Over the past few days, the Tampa Bay Rays acquired a pair of players including Wyatt Mathisen.

Over the past few days, the Tampa Bay Rays have acquired a pair of players — INF Wyatt Mathisen from the Diamondbacks and Sean Poppen from the Pirates — and in so doing, their 40-man roster is now full.

Wyatt Mathisen

Mathisen was designated for assignment by the Diamondbacks last week, and he will report to Triple-A Durham.

The infielder made his big-league debut last season in Arizona, and across 32 games and 84 plate appearances, Mathisen slashed .159 BA/.298 OBP/.290 SLG/.588 OPS. However, in 2507 minor league appearances, he accrued a .272 BA/.360 OBP/.396 SLG/.756 OPS line with some decent on-base skills.

Third base has been his primary position over his minor league career, however, he can also play both corner outfield positions. A caveat though, the outfield work is a relatively new part of his defensive arsenal, as he hadn’t played outside the infield until 2019.

Sean Poppen

Pittsburgh had recently designated Poppen for assignment. The right-hander was optioned to Triple-A Durham although he could see some action with the Rays, given how frequently they shuffle their pitching mix.

Poppen had seen time in the big league in each of the past three seasons (2019-20 with the Twins, 2021 with the Pirates) but hasn’t found much in the way of success — logging 20-2/3 innings of major league service time but yielding 18 runs (15 earned) on 30 hits and 11 walks with 23 punch outs. His sinker averages 94.4 mph and has resulted in a solid 46.8% ground-ball rate. He pairs that pitch with a slider and a seldom-used changeup. Interestingly enough, Poppen’s sinker and slider tend to mirror one another, which enhances the deception of the pitches.

Poppen has been more successful in the minors, where he boasts a 3.39 ERA and 413 strikeouts in 413-2/3 frames through 85 outings, including 72 starts. The Rays hope their track record of “fixing” pitchers works in their favor once again.

Anytime we acquire guys and they’re going to Durham, it’s fair to envision that there’s a scenario that they can help us. Briefly talking to (general manager Erik Neander) this afternoon, we’ll take all the pitching that we can get, and the Poppen guy seems to be a guy that he’s got a pretty big fastball. Maybe there’s some messaging that (Durham pitching coach) Rick Knapp can provide and we can see if we can help him, and in return he helps us at some point throughout the year.

— Kevin Cash

All 13 of his big-league appearances have come out of the bullpen, although it’s conceivable that Tampa Bay could try to stretch him out, either as a multi-inning reliever or as a depth option in the rotation. The right-hander carries a respectable 3.88 ERA in 65 Triple-A innings.

Noteworthiness

— RHP Michael Wacha (right hamstring tightness) will face hitters in a simulated game on Wednesday afternoon at Camden Yards.

— Kevin Kiermaier (sprained left wrist) is close to being activated from the 10-day Injured List and could return as soon as Wednesday.

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