ST PETERSBURG, Fla. - Josh Lowe of the Tampa Bay Rays hits a single in the first inning against the ... [+]
The Tampa Bay Rays have demonstrated a knack in recent years for keeping their head above the water line even in the face of major roster reshuffling necessitated by a persistent injury bug. The 2024 season to this point has been no exception.
There were many times in the season’s first quarter when the Rays had to go with a heavy righthanded hitting lineup because of how injuries took their toll on those who hit from the left side. On the mound, setbacks incurred during spring training and in the season’s first seven weeks have prevented the same five pitchers from lining up in a rotation that a year ago was decimated with the loss three key arms to long-term injuries.
Of course, how does a team handle such setbacks? The Rays answer by not allowing injuries to dictate their season. Rather, they find ways to not only plow through, but often thrive in the face of adversity. This season, they have hung around .500 and climbed a couple of games above it on multiple occasions, something that could serve them well when the playoff chase heats up.
Welcome return of lefthanded bats
The righty/lefty mix at the plate has evened out thanks to injured players returning to the lineup. Brandon Lowe, who was sidelined with a right oblique strain in early April, returned Monday. The second baseman’s presence in the lineup came two weeks after Josh Lowe, who hit 20 homers and stole 32 bases last season, made his 2024 debut. The right fielder was sidelined with hip inflammation early in the Grapefruit League schedule and then strained his right oblique as he was starting to ramp up again.
In addition, Jonathan Aranda, who was having a strong spring training and who the Rays firmly believe in despite his hitting .212 in 165 at-bats over the course of the 2022 and 2023 seasons, sustained a broken finger at the end of spring training. He was reinstated May 12.
“It feels like we have been offensively balanced for many, many seasons now and the only reason we were not at the beginning of this season was because of the injuries,” said manager Kevin Cash, who also welcomed righthanded hitting Jonny DeLuca to the lineup in early May after the outfielder went down in spring training with a hand injury. “It was kind of a unique circumstance with all the lefties going down, but they did. I felt like we did what we could to kind of weather the storm a little bit and it is nice to have them back in there.”
Next man up on the mound
Weathering the storm is something the Rays have had to do plenty of as far as the rotation since early last season. Jeffrey Springs (Tommy John surgery) went down in April followed by Drew Rasmussen (elbow, non-Tommy John) in May and Shane McClanahan (Tommy John surgery) in August. That was on top of Tyler Glasnow, now with the Dodgers, missing the first two months after straining an oblique. Through it all, the Rays won 99 games, the second-most in club history.
Though Taj Bradley sustained a right pectoral strain midway through spring training, the starters were humming along through the first 30-plus games this year. That was until Ryan Pepiot went down May 5 with a leg contusion after taking a Starling Marte liner off his calf area resulting in a 15-day IL stint. The timing was such that Bradley was ready to return and was essentially slotted in for Pepiot.
In another case of good timing, Pepiot is expected to return to the rotation Wednesday. The timing is beneficial because Zach Eflin, whose 16 wins tied for the American League lead last year, was placed on the 15-day IL Monday due to lower back inflammation. He missed two weeks last April because of what was described as lower back tightness.
“I'm not too worried about it, honestly,” said the 30-year-old righthander. “It's just one of those things where I just don't think (making my next start is) realistic. It kind of happened last year, and I felt good after about eight days. So, I'm not thinking it’s going be too long after that (before I return).”
Richard Lovelady became the 20th pitcher to take the mound for Tampa Bay when he pitched an inning against Boston on Monday evening. A surplus can certainly be a good thing as the St. Pete-to-Durham shuttle remains active. However, barring additional injuries, decisions will have to made if indeed other pitchers return as scheduled. Most notable is Springs, who could be on the Tropicana Field mound at some point in June.
“Our hope is by the end of the month he is pitching for (Triple-A) Durham,” said Cash, who, while missing lefty Colin Poche since late April due to back tightness, had his bullpen boosted by the return of closer Pete Fairbanks (nerve related issue) on May 11.
For now, getting a more balanced hitting attack at the plate was imperative.
“It’s nice to get back,” said Brandon Lowe. “The team’s playing really well and starting to play much more like how we expected ourselves to play. Hopefully, I can just be another (shot) in the arm and help us keep playing well.”
