Top Tampa Bay Rays prospect, right-hander Brent Honeywell, fractured a bone in his right elbow during a scheduled bullpen session in Port Charlotte and is out for the season. Dr. James Andrews will perform surgery on Monday, in Pensacola, and the team will have a timetable after the procedure. Honeywell was already on the mend from 2018 Tommy John surgery.
The team said the fracture is of the right medial epicondyle — a bone on the inside of the elbow connected to the ulnar collateral ligament, which was repaired during TJ surgery.
Honeywell had already experienced a major setback in his rehabilitation this April when he was put on the shelf temporarily with forearm soreness, which stemmed from nerve irritation in his upper arm. At the time, the Rays were not overly concerned because it was neither structural nor connected to the elbow ligament surgery.
It is a big hit for both team and Honeywell, as he was projected for a big league promotion at some point during the 2019 season. The outlook, however, is now unclear even for the 2020 season.
Roster Update
— Joey Wendle (fractured wrist) and catcher Michael Perez (oblique) were slated to appear in a rehab game with Triple-A Durham, yet the contest was rained out on Saturday.
Interestingly enough, Wendle was going to take the field at shortstop, with Rays manager Kevin Cash saying “when he gets back … we definitely want to have that option.’’
— Called up from Triple-A as the 26th man for the doubleheader, Austin Pruitt, worked in relief in the nightcap and is headed back to Durham.
— After spending seven days on the family medical emergency list, LHP Jose Alvarado will be transferred to the restricted list with the expectation that he will rejoin the team early this week.
— Jose De Leon’s 30-day rehab assignment ended last week, but he was given the first of three potential 10-day extensions for pitchers coming back from Tommy John surgery. So far De Leon is 0-0 with a 3.72 ERA in seven MiLB outings. With Honeywell shelved indefinitely, De Leon could play a crucial role with the Rays as the season progresses.
— Marc Topkin (Tampa Bay Times) wrote that Yonny Chirinos’ dazzling eight-inning start on Friday still might not be enough to officially get him in the starting rotation:
Righty Yonny Chirinos was dazzling again Friday in throwing eight shutout innings, retiring the first 15 hitters for the second time in his last three outings, improving his record to 7-2, 2.87 overall and 4-2, 2.27 in seven starts. But that is still not enough to earn him a promotion to (a) full-time starter, not even just temporarily until Tyler Glasnow returns in July. “We’re still going to make the decision (what’s) best to help us win that game, win that series,’’ manager Kevin Cash said. “And if we feel it’s best to use an opener we’ll continue to do that.’’
— Marc Topkin