'Newfound gratitude': After 727 days, Baz logs quality start in MLB return

ARLINGTON -- It had been 727 days since Shane Baz took his place atop a Major League mound when he toed the rubber to face Rangers leadoff man Marcus Semien on Friday night at Globe Life Field. For nearly two years, the talented young starter had to pause his big league career to recover from Tommy John surgery, rebuild his stamina and rediscover the stuff that once made him one of baseball’s best pitching prospects.

After trading Aaron Civale to the Brewers on Wednesday to clear a spot in the rotation for Baz, the Rays were thrilled to send him to the mound for the first time in nearly two years. But they wanted to be realistic, too.

“I hope our expectation level is not for him to go out and be [in] midseason form. That’s not fair to Shane,” manager Kevin Cash said Friday afternoon. “Now, he might do that, because he's just that talented.”

It wasn’t perfect, but Baz looked like he hadn’t missed a beat. The 25-year-old put together a quality start in the Rays’ 3-0 loss to the Rangers, giving up three runs over six innings while striking out six as Tampa Bay fell back to .500 at 44-44.

“He looked like he was back in 2022, throwing like he'd never gotten hurt,” Brandon Lowe said. “The composure, the way that he carried himself, the way that he competed out there, you'd have never known that he got hurt.”

Pitching with his parents in attendance in his home state of Texas, Baz said everything felt “back to normal” as soon as he started warming up. But there was a moment before the game, he said, when he couldn’t help but feel “super grateful” to be back and a “newfound gratitude” for competing at this level.

“It was a long way back here,” Baz said, “but it felt good to get back out there again and do my job.”

After ripping through the upper Minors to debut in September 2021 and start Game 2 of the American League Division Series that October, Baz’s rapid ascent slowed and stopped. He had arthroscopic surgery on his right elbow in March 2022, then made six starts for the Rays. That September, he underwent Tommy John surgery.

After completing the lengthy recovery process, and working through an oblique injury in Spring Training, the Rays left Baz in Triple-A after his rehab assignment to continue working. His progress became evident over the past month as he posted a 1.57 ERA with 35 strikeouts in 23 innings over five starts.

He was ready, and the Rays’ decision to trade Civale was another vote of confidence in Baz. They felt this was his time, and he’ll continue to take the ball as part of their starting staff.

He missed competing. He missed being part of the team. As he put it, he missed pulling his weight. Now, he’s back to it.

“When you go on the shelf, it's like, it's not guaranteed that you're gonna get your spot back or any of that,” Baz said. “Just really thankful for the [Rays] and them giving me the opportunity.”

Of course, outs in the Majors do not come as easily. Baz only made it look that way in his first two innings. He retired each of the first six batters he faced, firing his fastball up to 99.1 mph while mixing in a handful of sliders and curveballs.

“We know the arsenal is there and knew that he was building to that in Triple-A,” Cash said. “When he's right, he's going to light up radar guns every single time he pitches.”

But Baz ran into trouble when the Rangers put aggressive swings on his fastball in the third inning. Texas strung together four straight two-out hits: a 105 mph single by Jonathan Ornelas, a 78 mph Semien single, a two-run double hit by Corey Seager at 107 mph and a 104 mph RBI single by Nathaniel Lowe.

Baz didn’t give up another run. He permitted two more singles in the fourth and a walk in the fifth, but retired the final five hitters he faced to complete six innings.

“It was awesome,” catcher Ben Rortvedt said. “Really impressive how he was able to dial back and really get his head on straight and just keep going, keep chugging away and give us six strong.”

The Rays couldn’t reward Baz with a win, as they stranded 11 runners and finished 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position, but it was a victory in a different sense nonetheless.

“Happy for him,” Cash said. “He should feel good about that outing.”