Rays considering Rocco Baldelli as part-time designated hitter

Last month Rocco Baldelli made the transition from coach to player, and since moving up to Triple-A two weeks ago he’s 10-for-30 (.333) with two homers and three doubles. Baldelli has been limited to designated hitter duties and is swinging at everything, striking out seven times compared to zero walks, but Bill Chastain of MLB.com writes that he’s hit well enough to potentially earn a call-up to Tampa Bay. Joe Maddon indicated that he’d consider using Baldelli as a part-time DH and giving him some starts over Willy Aybar or Dan Johnson against left-handed pitchers could make sense. Baldelli hit .266/.337/.462 versus lefties from 2007-2009.