The Rays announced their plans for the 2018 rotation last week to – mixed reviews to say the least.
On Thursday, following their 8-1 loss to the Twins, Kevin Cash made things official.
RHP Chris Archer will make his fourth consecutive Opening Day start, setting a club record. Beyond that, it gets very interesting. LHP Blake Snell will follow Archer. Cash has elected to go with a “bullpen day” after Snell. Game four against Boston will be given to RHP Nathan Eovaldi followed by RHP Jake Faria starting the series in New York on Monday, April 2nd.
Archer was asked if being the first guy to go ever got old.
“Never,” Archer said with a smile. “To do it four consecutive years is always a goal of mine. It’s an honor every single year to represent the Tampa Bay Rays on the first game of the season.”
#Rays RHP Chris Archer spoke about his fourth consecutive #OpeningDay start on March 29th – a club record.#SpringRays https://t.co/nMu7caAx5g
— The Scrum Sports (@TheScrumSports) March 15, 2018
Cash said the reason for handing the third game to the bullpen was more to manage the workload of Eovaldi who is coming back from Tommy John surgery.
The 28-year old righty said he felt good after his start against the Twins Thursday.
“Curveball felt good today, slider felt really good out of the hand,” Eovaldi said. “My fastball was a little all over the place. Other than that I was pleased.”
Wendle looks ready
INF Joey Wendle continued to impress on Thursday. He drove in the only Rays run with an RBI double to left field pushing his spring slash to .393/.452/.536 with a very impressive .987 OPS. He’ll likely platoon at second base with Daniel Robertson.
Injury updates
- 1B Brad Miller could be on the way back. Today he went 0-for-4 in a minor league game against the Twins triple-A squad. Cash says Miller will be ready for Opening Day. He’s recovering from a broken toe.
- OF Mallex Smith (hamstring) worked out Thursday to test the injured hammy. He is expected to be ready to go come March 29th.
