Rays Turn To Yarbrough On Saturday Afternoon
St. Petersburg, Fla – The Tampa Bay Rays look to bounce back from a disappointing 6-4 opening day loss to the Toronto Blue Jays.
Ryan Yarbrough will be making his first start of the season and unlike other times in his career, he will not be following an opener.
“He’s certainly deserving of the opportunity to get the ball and start with it.” Rays’ Manager Kevin Cash said. “Ryan’s done a great job through all of this with the delay of keeping himself in shape and the buildup. He’s as built up as any pitcher that we have on our roster and that’s a credit to him and certainly Kyle [Snyder] for staying on top of it.”
In his career Yarbrough has fared well against Toronto appearing in nine games (two starts) and posting a 6-1 mark with a 2.45 ERA. Last season, he faced the Jays five times (one start) and posted a 3-1 mark with a 2.18 ERA. In his career Yarbrough has held the Jays lineup to a .207/.252/.363 mark while striking out 25 batters and issuing seven walks.
Yarbrough will face a Jays’ lineup that features six right handed bats. The left-handed bats include Cavin Biggio, Travis Shaw , and Reese McGuire.
JAYS LINEUP:
Bo Bichette (SS), Cavan Biggio (2b), Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (LF), Vladimir Guerrero (DH), Travis Shaw (1b), Randal Grichuk (CF), Teoscar Hernandez (RF), Reese McGuire (C), Santiago Espinal (3b).
The Rays will face Matt Shoemaker who was an impressive 3-0 with a 1.57 ERA in 2019 before having his season cut short after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee on April 20th.
RAYS LINEUP:
Ji-Man Choi (1b), Brandon Lowe (LF), Yandy Diaz (3b), Yoshi Tsutsugo (DH), Joey Wendle (2B), Manuel Margot (RF), Kevin Kiermaier (CF), Willy Adames (SS), and Michael Perez (C)
Meadows Returns To Action:
The Rays got some good news on Saturday as 2019 All-Star and team Co-MVP Austin Meadows reported to Port Charlotted and participated in the teams workout.
Meadows is currently on the injured list as testing positive for the coronavirus. His participation in today’s workout means he has received two consecutive negative tests and has been cleared by the doctors and commission.
Manager Kevin Cash reported the news stating that Meadows went through a session with the group in the morning. “We’ll start that build up, I don’t have a time frame [for Meadows return to roster], whether it’s three days or two weeks I really have no idea.” Cash said. “It’s too early to tell, but he seemed to be in pretty good spirits and he’s able to be around some guys he’s familiar with. He’s chomping at the bit to do everything he can to get back on our roster.”
Update On Diego Castillo:
In other news, reliever Diego Castillo’s wife had their baby and is doing well. Castillo, currently on the paternity list, doesn’t have an expected date of return either.
