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TNWN: Rays in salvage mode; Glasnow and Duffy updates

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  • Despite going 1-for-4 with an RBI, not even Avisail Garcia could help the Rays defeat the New York Yankees on Tuesday. (Photo Credit: Tampa Bay Rays)

The Tampa Bay Rays are in salvage mode after dropping the first two games in New York against the Yankees. Tampa Bay enters play at 2-6 against the Yankees this season and has lost 14 of the last 15 road series with the Yankees (the Rays are 12-33 in New York 2014).

The 6-3 loss yesterday was all the more disappointing since the pitching staff (minus Ryan Yarbrough, who was excellent) could not contain the Yankees, not to mention Yandy Diaz (left hamstring tightness) was not in the lineup. Diaz has been placed on the Injured List retroactive to Monday, while INF Daniel Robertson has been recalled to take his place on the active roster.

Diaz left Sunday’s game in the ninth inning, and hasn’t played since. Rays manager Kevin Cash spoke about the potential loss of Diaz prior to the roster move.

We’re trying to take it as a day-to-day thing. The last thing you want to do is put him out there when he’s not feeling right and something maybe a little more severe possibly could happen. He’s been such a big part of the offense lately, even on the homestand he was really swinging the bat well. We don’t want to lose him for an extended period of time.

— Kevin Cash

Speaking of poor pitching, Rays skipper Kevin Cash said that pulling Yarbrough for Chaz Roe — who allowed three runs in 2/3 of an inning on Tuesday, and eight runs across 5-2/3 innings extending back to June 2 — was a “difficult decision,” however, he wanted the matchup against all the Yankees right-handed hitters. Cash went on to say that even though Oliver Drake was warming up in the bullpen, he wanted to stay with Roe through the frame.

For his part, Roe said, “I felt good. I threw some pitches that were out of the zone and they were just able to get enough wood on it for it to fall in. Things just didn’t go my way tonight.”

Personally, I would love to stop seeing Chaz Roe in any high leverage situations, as would most Rays fans.

Over the life of this series, Tampa Bay has been outscored 9-3 and out homered 4-0. The Rays have now allowed 16 homers in the last 15 days, while New York has homered in 21 consecutive games — four shy of the franchise record. Per Neil Solondz (Rays Radio) the Rays are 8-8 in their stretch of 21 games in 20 days from June 4-23 and are 16-13 in their stretch of 34 games in 34 days.

The New What Next

Left-hander Blake Snell (4-5, 3.70 ERA) will get the start for the Rays, pitching opposite of Grimace lookalike C.C. Sabathia (3-4, 4.42 ERA).

Blake Snell allowed four runs (three earned) on five hits and four walks across 3-1/3 against the Angels on Friday. He struck out three. That start marked Snell’s shortest outing since May 1, although he was able to avoid a loss because the Rays offense scored nine runs against the Angels bullpen. Snell has been a little hot and cold of late, yielding just one run in three of his last seven starts, but more than three runs in under five frames in his other two. Overall, Snell is 4-5 with a 3.70 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, and 101 punch outs across 75-1/3 innings this season, and is 3-5 with a 3.97 ERA in 13 career starts against the Yankees (59.0 innings of work).

C.C. Sabathia coughed up six runs (five earned) on 10 hits and three walks while striking out three over 4-2/3 innings against the White Sox. Sabathia was tagged for four first-inning runs, including a three-run blast by Eloy Jimenez, and things went downhill from there. The left-hander had been taken deep at least once in nine straight starts, and as a result, he carries a 4.42 ERA and 2.38 K/BB through 57 into his next outing against Tampa Bay, on Wednesday. Over his career against the Rays, Sabathia is 17-16 with a 3.63 ERA and is 0-0 with a 2.45 ERA in two starts against the Rays this season ― although he averaged 5.5 IP in each of those starts. Key Matchups: Willy Adames (3-12, HR, 2 RBI, BB), Travis d’Arnaud (3-9, 2 BB), Kevin Kiermaier (5-16, 2 HR, 2 RBI), Brandon Lowe (1-4, BB), Austin Meadows (1-4, BB), Joey Wendle (1-2), Mike Zunino (5-11, HR, RBI, BB)

You can read about the series in our preview, while the starting lineup and Noteworthiness are below.

