6:47 Update: From Topkin, “Rays call up Rhymes, move Farnsworth to 60-day DL, which pushes his return to June 5. Longoria on 15-day DL.”
Update: Marc Topkin reported that Longoria’s injury is related to his hamstring.
Nothing official yet from the Rays but the Times has learned Evan Longoria’s issue is related to his hamstring, at the back of his left knee, and the guesstimate is that he’ll be out 6-8 weeks.
The Rays are still sorting through options to replace Longoria and may not have a roster move today.
Andrew Friedman mentioned that the Rays would not just automatically place Longo on the DL. More so, they’d wait to see how Longo feels when he reports to the Trop today, and make a decision from there. If Longoria is put in the DL, the Rays would make an internal move to fill the void created. It’s been speculated that, if the worst case scenario pans out, Sean Rodriguez would move to third. Tampa Bay would then call up either Will Rhymes or Reid Brignac to cover short-stop.
I’m about to get all Huffington Post up in this piece, and get my news aggregator on! The article below is a re-post of a Grant Brisbee/Baseball Nation piece that came out earlier.
Evan Longoria Injury: Rays Star Getting MRI On Knee
By Grant Brisbee – Editor
Evan Longoria hurt his knee on an awkward slide during a stolen base attempt.
May 1, 2012 – Evan Longoria is off to a fantastic start for the Rays, hitting .329/.433/.561 with four homers and seven doubles in 82 at-bats. He’s also in danger of going on the disabled list for a sore left knee. From Marc Tompkin of theTampa Bay Times:
Longoria is “a little bit sore behind the knee,” manager Joe Maddon said, and will undergo further testing, and likely an MRI, on Tuesday.
Longoria slid into second base on a stolen-base attempt on Monday night, lost his balance after popping up, and extended his leg awkwardly.
It was kind of a David Lee Roth move, if you think about it. Would have been cool if he had meant to do it. Which he didn’t. Ouch.
Joe Maddon described Longoria as day-to-day, and there’s no word about the third baseman going on the disabled list. While Longoria is out, the Rays will likely play some combination of Jeff Keppinger and Elliot Johnson.