Confirming a report from Enrique Rojas of ESPN, the Rays have called up top prospect shortstop Willy Adames from Triple-A Durham. Adeiny Hechavarria was placed on the disabled list over the weekend due to a hamstring strain, so this is a good opportunity to give Adames his first shot in the big leagues.
Per Bill Chastain of MLB.com, Adames will start at shortstop and bat fifth in his major league debut Tuesday against the Red Sox. He gets to face Chris Sale, so he’s getting thrown right into the fire.
Adames came over to the Rays via the Tigers in the David Price deal back in July of 2014 and has been a mainstay on prospect lists along the way. Baseball America ranked him as the No. 19 prospect in the game back in January.
Adames, 22, was batting .311/.387/.466 with four homers through 40 games in Triple-A this season. That was after hitting .277/.360/.415 with 10 homers over 130 games at the level last year, so the progress has been nice to see. He’ll presumably get every opportunity to stick as a shortstop for now.
The Rays place Joey Wendle on the paternity leave list in a corresponding roster move.