TNWN: Rays vs Yankees ― yet another series preview

Rays 6/19/19 Starting Lineup

  1. d’Arnaud C
  2. Pham LF
  3. Meadows RF
  4. Garcia DH
  5. Adames SS
  6. Lowe 2B
  7. Heredia CF
  8. Choi 1B
  9. Robertson 3B

Noteworthiness

― Tyler Glasnow was happy with his 15 pitch bullpen session (all fastballs) and lines up to throw another on Friday.

First time throwing off the mound in a long time, but it felt like I hadn’t taken any time off, so that’s good.

― Tyler Glasnow

The right-hander hasn’t thrown any breaking balls yet but said working on his lower-half mechanics will make it easier to spin the ball, which he will likely start next week.

I’m a big believer, for me anyway, the more consistent I am and strong in the low half, like if my hips are in the right spot and I’m not cross firing and I feel strong with my legs and everything comes out in the right spot. So I know if my fastball feels good, my curveball is going to feel good. It’s basically like the exact same thing, it’s just over and under. But the consistency as far as pitch location was extremely good, so I know my curveball will come along.

― Tyler Glasnow

― 3B Matt Duffy (hamstring, back) took batting practice with the Gulf Coast League Rays yesterday, and logged at-bats in a simulated game in Port Charlotte. The Rays manager said Duffy told him this is “probably the best he’s felt where he has not felt anything in his hamstring, which is a great sign.”

We’ll start this back up, the buildup, the playing time. He’s still got a ways to go. Everything’s been interrupted so far. Hopefully, we can get it to go with no interruptions.

— Kevin Cash

Rays 6/18/19 pregame notes; on Alvarado, Duffy, and Glasnow

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  • Citing a need for a fresh arm in the ‘pen, the Rays recalled right-hander Andrew Kittredge from Triple-A Durham on Tuesday. (Photo Credit: Tampa Bay Rays)

After a 3-0 loss to the New York Yankees on Monday, the Tampa Bay Rays look to bounce back tonight in the Bronx. Tampa Bay enters play at 42-28 on the season and 1-1/2 games back of the Yankees in the AL East.

Yankee Stadium has been a house of horrors for Tampa Bay, as the Rays have lost three of four there this season, and the last 14 series openers in that ballpark. That’s due in part to a pitching staff that hasn’t been able to keep the ball in the yard of late, allowing 14 homers in the last 14 days. Accordingly, the Yankees homered for all of their runs last night and now have hit the long ball in 20 consecutive games.

It won’t get any easier for the Rays tonight. After adding Edwin Encarnacion to the lineup yesterday Giancarlo Stanton will be activated from the Injured List today.

The New What Next

Ryne Stanek (0-1, 2.45 ERA) will open for the Rays tonight Ryan Yarbrough (5-3, 5.59 ERA). They will be opposed by left-hander J.A. Happ (6-3, 4.66 ERA).

Ryne Stanek will make his third open this year against New York, and fifth appearance against them overall. In the two previous opening turns, he has allowed one run in four innings, with the run coming on a solo homer by Kendrys Morales, who’s currently on the IL.

Ryan Yarbrough allowed five runs on five hits and one walk across six innings against the Angels on Thursday. He struck out four. All five hits went for extra bases ― including a three-run homer from Shohei Ohtani, and a two-run shot from Albert Pujols. Aside from that, Yarbrough pitched quite well and needed an efficient 90 pitches (58 strikes, 64% strike rate) to complete six innings. Yarbrough’s form has been erratic lately; he’s allowed five or more earned runs three times in the last six starts while yielding two or fewer in the other three. He is 3-2 with a 3.71 ERA in 17 career innings against the Yankees.

