Christian Arroyo, the prize in the trade for Evan Longoria, is headed for a big league promotion. (Photo Credit: BrianFlemingPhotography.com)

The Tampa Bay Rays placed Carlos Gomez on the 10-day disabled list with a strained right groin before Wednesday’s series finale In Kansas City. Christian Arroyo has been called up to take his place on the roster. Meanwhile, Matt Duffy (right hamstring tightness), who also left Tuesday night’s game, although it was not serious enough to warrant a trip to the DL, and he could return to action as early as Friday against the Angels in Anaheim.

Arroyo, the prize in the deal that sent Evan Longoria to San Francisco last December, has yet to make his Rays debut. He is currently is ranked as the club’s number six prospect by MLB Pipeline, as well as baseball’s number 80 overall prospect and the number four third-base prospect.

The infielder was the 25th overall selection in the 2013, and made his Major League debut with the Giants last season, playing in 34 games and slashing .192 BA/.244 OBP/.304 SLG/.549 OPS with 3 HR over 135 plate appearances. Following Spring Training, he was optioned to Triple-A Durham, where he is hitting .200 with a homer and eight RBI in 17 games.

Well we’ve got some (left-handed starters) coming into play in Anaheim, manager Kevin Cash said. He’ll get some opportunities. He’s played mostly third base. But he’s versatile in the fact he can play short, second and third. We saw all of that in Spring Training. And especially with Matt nursing a little bit of a hamstring. I’m not quite sure when he’s going to be available, but we’re hoping it’s just going to be a couple of days.

As for Duffy, the infielder told reporters that his hamstring had improved from Tuesday night, which encouraged him about his chances for a quick return to the lineup.

I think it feels about like it did after I strained it (earlier in the season) and took three days off, Duffy said. And the last time we took four days off before we started ramping things up, so maybe a day or two here. It’s not quite perfect, which is why I’m not in the lineup, but it’s not far off.

… Running the bases is the main concern. You get to the point where you’re torn between either hurting the team by not being able to run hard, or hurting yourself because you do run hard. I think we’re probably going to play it a little safe. If I need one extra day, first day in Anaheim, I don’t think that’s out of question to take two days off and then go from there.

Duffy has been one of the Rays’ most productive players at the plate. He’s hitting .322 with two home runs and 14 RBI.

Gomez left Tuesday night’s win over the Royals due to the groin injury. The 32-year-old outfielder is batting .200 with five home runs, 11 RBI (and the worst walk rate of his career) over 37 games.

Obviously, the way he plays, how intense he is running the bases, playing the outfield, probably the smart (move was) to get him off his feet for 10 days and not allow him to aggravate it, Cash said. It will be a loss.

I know Carlos hasn’t swung the bat the way he’s capable of, but you know eventually he’s going to get hot. We’re still waiting, but maybe this will give him a little bit of a blow, rest his mind as much as his groin, and come back and get us going once he does come back.

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