Tuesday marked the third day of full-squad workouts for the Tampa Bay Rays. Among the hurlers who threw live batting practice were Matt Andriese, Brad Boxberger, Alex Colome, the hard throwing Ryne Stanek and Chris Archer, who tossed a simulated two-inning stint — wherein he threw 15 pitches, rested for six or seven minutes, then threw 15 more.
I was happy overall, Archer said. First time facing hitters. First time working with Sucre. It was overall a really, really good day.
(Audio courtesy of Rays Radio)
Rays skipper Kevin Cash was complimentary of those he watched, including the right-handed Boxberger:
Everybody I saw looked pretty good, Cash said. …You saw the depth on his (Boxberger) changeup, which was great to see. The ball’s coming out of his hand really well.
(Audio courtesy of Rays Radio)
Cash also announced the pitchers of the first three Grapefruit League games, including Friday’s season opener against the Minnesota Twins:
Friday: RHP Austin Pruitt (start), RHP Jacob Faria, RHP Ryan Garton, RHP Diego Moreno, RHP Ryne Stanek, RHP Hunter Wood, LHP José Alvarado, RHP Jeff Walters
Saturday: RHP David Carpenter (start), LHP Dana Eveland, RHP Danny Farquhar, RHP Cory Rasmus, LHP Justin Marks, RHP Jaime Schultz, RHP Neil Wagner, RHP Taylor Guerrieri
Sunday: RHP Chris Archer (start), RHP Chase Whitley, RHP Kevin Gadea, RHP Chih-Wei Hu, LHP Ryan Yarbrough, RHP Jeff Ames, RHP Andrew Kittredge
Evan Longoria, who reportedly is dealing with flu-like and missed Monday’s workout, missed Tuesday’s workout as well. Longoria was sent home after arriving to camp this morning with a high fever.
He came in today, pretty high fever, Cash said. (Head athletic trainer Ron Porterfield) just felt like we should get him home and more rest.
Meanwhile, Matt Duffy took a step forward in his recovery from heel surgery, taking batting practice on the field for the first time this spring. Duffy told Marc Topkin (Tampa Bay Times) he was pleased to hit with the full team today, and said his surgically repaired left heel felt good.
Matt Duffy took BP with the team today, his first this #SpringTraining #Rays #MLB #baseball pic.twitter.com/nh1LLTGmlB
— Will Vragovic (@willvrag) February 21, 2017
Duffy has taken infield work in controlled situations, which he calls “stationary ground work” since he’s not chasing down the balls. The shortstop is slated to take swings at live pitching Wednesday.
He told Bill Chastain (MLB.com) he’s not anxious about his progress, but he allowed he’s impatient. Most importantly, he’s feeling good.
Cash gave Duffy a rave review for the work he put in, saying:
He (Duffy) looked really good, Cash said. I would say from a visual standpoint, just from watching him, today was his best day. He was out here early for early ground balls and was out on the field quite a bit today, so that’s obviously a good sign that he’s feeling good and we are getting him out on the field more.
Duffy is not expected to appear in games until sometime in March.
News broke that Matt Wieters agreed to a two-year, $21-Million deal with the Washington Nationals on Tuesday, ending any speculation that Tampa Bay might sign the veteran catcher.
That leaves catching in the hands of Curt Casali, Luke Maile and, once he’s healthy, Wilson Ramos.
There also is a measured amount of conjecture that Tampa Bay might target Derek Norris, who has been displaced by Wieters. However, Topkin threw water on the smoldering rumor, saying:
Given that they passed previously on Derek Norris when he was readily available in trade, they likely wouldn’t have much interest in taking him off the Nats’ hands now, nor ex-mate Jose Lobaton, who figures to stay in Washington as the backup.
Cash insisted they feel good about the group:
Sucre, we’re still learning about. But everything from what the pitchers have said, and Paul Hoover and Jamie Nelson talking about him, he’s going to bring a nice defensive weapon to us in the competition. …Curt and Luke, we’ve both talked about how they’ve kind of come in this offseason. You can tell, both of them kind of look a little more confident, a little more comfortable. And I say that in a good way. We’re very content with those guys, not for bounce-back years from them, but for them to find that comfort and to be the type of players that they’re capable of.
Noteworthiness
— Per Topkin, Major League Baseball approved a rule allowing for a dugout signal — rather than forcing a pitcher to throw four balls — for an intentional walk, effective for the 2017 season, ESPN reported.
— Jim Joyce, John Hirschbeck, Tim Welke and “Balkin'” Bob Davidson announced they are retiring from Major League Baseball’s umpire staff.