J.A. Happ allowed four runs on four hits and four walks while striking out two through five innings in his last start. Happ looked solid until the fourth inning when he loaded the bases on a single and a pair of walks ― it was the first time all season that Happ pitched with the bases loaded. Despite throwing nine straight balls, the 36-year-old managed to wiggle out of the jam without any damage. The White Sox got to Happ again in the fifth inning when the left-hander gave up a leadoff walk to Yolmer Sanchez, then allowed a single to Ryan Cordell and an RBI double to Leury Garcia. Tim Anderson followed with a three-run, 416-foot homer to even the score at four apiece. The long ball has proven to be Happ’s nemesis this season, and Thursday was no exception. He carries a 4.68 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, and a 3.21 K/BB on the season, and is 4-4 with a 4.34 ERA in 16 career starts against Tampa Bay. He relies primarily on a whiffy 92 mph four-seam fastball and an 89 mph worm-killer sinker which has some natural sinking action, while also mixing in an 84 mph slider with little depth, and an 86 mph changeup with some natural sinking action. Key Matchups: Avisail Garcia (3-9, 2 HR, 2 RBI), Guillermo Heredia (2-7, BB)

You can read about the series in our preview, while the starting lineup and Noteworthiness are below.

TNWN: Rays vs Yankees ― yet another series preview

Rays 6/18/19 Starting Lineup

  1. d’Arnaud 1B
  2. Pham DH
  3. Lowe 2B
  4. García RF
  5. Adames SS
  6. Kiermaier CF
  7. Heredia LF
  8. Zunino C
  9. Wendle 3B

Noteworthiness

— Citing a need for a fresh arm in the ‘pen, the Rays recalled right-hander Andrew Kittredge — who was originally slated to be recalled last week but his wife, Tobey, gave birth to their first child — from Triple-A Durham. The Rays had an open spot on the 40-man roster with Jose Alvarado still on the restricted list. To make room on the active roster, Tampa Bay optioned right-hander Jake Faria, who pitched across multiple innings last night.

— Speaking of Jose Alvarado, his return to the roster doesn’t appear imminent, with manager Kevin Cash telling Marc Topkin (Tampa Bay Times) that Alvarado will need a restart similar to an abbreviated spring training before he’s ready to rejoin the club.

I hope it doesn’t take that long, but we’re going to make sure we do everything and be responsible. We want him back right now, but we want him to come back and be the guy that he is for us, and we can’t rush that.

— Kevin Cash

The right-hander reported to Port Charlotte to resume throwing after a two-week stay in his native Venezuela. While Alvarado is in a “pretty good spot,” the Rays skipper couldn’t place a definitive timetable on his return.

Per Topkin, Cash did say that Alvarado will have to show he can pitch on consecutive days, so he will likely have to get some minor-league games under his belt before he is activated. But that would only come after bullpen sessions and live BP.

Throwing strikes, commanding the baseball and how he’s bouncing back from his outings, from the bullpen sessions, from live BP, whatever it is, it’s how he bounces back because we don’t have any relievers that aren’t capable of throwing on two consecutive days.

— Kevin Cash

— Matt Duffy (hamstring, back) is expected to take batting practice today with the Gulf Coast League Rays and have four or five at-bats in a simulated game in Port Charlotte.

— Tyler Glasnow (right forearm strain) is scheduled to throw 15-20 fastballs at Yankee Stadium in his first bullpen session since suffering the injury on May 10th against the Yankees.

Glasnow threw off a mound for the first time on Saturday, throwing entirely fastballs.

Everybody is kind of thumbs up at this point. The ball is coming out of his hand effortlessly and pain free. That’s a good sign.

— Kevin Cash

Glasnow will remain with the team and work with pitching coach Kyle Snyder and bullpen coach Stan Boroski while he builds up from the injury.

He’s done such a good job of working with Kyle and every bit of information that we can find through this buildup process, I think it makes (the) most sense to have Kyle and Stan’s eyes on it and for everyone to communicate on it as it’s going. You watch Tyler throw bullpens and there’s a lot of conversation that goes on between pitches. Don’t want to take that away from him as he’s building back up to join our club.

— Kevin Cash

Tyler Glasnow headed to the 10-day IL; Rays 5/11/19 pre-game notes

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Tyler Glasnow was placed on the 10-day IL with a right forearm strain. He is expected to miss 4-6 weeks.

The Tampa Bay Rays look to even the series against the New York Yankees tonight, after receiving relatively good news regarding right-hander Tyler Glasnow, who left last night’s ballgame with right forearm tightness.

