Opening Day is a week from Thursday. And while the Rays don’t have quite as many roster issues to resolve as several other clubs -- or even as many as they’ve faced in some years -- there is still much to be decided.
The Rays have 38 players remaining in Spring Training camp and a week to pare their roster down to 26. So the days are starting to get longer for general manager Erik Neander and Tampa Bay’s front office, as he said in an interview on FOX Sports Sun during the Rays’ 7-6 win over the Twins on Wednesday afternoon at Charlotte Sports Park in Port Charlotte, Fla.
Not that anyone’s complaining. The Rays' decisions mostly stem from the good problem of having too many quality players to choose from.
“It’s the kind of stresses you want to create, and hopefully that’s the way things continue,” Neander told the Rays’ broadcast booth. “The significance of making an Opening Day roster is big, and it means a lot to everybody involved and to the players especially, and that’s recognized. But we’re going to have some players that are going to be going down that we believe are capable of stepping in at any moment to really help us.”
Here are three things left for the Rays to accomplish during the seven days and six games leading up to their Opening Day matchup against the Marlins on April 1 in Miami.
Fill out the bullpen
As long as everyone stays healthy, you can pretty safely sketch out the Rays’ starting rotation (to the extent that they’ll use a traditional rotation) and position player group.
They have Tyler Glasnow, Ryan Yarbrough, Chris Archer, Rich Hill and Michael Wacha lined up to start or pitch the bulk of their innings at the start of the season. Prior rounds of roster moves and injuries to Ji-Man Choi and Brett Phillips left them with 12 position players who are both active in camp and already on the 40-man roster: catchers Francisco Mejía and Mike Zunino; infielders Willy Adames, Mike Brosseau, Yandy Díaz, Brandon Lowe, Yoshi Tsutsugo and Joey Wendle; and outfielders Randy Arozarena, Kevin Kiermaier, Manuel Margot and Austin Meadows.
That accounts for 17 spots out of 26. Now what about the bullpen?
“I don't think we're at a point where anything has been defined,” manager Kevin Cash said. “The pitching, as noted, that's where the decisions are going to come from. I think most of the position player group is very much assumed. … There's going to be a couple spots open, but we have not gotten to that point where we're having those hashed-out discussions and polling different staff members on what we think.”
High-leverage relievers Nick Anderson, Diego Castillo and Pete Fairbanks, veteran right-hander Chaz Roe, versatile righty Collin McHugh and lefty Cody Reed seem like safe bets at this point, assuming they’re all in good health. Ryan Thompson carved out an important role last year, and he has had a strong spring. Trevor Richards is expected to play a big part as a multi-inning arm capable of absorbing a lot of innings.
If they all make the cut, that would leave one spot for the group of arms that includes Josh Fleming, Chris Mazza, Ryan Sherriff, Jeffrey Springs, David Hess and Andrew Kittredge. It’s worth noting that Kittredge, in camp as a non-roster invitee, recently renegotiated his deal to push back his out clause until the end of the month.
“I like the group here. I feel like we have a really good chance to win, which is a cool opportunity to be a part of,” Kittredge said. “And it just feels like the right fit. I really like the staff here, the group, and yeah, it was a pretty easy decision.”
Put together pitching plans
How teams will cover innings this year is an industry-wide concern, so this is not exclusive to the Rays. But there is a certain expectation that Tampa Bay, as the club that popularized the opener, will find a unique way to navigate the leap from a 60-game to a 162-game season.
Aside from naming Glasnow their Opening Day starter, the Rays haven’t confirmed anything about how their rotation will look or function to start the season. Neander said during Wednesday's interview that they have “nothing specific up our sleeve right now,” but it’s obviously an important topic and will remain so throughout the year.
To a certain extent, the Rays are well prepared because of the depth they already have on hand. Tampa Bay has five starters, a bunch of multi-inning relievers and a handful of starting pitching prospects set to start the season at the alternate training site.
The Rays also have veteran pitchers who are willing to be flexible, so a scenario like the one Cash floated on Tuesday -- having starters throw 100 pitches two outings in a row then significantly shave down their workload during their next turn -- is easier to imagine than it might be elsewhere.
Look at more lineups
With the position player group essentially set, it’s now just a matter of getting them ready to play and taking a look at how they best fit together.
Cash said Arozarena will hit somewhere in the top three of the batting order. Some days, he could hit behind Meadows, who thrived atop the order two years ago. And the Rays have also slotted Tsutsugo in the leadoff spot three times in the past eight days, a potential preview.
“He's very much open to hit wherever,” Cash said of Tsutsugo. “It'll help if the guy's right-handed on the mound, but depending on a given night, I think we’ve got some flexibility. I know Austin; his big year came hitting first and second -- and I'm not saying he's not going to. He could as well.
“A guy like Yoshi, it's important for him to get off to a good start and find some comfort, and if we can give him some stability, even though we don't do many things like that throughout the course of the season, if we can give him a spot and see if he can run with it, why not try it out in the early going?”