Casey Kotchman presumably won’t be available for tonight’s game after being taken to the hospital with tightness in his chest, according to the Tampa Tribune.
For now the Rays have deemed the hospital trip and testing “precautionary,” but Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times reports that Kotchman was taken out on a stretcher.
Kotchman is one of the big reasons why the Rays are in position to make the playoffs, hitting .305 with a .377 on-base percentage in 145 games after joining the team on a minor-league contract that pays him just $750,000. He has an .800 OPS after batting just .254 with a .695 OPS during the previous three seasons.
Update: The Rays officially scratched Kotchman from the lineup. Reid Brignac was inserted into his place, and Sean Rodriguez moved from short to first.