An MRI revealed a mild forearm strain for the right-hander, not a tear in his UCL which likely would have necessitated Tommy John surgery. Glasnow was placed on the Injured List and will be shut down for 7-10 days. Depending on how he feels then, Glasnow can resume throwing and build back up, with the potential to return to the rotation in four-to-six weeks, or mid-to-late-June. With a spot open on the active roster, INF/OF Andrew Velazquez has been recalled from Triple-A Durham for at least the next five days when Glasnow would have made his next scheduled start.

Losing the right-hander is another blow for a team that already has Mike Zunino, Michael Perez, Matt Duffy and Joey Wendle on the IL. Yet the diagnosis and timetable for a return are positive as arm injuries go.

With the hurler out for at least the next month, Tampa Bay will rely on starters Blake Snell and Charlie Morton and bulk guys Yonny Chirinos and Jalen Beeks to help fill the void unless the team decides to make Chirinos a full-time starter.

There’s also the possibility that the Rays look to in-house options such as Ryan Yarbrough or Jake Faria to help with bullpen depth, or to slot into the starting rotation.

This is where we talk about our depth all the time. Our depth will be challenged and tested, and we have confidence in the guys and the options that we have.

— Kevin Cash

The Rays were able to fortify the catching ranks on Saturday by activating Travis d’Arnaud, who was acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers during Friday’s ballgame.

To make room for D’Arnaud on the 40-man roster, Matt Duffy was placed on the 60-day DL. That means Duffy cannot be activated from the IL until May 27th. The third baseman will resume his rehab Monday with the Charlotte Stone Crabs. The team optioned catcher Nick Ciuffo back to Durham to clear space on the 25-man roster, leaving Anthony Bemboom to make his big league debut at some point in the near future.

The New What Next

Ryne Stanek (0-1, 2.50 ERA) will open for the Rays today and is expected to be followed by bulk inning guy Yonny Chirinos (4-1, 3.52 ERA). They’ll be opposed by C.C. Sabathia (2-1, 3.20 ERA).

Ryne Stanek threw two scoreless frames on Tuesday in a win against the Diamondbacks. The right-hander has thrown scoreless baseball in eight of the nine games he’s opened. The Rays have allowed first-inning runs in each of the last two contests, so hopefully, Stanek can end that skid tonight.

Yonny Chirinos took a hard-luck loss against Baltimore on Saturday, allowing three runs on seven hits across 7-1/3 innings. He struck out three and walked one. Chirinos was used as a traditional starter and ended up delivering a quality start for the Rays. The right-hander has pitched well with a 3.52 ERA, 0.89 WHIP and 4.14 K/BB over 38-1/3 innings, with most of his damage coming in one outing in which he allowed six runs over 2-1/3 innings (April 12).

CC Sabathia gave up three earned runs on five hits over five innings while striking out five and walking three against the Mariners. The swarthy southpaw wasn’t particularly efficient, needing 99 pitches to make it through five innings, yet he was able to pick up his second victory of the season thanks to a lot of early run support. Sabathia has posted solid ratios over his five 2019 starts, performing to a 3.20 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP across 25-1/3 innings. Sabathia relies primarily on an 89 mph cutter with strong cutting action and an 80 mph sweeping slider, while also mixing in an 89 mph sinker, and a whiffy 83 mph worm-killer changeup. Sabathia is 17-16 with a 3.67 ERA in 48 career starts against Tampa Bay. Key Matchups: Willy Adames (2-8, RBI), Kevin Kiermaier (5-16, 2 HR, 2 RBI)

You can read about the series in our preview, and the starting lineup is below.

TNWN: Rays vs Yankees — a series preview

Rays 5/11/19 Starting Lineup

  1. Diaz 3B
  2. Pham LF
  3. Robertson 2B
  4. Garcia RF
  5. d’Arnaud C
  6. Meadows DH
  7. Heredia CF
  8. Adames SS
  9. Choi 1B
  10. Stanek Right-Handed Opener

Rays Roster Moves: Travis d’Arnaud acquired from LA, Tyler Glasnow exits game with right forearm tightness

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The Tampa Bay Rays acquired Travis d’Arnaud from the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday.

With their two primary catchers on the IL, the Tampa Bay Rays acquired catcher Travis d’Arnaud from the Los Angeles Dodgers for cash considerations. To make room on the 40-man roster, the Rays placed 3B Matt Duffy on the 60-day IL.

