Camp is over for the Tampa Bay Rays, and today marks the start of the 2022 Grapefruit League season. Per Neil Solondz (Rays Radio), a small number of the regulars will go to Fort Myers today, with the home opener set for Saturday.
Chris Mazza will get the start for Tampa Bay, while Cody Reed is also slated to pitch. Mazza and Reed are the non-roster pitchers in camp with the greatest chance of making the roster to start the season.
Meanwhile, back in Port Charlotte, a handful of pitchers will throw live batting practice including Shane McClanahan, Drew Rasmussen, Pete Fairbanks, Colin Poche, and newcomer Jason Adam.
Rays 3/18/22 Starting Lineup
- Walls SS
- J. Lowe CF
- Brujan 3B
- Mejía C
- Aranda 2B
- Boldt RF
- Mastrobuoni LF
- Gray 1B
- Quiroz DH
- Mazza RHP
Noteworthiness
— It would appear that the Covid intake complications which impacted Brendan McKay are now in the rearview mirror, as the two-way player arrived at camp on Thursday. McKay, who had thoracic outlet syndrome last season after a different shoulder injury in 2020, is now at full health.
I’m pretty much back to normal. Thrown a couple of bullpens I think we have another one scheduled for next week, depending on how everything goes the rest of this week. So hopefully, once that goes, we start ramping things up and can progress a lot quicker.
— Brendan McKay, on Saturday
After throwing just 13 combined innings over the past two seasons, the left-hander is looking to re-establish himself.
Now that I’m back I want to make as many lasting memories as I can. Whether it be in Durham or wherever it be, up in the big leagues, just be excited to play the game.
— Brendan McKay
McKay is expected to focus on pitching.
— Luis Patiño, Ryan Yarbrough, and Jalen Beeks threw live batting practice on Thursday, and Rays skipper Kevin Cash was pleased with what he saw.
After averaging just 86.5 miles per hour on his fastball last season — a career-low — Yarbrough’s fastball velocity was up yesterday, sitting at 89-90 mph. The southpaw also increased the velocity on his cutter, which sat between 83-86 mph yesterday (up from 81.9 mph last season).
Cash was also impressed by Patiño, who took a major step forward after pitching out of the bullpen last September.
You’re not a bullpen pitcher, you are a starter. But to help us right now, we’re going to put you in the pen and we want to see you just let it go from pitch one and we’ll come take the ball. The more he can take that mentality to a starter, he’s going to be pretty special.
There’s a lot of excitement. I personally am excited to see where he can take off. It was easy to forget how young he was and the special things that he did for us. … There’s so much to like with him. It’s electric stuff, and now it’s just a matter of him harnessing it and knowing how to use it.
— Kevin Cash
For his part, Patiño has focused on improving his curveball and changeup — a pitch against which left-handed hitters slashed .274 BA/.378 OBP/.452 SLG/.830 OPS in ’21. He also changed his routine to focus on building muscle in his core and especially in his lower body. He reportedly entered camp stronger and more mobile on the mound than he was last season.
Definitely, I think this is going to be a big year for me. That’s why I worked so hard this offseason. I knew this would be a good year with the experience that I have and everything that I’ve learned. I think it’s just going to lead into a good year, and as long as I keep on working hard, I think it’s going to turn out well.
— Luis Patiño