After tying Atlanta on Saturday, the Tampa Bay Rays will hit the road Sunday afternoon, when they will face the Minnesota Twins in Ft. Myers, in the first game of the 2022 Knutson Cup. Tampa Bay also made a pair of acquisitions this weekend, which you can read about below.
On Saturday, local product Phoenix Sanders threw two scoreless frames while Mike Zunino did as he is wont to do: hit a two-run blast.
Sanders allowed one hit and a free pass while striking out one. The right-hander was in big league camp the past two seasons, yet the shortened Spring precluded him from receiving an invitation to big league camp.
Any opportunity over here is always a good one, throwing in front of, you could argue, the best staff in the game right now. It’s always a blessing and an opportunity that everyone tries to take advantage of, so today was a good day.
…It definitely felt good. Super comfortable, a lot of those guys I played with over time, and that was the first time throwing to Zunino and that was really, really great to do.
— Phoenix Sanders
The 10th round draft pick out of USF in the 2017 draft was excellent last season in Durham, posting a 3.38 ERA and 0.91 WHIP with 80 strikeouts across 64 innings (+50 appearances).
Meanwhile, Gator Mike launched a 2-2, two-out, two-run blast to left field in the second inning of the Rays’ Grapefruit League home opener, which seemed to surprise him.
Zunino took a few pitches to get a feel for Atlanta right-hander Jackson Stephens, then unloaded on a breaking ball.
It’s just so much trying to control what I’m doing in the box right now. Results are great, but I hope it cools down. I want to save some of those for the season.
— Mike Zunino
The New What Next
Relief prospect Colby White, who pitched for all four of the Rays full-season Minor League affiliates last season, is slated to start this afternoon. Brett Phillips, Taylor Walls, Josh Lowe, and Rene Pinto are in the lineup.
Back in Port Charlotte, Corey Kluber, JP Feyereisen, Brooks Raley, Matt Wisler, and JT Chargois will throw live batting practice sessions.
Rays 3/20/21 Starting Lineup
- Phillips CF
- Walls 3B
- J. Lowe RF
- Pinto C
- Aranda 2B
- Jones SS
- Gray 1B
- Boldt LF
- Witherspoon DH
Noteworthiness
— The Rays acquired a pair of players yesterday, trading for corner outfielder Luke Raley from the LA Dodgers, while signing infielder Ryon Healy to a minor league deal. To make room for Raley on the 40-man roster, Tampa Bay moved Yonny Chirinos to the 60-day Injured List.
Raley made his big league debut in 2021, yet he didn’t perform well over his first 72 plate appearances — striking out 25 times while drawing just two walks. Yet, the 27-year-old has a much better minor league track record, slashing .289 BA/.367 OBP/.489 SLG/.856 OPS in five minor league seasons since being drafted in 2016. That includes a .297 BA/.384 OBP/.553 SLG/.937 showing over 456 Triple-A plate appearances.
He was ranked near the back half of the Dodgers’ top 30 farmhands for the past few seasons (per Baseball America) despite a lack of defensive value. Baseball America credits Raley with big raw power.
Raley is affordable and can step right into the big league mix for the Rays, although he still has a minor league option year remaining, so they won’t need to carry him on the active roster. Even so, he’ll bolster the organizational depth and could see a more immediate path to playing time if the team trades Austin Meadows, which they are considering.
Rays General Manager Peter Bendix said they had pursued Luke Raley on multiple occasions prior to the acquisition.
He’s big, he’s strong, he’s fast, and he’s got a lot of power. We think he’s a pretty good defender in the outfield, some experience at first base. Just the type of player (where) you can never have too much depth in that area.
— Peter Bendix
Healy is a veteran of five seasons. His last appearance on a big stage came in 2020 when he served as the Brewers’ DH and cleanup hitter in Game Two of the Wildcard series against the Dodgers.
Healy has a career .261 BA/.298 OBP/.450 SLG/.748 OPS slash line over 1606 big league plate appearances — almost all of those appearances came with the Athletics in 2016-17 and the Mariners in 2018-19. The A’s dealt Healy to Seattle in November 2017 since Matt Olson and Matt Chapman were blocking the way at Healy’s two corner infield positions. Healy followed up a 25-homer campaign in 2017 by slugging 24 long balls in Seattle, yet his hitting numbers declined overall, and injuries limited him to just 47 games in 2019. Healy bounced to the Brewers from there, and then to the KBO League.
The Eagles released Healy in July after he slashed .257 BA/.306 OBP/.394 SLG/.704 OBP over 268 plate appearances. He struggled to consistently get on base in both Korea and in MLB, and his power dropoff with the Eagles was a step backward for a player who at one had been a three true outcomes player.
Tampa Bay has been looking for a right-handed hitter with first base ability, and while the infielder fits that description, Healy is likely a backup plan the Rays’ needs.