Monday. Kevin Cash said Archer threw 30 pitches and had no issues from the right forearm bruise he sustained from the one hopper in his final spring tuneup before the regular season. Cash has “no concern whatsoever” about his availability to pitch on Opening Day.

— Nathan Eovaldi completed his solid spring campaign on a high note, going six innings against the Tigers in which he allowed seven hits, walked one and fanned four on 89 pitches (60 strikes). Eovaldi’s fastball reached 99 miles per hour (98 in his final inning of work).

The right-hander was pleased with how the day went and his Spring overall after rehabbing last season from Tommy John surgery:

I expected it to go well, Eovaldi said. But I was a little bit more pleased with how everything went, how I was able to bounce back from all the outings and go out there every five or six days.

Cash told Marc Topkin (Tampa Bay Times) Eovaldi has done well enough that the Rays may occasionally relax their plans to limit and manage his workload.

— There was a slight scare in the ninth inning of Monday’s contest as Jesus Sucre was removed after taking back-to-back foul balls off the mask. Cash said Sucre is fine, and was removed for precautionary reasons.

— The decision between Johnny Field and Brandon Snyder (or bringing in an outside player) for the fifth outfield spot won’t be made until after Tuesday’s game at the earliest. In fact, Cash said the final roster spot decision could come down to Thursday morning at 11:30 when the rosters have to be set.

— Thanks to Steve Carney (WDAE), we get a first look at the new turf at Tropicana Field. Other changes: the Seminole Hard Rock Casino is sponsoring the Game 162 Landing in left field, and a rather large Coke bottle looming over right-center field, just above the ray tank.

(Photo Credit: Steve Carney)

— “Yonny Chirinos said after he was told he had made the team, he tried to call his parents, but they were in church, writes Carney. So he called his brother to get the message to his parents, then called his girlfriend who is also still in Venezuela.”

Chirinos also said he’s been to just one Major League Baseball game in his life. After he signed with Tampa Bay, the team brought him to Tropicana Field to see a game. Suffice it to say, his next big league game will be from a much different perspective.

Rays could lean on four-man rotation indefinitely, De Leon headed for Tommy John surgery

March 8, 2018 By belowaverage Leave a Comment

Jose De Leon throws in the first inning of a spring training baseball game against the Boston Red Sox on March 2, 2018. (Photo Credit: AP Photo/David Goldman)

Even though it had already been announced that the Tampa Bay Rays would turn to a four-man rotation over the first six weeks of the season, manager Kevin Cash explained on Wednesday that the team may lean on that rotation indefinitely.

The rotation would likely be comprised of Chris Archer, Blake Snell, Nathan Eovaldi, and Jake Faria, while the pool of multi-inning relievers initially will include Matt Andriese, Austin Pruitt, Andrew Kittredge, Anthony Banda, Yonny Chirinos, Chih-Wei Hu, Hunter Wood and Ryan Yarbrough.

In his morning media session, Cash said when a fifth starting spot comes up, the team will be using a bullpen day, or multiple multi-inning pitchers — something the Rays plan to test drive over in the first month-and-a-half of the season.

We’re going to try to stay at four, Cash said. We’re going to have some ‘bullpen day’ in there. We’re going to try and do that for a long period of time. We’re going to learn a lot in the first six weeks.

In short, the Rays plan to use four starters in standard order, and on normal rest, and when they do need a fifth, they will pick whichever two or three multi-inning relievers are available, or call up a fresh arm to cover the “start.”

Manager Kevin Cash says with the four-man rotation to start the year, he plans on having “multiple” guys that can go a time through the order in the bullpen. #Rays

— Steve Carney (@stevecarney) March 6, 2018

That follows what the Rays skipper had said on Tuesday, that the bullpen would have 3-4 pitchers in an eight-man bullpen that could go once through the order. On the fifth day, a pair of relievers could each go three innings, and then set up the rest of bullpen to be used in regular order.

Cash said deciding on which pitchers are starters, and which are used in the ‘pen may be hard to assess, although it will be determined, in part, by how well their arms bounce back from outing to outing.

As Marc Topkin (Tampa Bay Times) wrote, the team has its reasons even if they are a bit convoluted:

First, it’s not that they don’t have anyone to be a fifth starter, but rather they have several candidates — though none they necessarily are confident can get them regularly deep into games.

