The Rays have selected the contract of right-hander Jacob Waguespack, the team announced Friday. Left-hander Jeffrey Springs, who’s recovering from Tommy John surgery performed last April, was moved to the 60-day IL to open a spot on the 40-man roster. Tampa Bay also optioned southpaw Jacob Lopez to Triple-A Durham and reassigned non-roster pitchers Brendan McKay and Michael Gomez to minor league camp.
Waguespack’s addition to the 40-man roster and the decision to option Lopez both lend clarity to the Rays’ rotation outlook as they navigate a pectoral injury to starter Taj Bradley. Waguespack can still technically be optioned to Triple-A Durham, but today’s move seems to put him squarely in the running for a spot on the Opening Day roster. The 30-year-old righty has spent the past two seasons with the Orix Buffaloes in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, primarily working out of the bullpen, and also pitched in the majors with the Blue Jays in 2019-20.
When Bradley went down, each of Waguespack, Lopez and non-roster righty Naoyuki Uwasawa were listed as potential rotation options, alongside swingmen Tyler Alexander and Chris Devenski. Tampa Bay signed Jake Odorizzi to a minor league deal just this morning, but he’ll need to build up and could require some Triple-A work to begin the season before he becomes a more viable option in early or mid-April. Even if the plan is to plug Odorizzi into the group as early as possible, Waguespack could make a couple early starts and, if he shows well, move into the bullpen or else head down to Triple-A Durham to work out of the rotation there.
More to come.
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