D’Arnaud has had a rather garbled season thus far. After rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, he became the Mets’ backup catcher before he was released by them on May 4.

The Dodgers then signed the d’Arnaud, who is out-of-options, with designs of trying him at other positions, yet they quickly dealt him to the Rays, who are in need of a veteran backstop with Mike Zunino (quad strain) and Michael Perez (oblique strain) on the IL.

D’Arnaud is a bounce-back candidate that has been long considered a talented, quality-hitting catcher. The 30-year-old backstop is a career .242 hitter with his best year coming in 2015 when he finished with 12 home runs and a .825 OPS as a member of the Mets. Best of all, for the fiscally conscious Rays, New York is on the hook for d’Arnaud’s $3.52-million salary (less a pro-rated portion of the league minimum).

Super excited. Have heard nothing but fantastic things not only about the way the team plays, but the environment around the clubhouse as well. It’s going to be fun.

— Travis d’Arnaud

He is expected to join the Rays in Saturday, while Anthony Bemboom will likely head back to Durham to create a 25-man roster spot.

Glasnow exits game with right forearm tightness

The Rays pulled starter Tyler Glasnow from tonight’s game after he motioned to the dugout following a strikeout of Gleyber Torres on a curveball. Rays trainers came out to check on Glasnow before quickly walking off the field with the right-hander. The team announced that right forearm tightness was the cause for the move.

In a postgame interview with Tricia Whitaker (FoxSportsRays), Glasnow said there was no pop and no pain, just tightness in his forearm for a couple of pitches. He also said he remains optimistic.

I feel fine honestly. I don’t really feel it. I threw like six pitches to end the inning and all of them I felt just a little tightness in there. So I just wanted to shut it down, kind of a precautionary reason.

— Tyler Glasnow

Glasnow will be re-evaluated tomorrow and more will be known after a full examination. Even so, it’s not the most promising initial indication, as forearm issues can be related to elbow troubles. Still, it’s too early to assume a significant problem in the joint. For context, former Ray Chris Archer was pulled from a game in September 2017 with right lateral forearm tightness which did not necessitate a stint on the IL.

The organization will anxiously wait while the right-hander gets checked out. Glasnow has been incredible for Tampa Bay this season. His velocity sits at 97.5 mph with his four-seam fastball that boasts natural cutting action, which has allowed him to induce lots of weak contact. The right-hander has worked in the zone more frequently, reduced his pitches per inning to an efficient 14.1, and generated more first strikes than ever before, allowing him to work to a 1.47 ERA with a 6.4 K/BB entering tonight’s contest.

Should Glasnow be placed on the IL, the Rays could recall RHP Jake Faria from Triple-A Durham.

LBWMF: Glasnow, Rays trounce Orioles, 7-0

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Tyler Glasnow didn’t allow a runner into scoring position Friday night, blanking the Orioles across seven frames.

After a 7-0 shellacking of the Orioles on Friday, the Tampa Bay Rays will go for the series win tonight in the second game of their three-game series against Baltimore. A win would move the Rays to 11 games over .500 for the first time this season.

Tampa Bay has yet to lose a series on the road this season, going 12-4 away from Tropicana Field. As Neil Solondz (Rays Radio) wrote, rain could be a factor tonight as it’s been throughout the trip. This is already only the third time the Rays have had multiple games postponed on the same road trip.

Tyler Glasnow was outstanding last night, allowing just three hits while striking out eight batters across seven scoreless innings. The right-hander retired the first 11 Orioles and didn’t allow a base runner until the fourth inning when he gave up an infield single. Glasnow mixed his pitches — a triple-digit fastball (49 thrown, 38 strikes, 4 whiffs, 78% strike rate) that he was able to move around the zone, a biting curveball (30 thrown, 17 strikes, 4 whiffs, 57% strike rate) with excellent depth, and few new-toy changeups (13 thrown, 7 strikes, 54% strike rate) — effectively and well. All eight of his strikeouts came on the curveball. He is undefeated with a shiny 1.47 ERA, 0.86 WHIP and 6.57 K/BB across seven starts this season.

Glasnow got a lot of help from his offense, as the luck dragons appeared to be back on the side of the Rays; a .393 BABIP last night speaks to that.