So rather than designate a No. 5, and use him — at most — once every five days, they would rather add that arm to the pool of multi-inning relievers in their eight-man pen. That way, they have the potential to use him two or three times in that five-day stretch. And when that fifth day comes up, they’ll use

Second, that having a “bullpen day” can be an advantage, allowing them to use pitchers who present different looks and have shown to be more effective when only going through the opposing order once or twice, which is now a core part of their philosophy.

To put it another way, Cash views it as playing to the pitchers strengths:

It’s a reflection of who we have available, Cash said. We feel like we have a lot of good young pitchers, and we want to get them all their reps and not limit somebody.

Eovaldi, who is expected to play a crucial role in the starting rotation — whatever that is — reiterated Cash’s comments:

We have a lot of young, talented arms down there, guys who are ready to go, Eovaldi said. And we’ve got a lot of guys that can go multiple innings as well. It’s going to be a unique situation, but I think it will be able to work out.

The plan could work, or it could be a miserable failure resulting in a standard five-man rotation. Topkin rattled off a couple of caveats that, if navigated properly, could result in a successful and innovative plan.

  1. It’s going to take a tremendous amount of time and effort in the coordination, with a red flag warning of overuse, and some good fortune after what has been a horrible spring.
  2. Besides having the four starters stay healthy, the team’s going to need a few breaks, with a couple of these young arms handling the conversion to the new role — physically and mentally — well.

You can hear all of Cash’s comments below, courtesy of Rays Radio.

Jose De Leon headed for Tommy John surgery

The Rays lost another top pitching prospect on Wednesday with RHP Jose De Leon headed for Tommy John surgery after tearing his ulnar collateral ligament (UCL).

De Leon was acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for Logan Forsythe in January 2017, yet he had a rough first season with Tampa Bay. After joining the team Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic, the right-hander spent much of his campaign on the minor-league disabled list, pitching in just one big-league game.

He, however, earned praise this spring for entering camp in great physical shape, and for throwing better, only to sustain the injury in his last bullpen session. His last game appearance was on Saturday, March 2.

De Leon, 25, was in the Rays’ plans in 2018, even though he was slated to open the season with Triple-A Durham. Down two pitchers, Tampa Bay still has hurlers Anthony Banda, Ryan Yarbrough and Yonny Chirinos waiting in the wings in Durham, or potentially in the Rays’ bullpen. Still, the Rays are now less equipped to handle a major injury (or injuries) in the rotation than they were at the start of Spring Training.

The possibility of promoting Double-A arms to fill the Triple-A vacancies, or pursuing additional veteran depth from outside the organization, remains.

De Leon will see noted surgeon Dr. James Andrews for another opinion, with surgery expected.

Fox Sports Sun to increase Rays coverage; Ryan Schimpf traded to Atlanta

March 6, 2018 By belowaverage Leave a Comment

Ranked 25th by AwfulAnnouncing.com, the imminent return of this dynamic duo is just around the bend.

Fox Sports Sun announced Monday that the network will increase its coverage from the standard 150 games to 159 games as part of the Tampa Bay Rays 2018 season.

The other three games will be shown nationally on FS1, while all 162 Rays games will be streamed live via the Fox Sports Go app. Those games will take place on Thursday, June 14, at 7:05 p.m. (vs. New York Yankees), Saturday, June 23, at 4:10 p.m. (vs. New York Yankees) and Saturday, September 1, at 7:10 p.m. (vs. Cleveland).

You can view the schedule of televised games below in its entirety:

(Photo Credit: Fox Sports Florida)

Dewayne Staats will lead the broadcast team for the 21st season — his 41st year in broadcasting overall — and will be joined in the booth for the 10th year by former big-league pitcher Brian Anderson, who will provide color commentary.

Rounding out the broadcast team are former big leaguers Orestes Destrade and Doug Waechter, Rich Hollenberg will again host the half-hour Rays Live pre and post-game shows, and Michelle Margaux joins the crew as the lead in-game reporter and host of some Inside the Rays feature shows — of which there will be nine new episodes.

Fox Sports Sun will join the Rays in celebrating their 20th anniversary with in-game features looking back at the previous two decades of (Devil) Rays baseball, also opening the door to former Rays players who will join the broadcast.

