The Tampa Bay Rays are off to a slow start so far in spring training, going a mere 2-5 through their first few games and landing in second-to-last-place in the American League. Oh, the horror! With a start this slow, the Rays’ hopes at the postseason are all but ruined!
…Or not. Spring training results are all but meaningless, and the New York Yankees (2-4) are keeping the Rays company at the bottom of the AL standings. Winning it’s the biggest concern with spring training — most teams are only worried with getting their players ready for the season, and finishing March with as few injuries as possible.
At the moment, the Rays are dealing with their fair share of injuries, although none of them seem serious. Evan Longoria has been slow to see game action after getting hit in the hand during batting practice last week, but his hand was merely bruised and there was no lasting damage. Matt Moore has been dealing with some abdominal soreness, but that has cleared up and he’s slowly working towards getting ready to pitch in his first game. And Sean Rodriguez is suffering from a finger sprain and likely won’t see more game action for 2-3 more days.
On the bizarre injury front, David Price injured his neck by toweling himself off “too vigorously” between innings of his start yesterday. This is apparently not the first time he has done this, and he expects to be fine within the next couple of days. If this has happened to him multiple times, though, he may want to rethink how he towels himself off…
Weekend Schedule:
Fri., March 9: Baltimore Orioles, Charlotte County, 1:05 p.m.
Sat., March 10: Boston Red Sox, Fort Myers, 7:05 p.m.
Sun., March 11: Pittsburgh Pirates, Charlotte County, 1:05 p.m.
Probable Pitchers:
Friday: RH Alex Cobb, LH Alex Torres, LH J.P. Howell, RH Jhonny Nuñez, RH Ryan Reid
Saturday: RH Wade Davis, RH Burke Badenhop, RH Josh Lueke, RH Albert Suarez, RH Romulo Sanchez, RH Dane De La Rosa
Sunday: RH Jeff Niemann, RH Brandon Gomes, RH Joel Peralta, RH Fernando Rodney, LH J.P. Howell
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