The Tampa Bay Rays made a flurry of roster moves on Saturday to compensate for a deluge of injuries, placing Jason Adam (left oblique strain) on the 15-day IL, Brandon Lowe (right kneecap fracture) on the 10-day IL — although he’s expected to miss 4-6 weeks — Luke Raley (cervical strain) on the 10-Day IL, and Calvin Faucher (biceps tendinitis) on the 60-day IL. To compensate for the moves, the team recalled RHP Chris Devenski, and selected the contract of OF Raimel Tapia.
As mentioned above, Lowe will miss 4-to-6 weeks of action after suffering the fracture when he fouled a ball off his knee. He, conceivably, could be back in time for the postseason should the team make a deep run.
This will be Tapia’s third different big-league team of the season, and his fifth club in less than two years after playing with Colorado in 2021 and Toronto last season. Tapia signed a minor league deal with Boston over the winter and ended up appearing in 39 games for the Red Sox before being released in June. He later signed a big league deal with Milwaukee and played in 20 games before the Brewers designated him for assignment and subsequently released him.
Overall, Tapia slashed .230 BA/.308 OBP/.338 SLG/.646 OPS over 158 combined plate appearances with Boston and Milwaukee, as well as .269 BA/.371 OBP/.414 SLG/.785 OPS across 124 PA with the Durham Bulls Tampa Bay signed the outfielder to a minor league contract in early August.
Tapia has a decent .273 career batting average in 2016 big-league PA, albeit without much pop to show all of the contact he makes. He is known as an excellent baserunner, and Tapia’s speed has helped him beat out some infield grounders to the tune of a .328 career BABIP. Even so, he is more known as a fourth-outfielder type who can play all three positions in a pinch (although he’s primarily a corner outfielder). He also provides bench depth as a pinch-runner.
Tapia is a better hitter against southpaw pitching, yet he provides Tampa Bay with some balance within their mostly right-handed hitting outfield group. It should be noted that Randy Arozarena left Friday’s contest due to quad tightness and is listed as day-to-day, so with Tapia’s selection, the Rays might be looking to bolster the outfield should Arozarena need a couple of days off.
Raley was placed on the IL and replaced by top prospect Junior Caminero. Right-handed reliever Trevor Kelley was designated for assignment to make room for Caminero on the 40-man roster. Caminero should make his Major League debut tonight now that the roster move is official.