Choi day to day with shoulder soreness
Rays first baseman Ji-Man Choi was removed from Tuesday’s 5-2 win over the Braves at Tropicana Field with right shoulder soreness. He’s listed as day to day.
On Wednesday, Choi’s shoulder was still “sore,” according to Cash, and that’s why he isn’t in the starting lineup vs. the Braves in Atlanta. However, manager Kevin Cash said that if the Rays need a big pinch-hit opportunity, bringing in Choi could be an option.
“He’s going to get treatment and try to keep him available off the bench,” Cash said. “He was sore after the game. We wanted to check how he was this morning, and he said he was still pretty sore.”
Through five games, Choi batted leadoff in four contests, and he has a slash line of .133/.316/.400 in 15 at-bats. With Choi out of the lineup, Brandon Lowe is hitting leadoff for the Rays and Yandy Díaz is playing first base.
Though Choi has a newfound ability to switch-hit, there's a chance he'll be out of the starting lineup on Thursday as the Rays take on the Braves left-hander Max Fried.
Rehab updates
• Rays outfielder Austin Meadows continued his rehab assignment on Tuesday at the alternate training site in Port Charlotte, Fla. Meadows missed the majority of Summer Camp after testing positive for COVID-19.
Meadows hit in the cages, threw from 150 feet, did defensive drills and took four at-bats in a simulated game. He also played right field and left field. Though there is no concrete timetable for Meadows’ return, Cash said sometime in the next homestand against the Red Sox and Yankees was “probably the most realistic” arrival point.
• Randy Arozarena, who missed all of Summer Camp due to a positive COVID-19 test, was cleared to return to baseball activities, and he began a rehab assignment in Port Charlotte on Wednesday. Arozarena hit in the cage and threw to 90 feet on his first day.
Because Arozarena hasn’t stepped on a field for nearly a month, it could take some time before he’s ready to be an option for the big league club.
“I think it’s fair to assume that he’s probably going to be a little while,” Cash said. “We actually FaceTimed right before the game yesterday, [third base coach Rodney Linares] and I. But we’ve gotta get a gauge of where he is physically, and then we’ll have a better assessment. We probably won’t know much until we get to the weekend.”
Through the process, José Martínez, who was part of the same trade with the Cardinals and was also set back with a positive COVID-19 test, said he was in constant communication with Arozarena.
“We were always chatting and asking ‘How do you feel?’ and ‘Do you have any symptoms today or something?’ I know it was hard for him,” Martínez said. “But I’m glad he’s back. I feel for him. It’s a hard process.”
Arozarena was one of the standouts during Spring Training and figured to be part of the Rays’ outfield mix to begin the season. He hit .300 in 19 games with St. Louis in 2019.
Tsutsugo’s song
When Yoshi Tsutsugo stepped to the plate during Saturday’s game against the Blue Jays, the Rays played the famous song that fans of Yokohama, Tsutsugo’s former team in Japan, sang when he stepped into the box.
While Tsutsugo appreciated the gesture by the Rays’ sound crew, he notified the club that he doesn’t want it to be played in the United States because he wants to “move forward” with his new team.
“I’m happy that they thought about that for me, but I’ve moved on,” Tsutsugo said through an interpreter. “I’m a part of the Rays. I’m no longer part of Yokohama.”
Rays add Sullivan
As they continue to look for catching depth, the Rays added C/OF Brett Sullivan to the 60-man player pool for the 2020 season. Sullivan, 26, played 102 games with Double-A Montgomery last season and was on the Rays’ Spring Training roster.
By adding Sullivan, the Rays now have six catchers on the 60-man player pool: Mike Zunino, Michael Perez, Kevan Smith, Ronaldo Hernandez, Rene Pinto and Sullivan.