The Tampa Bay Rays can’t catch a break and there are still 162 games to play in the 2018 season.
Nathan Eovaldi, the right-handed starter attempting to come back from a second reconstructive elbow surgery, is the latest Rays pitcher to land on the shelf. According to Tampa Bay Times reporter Marc Topkin, the 28-year-old will have surgery to remove loose bodies from his elbow.
The issue with #Rays Eovaldi is limited to the loose bodies in his elbow; the ligament structure is considered sound so it's not like he's headed to another TJ surgery. Some estimates say he could be back pitching in 6-8 weeks. so maybe back in majors sometime in June?
— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) March 28, 2018
The good news – for now – is that there doesn’t appear to be any ligament damage. Prospects Brent Honeywell and Jose De Leon already went through Tommy John surgeries this spring.
But that still puts the Rays and manager Kevin Cash in the unenviable position of finding Eovaldi’s replacement in their experimental four-man rotation. That job, which will require starting Saturday’s third game of the season, could be going to Austin Pruitt – for now.
Pruitt broke camp with the big-league club last year and debuted with a relief appearance in the 2017 opener against the New York Yankees. He bounced between Tampa Bay and Triple-A Durham throughout the season and ended up making 30 major-league appearances. Eight of those were starts, with seven in a row coming from July 28 to August 28.
Pruitt’s effectiveness wavered during his first major-league season, finishing with a 5.31 ERA and 1.51 WHIP over 83 innings pitched.
Early estimates have Eovaldi missing up to two months. Assuming the Rays can make it 24 more hours without another injury to their rotation, the team is still set with Chris Archer, Blake Snell and Jake Faria. Even though it would throw a wrench in plans to have him be a long-relief guy working out of the bullpen, having Matt Andriese make more than just a spot start here and there could be a real possibility.
Then there’s a couple young options in Ryan Yarbrough and Yonny Chirinos. Both were informed this weekend that they’ll break camp with the Rays as long-relief options.
Yarbrough, 26, started all 26 games he appeared in with Durham and led the team in innings pitched (157 1/3) and strikeouts (159). He went 13-6 with a 3.43 ERA and 1.16 WHIP.
Chirinos, 24, started 22 of his 23 games with Durham and was second behind Yarbrough in innings (141). He had the best ERA (2.74) and WHIP (0.98) among the Bulls’ top three starting pitchers last year, with Honeywell being the other in that trio.
Cash may shy away from starting either prospect before a couple relief appearances. It would come as no surprise, however, to see one or both getting the nod by the end of April or early May. Pruitt made a three-inning spot start on April 25 last year after making eight relief appearances.
Eovaldi pitched well during spring and was one of the more exciting storylines for fans anticipating the start of the season. He tossed 16 1/3 innings over five starts, going 1-1 with a 3.24 ERA and 1.20 WHIP. Opposing batters did hit .292 against Eovaldi but he worked the zone this spring and walked only one.
His 2018 story with the Rays can still be a positive one, but it’s hard not to be concerned about an elbow injury on a guy with a history of elbow injuries.
