After the news broke yesterday that Evan Longoria would be out for anywhere from 4-8 weeks with a partial hamstring tear, word came from the Rays brass that Will Rhymes would be called up from triple-A Durham. Good move? If anything, it was the best move that Tampa Bay could make, without having to acquire any talent that may be available on the market, or without having to bring Brignac back up. Mind you a couple of things.
A) Brignac was 2-20 prior to being sent down to Durham.
B) Brignac is out of options. Sure the Rays would love to trade him. However, I’m also fairly certain that they’d like to get something for him, as opposed to he being snatched away from the organization by anyone else.
Rhymes offers the Rays a bit more depth in the infield, as well as more production the plate than say Brignac or Johnson. With Brignac’s 2-20 showing to start the year, compounded with the loss of a .329 hitting Longo, the Rays are going to need to utilize as many tools as possible to fill that gap until his imminent return to the roster. Rhymes has posted a .231 BA/.300 OBP/.341 SLG/.295 OBA line in Durham so far in 2012. BUT, one only needs too look at his career numbers (below) to see what he’s capable of.
Rhymes is a plus infielder, comparable to Johnson or Brignac. Plus, he’s a career .283 hitter that can put the ball in play. Now, he’s not going to get all Longo on the ball or anything. He does, however, posses decent speed and the ability to play small ball…something the Rays will need in the wake of the Longoria injury.
The question begs: who’s at third? We saw Elliot Johnson play third the last two nights. Though a solid fielder and a speedy runner, Johnson doesn’t offer Tampa Bay much in terms of consistent performance at the plate. I’d assume he’d play there part of the time. There’s always Sean Rodriguez too.
Now mind you, this just being off the cuff speculation, but what about putting Ben Zobrist in at third? We already know that he can play second, short, and the OF…what about third? Leave SeanRod at SS, platoon second with Johnson/Rhymes/Keppinger, and leave Joyce in RF.