This reliever is Rays' latest reclamation project

This story was excerpted from Adam Berry’s Rays Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

What Edwin Uceta has done on the mound for the Rays this season has been impressive enough on its own.

In 31 1/3 innings over 20 appearances out of Tampa Bay’s bullpen, Uceta has allowed only 15 hits and four walks while striking out 39. Opponents are batting just .140 against him. The 26-year-old right-hander owns a 0.86 ERA, the second-best mark in the Major Leagues behind Cleveland closer Emmanuel Clase for all players with at least 30 innings pitched.

After the Rays traded experienced relievers Jason Adam, Shawn Armstrong and Phil Maton and lost closer Pete Fairbanks to the injured list, Uceta stepped into a high-leverage role. On Aug. 20, he recorded four outs in Oakland to nail down the first save of his professional career.

On one hand, it’s another classic reclamation-project success story for the Rays. They signed him to a Minor League deal last December, made some minor adjustments to his repertoire, encouraged him to throw strikes and let him thrive.

But there’s more to it than that.

“It’s a wonderful story,” pitching coach Kyle Snyder said.

Born in Villa Los Almacigos in the Dominican Republic province of Santiago Rodríguez, Uceta said he didn’t really start playing baseball until he was 9 years old. Growing up without much money, he took on a job as an attendant at a gas station and car wash so he could go to school.

While most top Dominican prospects receive a lucrative bonus and sign as soon as they’re eligible at 16 years old, Uceta received only $10,000 from the Dodgers when he signed as an 18-year-old on July 2, 2016. It was late to sign, and he said he was only throwing 88-89 mph at the time.

“I had a lot of people telling me just to give it up,” Uceta said earlier this season through interpreter Manny Navarro. “But I had an uncle who actually pushed me to keep going.”

That uncle was Mario Alberto Rodriguez, who Uceta described as “more like a father figure for me.”

“The little money he made in his job, he kept encouraging me to keep playing baseball,” Uceta said. “He paid for everything, for me to go to the field and get things to play with. He supported me a lot.”

Uceta completed his unlikely journey to the Majors and debuted in 2021 for the team that signed him, something he reflected on with gratitude at Dodger Stadium over the weekend. But he was designated for assignment that October, then he was acquired by the D-backs and shuttled between the Majors and Minors the following season.

Last year was even more challenging, as Uceta bounced around the waiver wire and had just one Major League outing to show for it. By the time the season was over, he’d been with Arizona, Detroit, Pittsburgh, the Mets and the Cubs, and required surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee. Come October, he was without a job.

“It was a little frustrating, going up and down so many times,” Uceta said. “I don’t think I was ever on the same team for a week at a time.”

Pitching for Estrellas Orientales in the Dominican Winter League, he impressed the Rays enough to earn an invitation to Major League Spring Training. Manager Kevin Cash noted Friday that Uceta stood out among the non-roster pitchers in camp, although that didn’t translate to remarkable success with Triple-A Durham.

Uceta made a pair of scoreless appearances for the Rays during a brief cameo in early May before going back to Durham for six weeks. But he returned on June 25 and hasn’t looked back.

“I was waiting for this moment, because I want to demonstrate that I deserve to be here and I belong,” Uceta said through Rays communications director Elvis Martinez. “A hundred and one percent, my confidence is better.”

Working with Snyder and bullpen coach Jorge Moncada, Uceta gets it done with what Cash summarized as “nasty stuff from a pretty unique arm angle.”

Throwing from a lower slot, Uceta features a fastball that plays above its mid-90s velocity and a devastating changeup that’s generated a 40.2% whiff rate this season. He added a cutter at the Rays’ urging and rounds out his arsenal with a sweeper, giving him plenty of options to handle right- and left-handed hitters.

He’s throwing more strikes than ever, with a whopping 70.5% first-pitch strike rate, then forcing hitters to expand their strike zone (evidenced by his 35% chase rate) when he’s ahead in the count. And his success isn’t a fluke. Among relievers with at least 30 innings pitched, only flamethrowing A’s All-Star Mason Miller has a lower xERA (1.55) than Uceta’s 1.58 mark.

“He’s a competitor. Wants to prove himself. He’s a great teammate,” Snyder said. “Another guy that our department identified, and he’s come in here and performed extraordinarily well. I hope that continues for us and for him.”