We reported last week that this would be the last season of the team’s current deal with Fox, while a new 15-year extension, worth an average of $82-million annually, was close to being finalized. Rays officials denied that a deal was in place, saying instead they are still in talks over a new contract.

Rays trade INF Ryan Schimpf

The Rays traded INF Ryan Schimpf to the Atlanta Braves on Monday for a player to be named later or cash.

Schimpf was designated for assignment on Saturday to make room on the 40-man roster for OF Carlos Gomez.

Schimpf, who was acquired from San Diego in a minor league deal for INF Deion Tansel in December, was projected to make the Rays’ Opening Day roster in a bench depth role. He was one of three southpaw hitters the team acquired during the offseason.

Joey Wendle is still on the roster, while Micah Johnson, who was similarly designated for assignment but cleared waivers and stayed in camp on a minor-league deal.

As Marc Topkin (Tampa Bay Times) writes, the Rays also have right-handed hitting Daniel Robertson in the mix, and could move Brad Miller back to second since they also have since acquired 1B C.J. Cron.

Snell sharp in Rays 9-2 loss on Friday; Gomez expected to arrive Saturday

March 3, 2018 By belowaverage Leave a Comment

Saturday’s starter, Chris Archer. (Photo Credit: Tampa Bay Rays)

Even though the Tampa Bay Rays fell to the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday, 9-2, Blake Snell continued his impressive spring campaign. The southpaw worked into the third inning in Port Charlotte and was charged with just a run.

Snell fanned two, and allowed a pair of base runners on a walk and a hit, all on 38 pitches (25 for strikes). Ryan Flaherty, the last batter Snell faced, led off the third inning with a single and eventually scored when Dan Runzler — who took the mound in relief after Snell reached his limit — allowed a two-run homer to Scott Kingery that tied the game at two. That was the first run charged to Snell in four spring innings.

While the results were good, Snell felt there was more room for improvement, especially over last season:

I’m more prepared, he said after. I came into this year, it was personal to me. Last year I came in not ready to go, not ready to be the me I’m capable of being. It was frustrating. This year it’s more personal for me, and I’m ready to go.

Rays manager Kevin Cash was again impressed by what he saw out of Snell:

Another really strong performance out of Blake. That’s always good to see.

You can hear both the hurler and skipper’s comments below (Courtesy of the Tampa Bay Rays):

Several others made their first Grapefruit League appearance, including Alex Colome, who gave up a run in the fourth on a pair of hits and a walk. Cash attributed the outing to illness, saying Colome was pitching with a low-grade fever, although wanted to get in his work.

He wanted to get his inning in, Cash said. He’s already been pushed back intentionally.

Sergio Romo also made his Spring debut and was solid in a perfect fifth.

The New What Next

The Rays will travel to the heart of Polk County, Lakeland, on Saturday where they’ll face Le Tigre. Chris Archer will get the start opposite Jordan Zimmerman. Anthony Banda, Jose De Leon, Hunter Wood, Dustin McGowan, Jose Alvarado, Adam Kolarek and Ryan Weber are slated to throw as well.

Rays 3/3/18 Starting Lineup

Kiermaier DH
Robertson RF
Span LF
Cron 1B
Wendle 2B
Moore C
Adames SS
Arroyo 3B
Johnson CF
Archer RHP

Noteworthiness

— Carlos Gomez, who agreed to a one-year, $4 million contract on February 21, is expected to join the team on Saturday.

— Travis Sawchick (FanGraphs) had an interesting take on the Rays move away from hitters like Logan Morrison, Corey Dickerson and Steven Souza Jr., reckoning they are moving away from hitters that struggle against the fastball.

According to Sawchick (by way of Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors) there is one common thread among the hitters they’ve let go: a susceptibility to whiffs against four-seam fastballs:

Corey Dickerson swung through more four-seamers than anyone in Major League Baseball last season by a wide margin, Sawchik notes, while Steven Souza was third on that list and Logan Morrison tied for seventh. Sawchik also notes that each of the three had declines in the season’s second half (though Morrison maintained above-average production). Replacements such as Carlos Gomez and especially C.J. Cron had fewer struggles against the fastball, he adds. Sawchik has written in the past about how the Tampa Bay organization emphasizes utilizing elevated fastballs as a weapon more than most other clubs, so perhaps that trend applies to both sides of the ball.

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