Luis Patiño, Ryan Yarbrough, and Brent Honeywell, among others, threw bullpen sessions heading into the weekend, as the Tampa Bay Rays continue to ramp things up heading into the first full-squad workout.
Patiño — the No. 38 prospect according to ZiPS (MLB Pipeline’s No. 19 overall prospect) — boasts a 97 mph fastball that tops out at 100 mph, as well as a plus slider and changeup, and was electric on Friday.
Very, very motivated. Driven to be really, really good. Motivated, driven and really hungry to be good are kind of the three things that we’ve heard — along with just outstanding work ethic. … The ball really comes out of his hand. He’s really physical, strong-looking kid … Seems very motivated, very polished, very mature for what he’s been through already in a brief career.
— Kevin Cash
Meanwhile, both Yarbrough and Honeywell also threw on Friday. Yarbrough said there weren’t any residual ill feelings toward the Rays front office after losing his arbitration case.
It’s something I’m not trying to dwell on this point. I’m just glad to be back in Spring Training, glad to be back out here, see everybody again. Get back to some semblance of a normal year. Just trying to focus on that and get ready for the season.
— Ryan Yarbrough
The left-hander could be in the best position to handle a normal workload after coming off a shortened season. Yarbrough told Adam Berry (MLB.com) he hasn’t set any expectations for his workload this season.
I know that our coaching staff, front office, everyone’s going to do a really good job of not letting anybody get out of control or putting you in a situation to potentially get hurt. As far as my mindset, I’m just going to take the ball and just throw as much as I can until they come out and get it from me.
— Ryan Yarbrough
As for the right-handed Honeywell — who hasn’t seen game-time action since 2017 — the hurler is feeling as good as he has in years after a string of injuries kept him on the shelf.
It’s been a while, but I can’t complain. It’s kind of made me who I am today. I’m excited. I’m healthy. … Everything is good. After this last one, it was a big-time help for me, and it was a big-time relief of my elbow. Everything is so-called ‘on track,’ and we’re moving in the right direction.
— Brent Honeywell
The right-hander threw a “short-box” bullpen session to a catcher positioned on top of home plate which Rays skipper Kevin Cash spoke favorably of.
He looks to be in a really good spot. The guys were very complimentary after his brief bullpen session.
— Kevin Cash
Brendan McKay continues to rehabilitate from left shoulder surgery in late August to repair a torn labrum. While he isn’t slated to throw off the mound until mid-March, the two-way player has been playing catch from 60, 90, and ultimately 120 feet. In the meantime, McKay will continue to hit throughout Spring Training.
He’s going to get an opportunity to take the next four, five, six weeks and hit. He’s had some broken seasons because of injuries and not too long ago he was rated as the best college hitter coming out of the draft. This might be a pretty good opportunity to get him back in the batter’s box and let him work just on the hitting side.
— Kevin Cash
On the rehab front, Cash says McKay continues on schedule in terms of pitching, and it’s expected McKay will hit in Spring Training games.
McKay likely will also get the opportunity to hit in Grapefruit League games potentially around the same mid-March period when he’ll be back on the mound.
We felt it was important to give him the opportunity to come in and focus on hitting and see how he feels, what we think. Not that we’ll make that many judgments on Spring Training performance — we try to avoid doing that — but to give him a path to just really focus on getting in the cage, doing what the hitters do throughout a normal spring.
— Kevin Cash
Both Cash and pitching coach Kyle Snyder was impressed by the bullpen thrown by pitcher Shane McClanahan. The Rays skipper said Snyder raved Saturday “about his bullpen, the fastball, the velocity, and the breaking ball.”
Cash also said bullpen catcher Misha Dworken called it the best ‘pen he’s caught, and “that totally makes sense with the stuff McClanahan has.”
Finally, while high-leverage reliever Nick Anderson is a little behind his typical spring schedule, he spent “a good chunk of the offseason” in St. Pete, working out to enhance his mobility and strength.
The right-hander mentioned that his fatigue at the end of last season, as well as his short IL stint during the regular season, were circumstances related to the oddness of the truncated season more than anything else.
I think it’s just the way that the whole thing turned out. Not having that whole season to kind of build-up.
— Nick Anderson
He has begun throwing bullpen sessions and is excited by the prospects for the upcoming campaign.
All good.
— Nick Anderson