Tampa Bay

Rays

The Rays are giving Fraley a day off today ahead of the team’s full day on Thursday in the hopes that two days off will allow him to be back in the lineup on Friday and avoid a trip to the injured list. The Rays are facing a left-hander on Wednesday anyway, so this works in their favor. Ryan Vilade will play right field and bat fourth with Jonny DeLuca in centerfield, batting fifth

The 25-year-old is slashing .238/.346/.444 in 19 games at Triple-A with one home run, a 31/12 K/BB ratio, and 16 steals. The strikeout rate is certainly too high, but Melton is getting on base a lot and taking plenty of extra bases when he does. The Rays have a crowded outfield, but Jake Fraley did leave Tuesday’s game with an injury, so there may be an opening coming. At least we know the Astros would like to have Melton as an option right now.

The 2024 first-round pick hit five home runs in 81 minor league games last season, so him already being at five home runs in 10 games in 2026 is certainly noteworthy. That’s despite the fact that his fly ball rate at High-A is 10 percent lower than it was in A-ball last season. It’s early days, but if Gillen keeps this up, the 20-year-old could be in Double-A by the summer.

Aranda put Tampa Bay on the board with a two-run homer against Reds starter Chase Burns in the sixth inning. He also drew a bases-loaded walk in the ninth inning to pick up an additional RBI. The 27-year-old first baseman has four homers and 19 RBI in 23 games to open the year.

Matz was burned by the long ball in this one, serving up round-trippers to Elly De La Cruz, Ke’Bryan Hayes and Dane Myers. He’s coughed up five homers already in just 24 1/3 innings. The 34-year-old lefty has struggled to work into deep into starts, pitching beyond the fifth inning just twice in five starts. He’ll carry a pedestrian 4.81 ERA, 1.23 WHIP and 25/10 K/BB ratio into a road matchup against the Guardians on Monday.

Fraley left the contest with Tampa Bay trailing by nine runs in the sixth inning. The 30-year-old corner outfielder is presumably day-to-day heading into Wednesday’s series finale.

Boyle landed on the injured list on April 11th with an elbow strain, but the imaging revealed no structural damage. He’s begun playing catch from distance and hopes to throw a bullpen by the end of April. That could have him on a rehab assignment by the middle of May, which would be good news for the Rays since it sounds like Ryan Pepiot (hip) is nowhere near a return to the mound.

Mullins is off to an ice-cold start to his Rays debut, hitting .147/.198/.280 with two homers and three steals through 20 games. It’s worth noting that Tampa Bay has top prospect Jacob Melton waiting in the wings down at Triple-A Durham, which means Mullins is going to have to start producing sooner or later.

There were some positives here as Scholtens finished with six strikeouts and didn’t hand out a free pass. He coughed up seven hits, including a gargantuan two-run homer to Sal Stewart, and didn’t get any support from Tampa Bay’s offense. The 32-year-old righty will close out a two-start week with a favorable matchup against the Twins on Sunday.

Cash clarified that it’s a new shoulder issue from the impingement that caused Uceta to hit the injured list at the conclusion of spring training. The 28-year-old high-leverage arm is facing an extended absence since he’ll need to re-start his throwing program from scratch next month. His absence gives Bryan Baker additional runway to cement himself as Tampa Bay’s ninth-inning option.