Rays lose two arms to injured list

BALTIMORE -- The Rays hope to kick off the second half strong, but that will need to happen without a few key bullpen arms at their disposal.

Tampa Bay officially placed lefty flamethrower José Alvarado on the 10-day injured list Thursday, retroactive to Sunday, with a right oblique strain. Alvarado left Saturday’s win over the Yankees in the seventh inning, and the expectation is that he could miss as much as six weeks.

What’s more, righty Chaz Roe was also placed on the shelf Thursday with a right flexor strain.

Right-hander Diego Castillo (right shoulder inflammation) was activated from the injured list, and righty Hunter Wood was recalled from Triple-A Durham to take Alvarado’s and Roe’s places on the roster and in the bullpen. This all comes before the Rays play four games in three days in Baltimore, and 14 games in 13 days overall.

“Chaz was a little bit of a surprise simply because it came during the All-Star break,” said manager Kevin Cash. “Hopefully a couple days off will help clean him up and get some of that wrist flexor soreness out of there.”

Roe was looked at by a team doctor after feeling discomfort in his wrist, which then appeared to creep up into his forearm. It’s a similar ailment that has starter Tyler Glasnow on the shelf. But Cash and the training staff are confident the extent of the injury is nowhere near as severe as Glasnow’s, which has kept him from throwing since early May.

“I don’t think it’s quite to that extent,” Cash said. “[Roe] went and got checked out by a doctor. He noticed some inflammation, and hopefully that’s all that is. He’ll take a couple days off and he’ll get back to throwing.”

But if it’s any consolation, Cash will have at his disposal, once again, a pair of relievers in Castillo and Wood who have shown competence at getting outs.

Castillo will look to get back on track after three of his four outings before the IL saw him concede at least two runs. He’s an important cog in Tampa Bay's bullpen, and had a 2.05 ERA before the rough four-outing stretch.

Wood, for his part, has conceded just six earned runs in his 24 innings at the big-league level this season.

“It’s good to get Diego back, no doubt … but we have to get [him] right,” Cash said. “We have to get him going because he’s a big weapon for us, he’s a big part of our bullpen that we expect to get big outs from when we are winning games."

From the trainer’s room

• Second baseman Brandon Lowe (right shin bone bruise) is with the Rays on the current eight-game road trip. But Cash said the All-Star will not appear in this series, and the following four games in New York are “in question.” Lowe has not appeared in a game since exiting a July 2 contest against the Orioles in the sixth inning.

“Still moving kind of slow,” Cash said. “Got treatment and moves a little bit better, but I don’t think it’s fair to expect him definitely this series and New York would be in question.”

• Still yet to appear in the Majors this season, Matt Duffy may be close. The infielder has seen his rehab stint from a lingering hamstring injury progress to Durham, where he went 0-for-3 in seven innings at designated hitter Thursday. He’s aiming to go for nine innings with the Bulls Friday.

“He’s chomping at the bit,” Cash said.