Notes: 2-man outfield; bullpen competition

ST. PETERSBURG -- The Rays are at it again.

Tampa Bay has developed a reputation for taking experiments on the field to a different level. The organization was the first to consistently implement the "opener" strategy in 2018, and it was among the first clubs to fully adopt the heavy pull-side shifts. Now, the Rays are looking into possibly using a two-man outfield.

Toward the end of Thursday’s intrasquad game, the Rays rolled out a defensive alignment that consisted of five infielders and just two outfielders. Tampa Bay tried the alignment with Manuel Margot and Brian O'Grady in the outfield, and then again with Kevin Kiermaier and Hunter Renfroe. Kiermaier, a three-time Gold Glove Award winner, was all for it.

“They kind of told me and Hunter Renfroe to just play where you think you can give yourself the best chance,” Kiermaier said. “We didn’t get tested out there today, but I always say that we’re the Rays and we’re not afraid to be unorthodox and switch it up. As long as we feel we’re giving ourselves a chance to win and maximize our potential, then I’m all for whatever.”

Rays manager Kevin Cash said the club wanted to experiment with the alignment and see just how much ground the outfielders could cover, which is why they did it with Oliver Drake -- a heavy fly-ball pitcher -- on the mound. Right now, the alignment is just an experiment, but the Rays haven't ruled it out for the regular season.

“We just kind of wanted to test the limits and see what it looks like,” Cash said. “If we’re considering doing that at any point, it wouldn’t be with [fly-ball] pitchers, obviously. But it gives us a fairly good sense of how much ground we can cover on fly balls and then, when we do get a heavy ground-ball pitcher with a heavy ground-ball hitter up, maybe it gives us a little more comfort for the guys that have been out there and done it once or twice.”

If the Rays decide to roll out a two-man outfield, they certainly appear to have the right personnel to attempt it -- especially with Kiermaier and Margot. Last season, Kiermaier finished second among outfielders in Outs Above Average while Margot finished seventh. Renfroe is also one of the better defensive outfielders, finishing tied for 20th with six Outs Above Average.

“We have the right group, as far as the outfielders, to make something like that realistic and make it an actual option that we could use during the game,” Kiermaier said. “Kevin Cash is very creative in many ways, but it’s hard to go against what him and our front office have done to this point with the opener and sometimes putting a reliever in to get that first out, put them at first base, put them back in to pitch -- we’ve done that several times throughout the year.

“People call it crazy until it works, and it has many times, so I won’t be surprised if we used it at some point.”

Duo continues to make case
A lot of the roster decisions will come down to overall health and just how many pitchers the Rays want to carry at the beginning of the season. Two pitchers that continue to make a case for a spot are Ryan Thompson and John Curtiss.

The two pitchers operate in different ways, but both have been effective during Spring Training and Summer Camp. Thompson has a sidearm delivery that has been problematic for hitters, while Curtiss likes to operate up in the zone with an explosive fastball.

On Thursday, Thompson and Curtiss pitched two scoreless frames with Curtiss recording all of his outs via strikeout.

“They’re fun to watch," Cash said. "They were very much a highlight today. They’re going to help us at some point this season, for sure.”

Thursday’s attendance
Though Tyler Glasnow and Diego Castillo have returned to the field this week, the Rays still have five players who haven’t been spotted at camp for more than a week. Yonny Chirinos, Randy Arozarena and José Martínez have not been seen since the beginning of camp, while Austin Meadows has not been seen on the field since participating in the first workout on July 3. Brendan McKay has not been seen on the field over the last 10 workouts.