One of those luck dragonesque hits — a Tommy Pham first-inning check swing RBI double down the right-field line — gave Tampa Bay all the offense it would need.

Tampa Bay now has outscored opponents 30-10 in the first inning.

The Rays were able to add on to that slim, early lead in the middle innings. In the fourth inning, Nate Lowe and Avisail Garcia started a four-run uprising with singles, before Kevin Kiermaier lined out into deep right-field, allowing Lowe to move up to third.

Mike Zunino followed by hitting a first-pitch home run into the left-center field bullpen — the third homer of the season for the Rays’ primary backstop (snapping an 0-17 skid).

They also tacked on a run when Willy Adames and Brandon Lowe hit singles, Tommy Pham walked to load the bases, and Ji-Man Choi hit a sacrifice fly to right, capping the four-run rally.

But they weren’t done, and the Rays scored two more runs in the sixth inning on just one hit. After Orioles reliever, Yefry Ramirez walked the first two batters in the frame, Pham singled to center to put the Rays up by six. Nate Lowe later picked up his first big league run batted in with a sacrifice fly to centerfield, scoring Brandon Lowe.

With last night’s win in their back pocket, the Rays enter play Saturday with the best record in baseball at 21-11.

The New What Next

Yonny Chirinos (4-0, 3.48 ERA) will get the start on Sluttering day, pitching opposite of Dylan Bundy (0-4, 6.67 ERA).

Yonny Chirinos struck out four and walked one and scattered two hits while giving up four runs (two earned) over 5-2/3 innings against the Royals. Chirinos followed Ryne Stanek as the opener and came within an out of a quality outing, tossing 73 pitches (46 strikes, 63% strike rate) en route to his fourth win of the season. The right-hander is putting up good numbers this season, sporting a solid 3.48 ERA, a 0.84 WHIP and a 4.33 K/BB over 31 innings of work.

Dylan Bundy gave up four runs on five hits (including two home runs) and three walks while striking out eight over five innings on Sunday. Home runs have been a problem for Bundy, and he gave up two more solo shots in this outing. The right-hander induced 19 whiffs, however, he continues to allow too many baserunners and home runs to be effective. Bundy has a 6.67 ERA with a 2.62 K/BB over six starts this season (28-1/3 innings). The Rays got to Bundy in his last start at the Trop, tagging him for three runs on three hits (including a homer) and two walks over five innings. Key Matchups: Willy Adames (1-4), Ji-Man Choi (1-2, 2B, 2 BB), Avaisail Garcia (5-9, HR, 2 RBI), Kevin Kiermaier (4-11, 2 HR, 6 RBI, BB)

You can read about the series in our preview, and the starting lineup and Noteworthiness below.

TNWN: Rays vs Orioles — a series preview, part two

Rays 5/4/19 Starting Lineup

  1. B. Lowe 2B
  2. Pham LF
  3. Choi DH
  4. N. Lowe 1B
  5. Garcia RF
  6. Kiermaier CF
  7. Robertson 3B
  8. Perez C
  9. Adames SS
  10. Stanek RHP

Noteworthiness

— Matt Duffy (hamstring, back) played five innings and got three at-bats in a rehab game Friday for the Charlotte Stone Crabs.

It’s encouraging, (but) it’s going to be a little while, I think. In all fairness to Duff, he didn’t have a Spring Training. We’re going to look to get him a bunch of at-bats. Rays skipper Kevin Cash said the Rays will start by playing him at third base, then look at moving him around, depending on how he feels.

It’s encouraging, (but) it’s going to be a little while, I think. In all fairness to Duff, he didn’t have a Spring Training. We’re going to look to get him a bunch of at-bats.

We’ll just kind of take it day to day and see what we’re hearing from him when he tests out his hamstring, his back, all those things. He’ll play some third, (and) the thought in Spring Training (was) to get him out in the outfield. We’ll try to at least get this first week or so at third base and then see how he’s responding.

— Kevin Cash

— Outfielder Austin Meadows (right thumb sprain) has gotten his cast off and has started to swing a bat and hit off a tee. Cash said Meadows felt pretty good.

— RHP José De León (Tommy John surgery) will throw two innings tonight for the Stone Crabs. It will be his first professional outing since August of 2017.