In a flurry of roster moves Friday afternoon, the Tampa Bay Rays have optioned struggling southpaw Blake Snell back to Triple-A Durham for the second time this season. They also recalled hard-throwing left-handed reliever Jose Alvarado, initially to take Snell’s spot on the roster, and activated INF Daniel Robertson off the DL.
Today’s #Rays moves:
▪️Recall LH José Alvarado
▪️Activate INF Daniel Robertson
▪️Option LH Blake Snell
▪️Option INF Taylor Featherston— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) August 4, 2017
Snell lasted just two batters into the fifth inning Thursday night after throwing 90 pitches. In 14 starts this season, the left-hander is 0-6 with a 4.98 ERA.
Snell was sent back to Triple-A in May, however, he was recalled in June after performing to a 2.66 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP over 44 innings, with 61 strikeouts and 15 walks (4.06 K/BB). Those numbers didn’t translate on the big league squad though, which Jason Collette (The Process Report) noted earlier:
1st stint for Snell: 4.71 ERA, 1.62 WHIP; 18% K, 13% BB, 4.1 P/PA
2nd stint for Snell: 5.34 ERA, 1.52 WHIP, 22% K, 12% BB, 4.3 P/PA— Jason Collette (@jasoncollette) August 4, 2017
With an off-day on Monday the team has several options to fill Snell’s spot, which include keeping RHP Austin Pruitt in the starting rotation when Jake Odorizzi comes off the disabled list next week, or a calling up top prospect Brent Honeywell … which would require a roster move to add him to the 40-man roster.
Rays 8/4/17 Starting Lineup
Dickerson LF
Duda 1B
Longoria 3B
Morrison DH
Souza RF
Miller 2B
Ramos C
Smith CF
Robertson SS
Faria RHP
Noteworthiness
— You can read about tonight’s pitching matchup, and so much more, in our series preview.