Manuel

Rodríguez

This was Rodríguez’s first appearance in affiliate ball since having Tommy John surgery in August of 2025. He started the game and didn’t allow a single baserunner while striking out one and throwing seven of his eight pitches for strikes. The 29-year-old will need a couple more weeks to build up his pitch count, but he could be an option in the Rays’ bullpen by the second half of August.

Rodríguez underwent Tommy John surgery in August, so if he makes it back in 2026, it won’t be until the very end of the season. He had a 2.08 ERA in 30 1/3 innings for the Rays before getting hurt last year.

Rodríguez is likely to miss most of all of 2026 after Tommy John surgery in August, but everyone else here should be good to go in the spring. That includes McClanahan, who underwent surgery to address his nerve issues in August.

Rodríguez had surgery on August 8th and will now begin the long recovery process. It’s expected that the 29-year-old will miss the vast majority of the 2026 season; although, relievers can return to the mound a bit sooner than starting pitchers since they don’t have to build up the same kind of pitch counts.

Rodríguez was fantastic prior to his forearm strain with a 2.08 ERA in 30 1/3 innings, but the right-hander will undergo the procedure and miss the rest of 2025 and the overwhelming majority of 2026 as well.

Rodríguez has been out since June 10 with a forearm strain, and after he experienced a setback 10 days ago, his status for the rest of the season is up in the air. With a 2.08 ERA in 30 1/3 innings, he was off to a great start before getting hurt.

The Rays will be without Rodríguez for at least two weeks as he recovers. The 28-year-old is replaced on the active roster by Cole Sulser, who was recalled from Durham in the corresponding transaction.

Rodríguez has been one of the unsung heroes in the Rays pen, amassing a 2.42 ERA in 22 1/3 innings this season. He hasn’t earned any saves, so he doesn’t offer much fantasy value at the moment. Still, he should remain pretty valuable to the Rays until he’s inevitably shipped off for a couple of prospects at the 2026 trade deadline.

Cleavinger got the call to face his former team in extra innings with a two-run lead, and managed to work through the heart of Los Angeles’ lineup to preserve the victory, He got Shohei Ohtani to fly out before giving up a run-scoring sacrifice fly to Mookie Betts. He settled down immediately after to get Freddie Freeman to ground out to end the contest. It looks like the Rays went with purely a matchup decision here as Cleavinger faced a pair of left-handed batters after Manuel Rodríguez tossed a scoreless ninth inning in a tie ballgame. It’s likely Edwin Uceta was unavailable after recording four outs on 24 pitches during Thursday’s series opener.

Rodríguez was called on to close out the game with a two-run lead in the bottom of the ninth inning. He tossed a clean frame, striking out the final batter for his first save of the season. With Pete Fairbanks on the injured list, Rodríguez could figure into the ninth-inning mix alongside Edwin Uceta, who had pitched in three of the last four days coming into Wednesday’s contest.