The Rays made a straightforward bullpen-and-rotation management move Thursday, selecting the contract of right-hander Jake Woodford and sending fellow righty Mason Englert to Triple-A Durham.
The roster shuffle fills Tampa Bay’s 40-man roster, which had an opening before the move. It also gives the Rays another arm to work with as they keep an eye on pitcher workloads heading into the playoffs.
Woodford, who turns 30 next month, fits the profile of a veteran stopgap. He has bounced around the league in recent seasons, moving from the Cardinals to the White Sox, Pirates, Diamondbacks, Brewers, Cubs and now the Rays. He does not miss a ton of bats, but he throws strikes, gets ground balls and can handle multiple innings when a club needs someone to absorb work.
That has been the story of his recent big league run. From the start of 2023 to now, Woodford has made 64 appearances and logged 145 1/3 innings with a 6.87 earned run average, a 14.7% strikeout rate, a 7.4% walk rate and a 43.5% ground ball rate.
Tampa Bay’s decision to move on from Englert comes after a rough outing in which he allowed eight earned runs in 3 2/3 innings and threw 86 pitches. He had been recalled to start yesterday’s game after Ian Seymour, who was scheduled to take the ball, was replaced.
Alex Cook was optioned in that move. Englert was not going to be available for the next few days and was not in line for a postseason roster spot, so the Rays sent him back down.
Woodford arrived in Tampa on a minor league deal in August after losing his roster spot with the Cubs. Since joining the organization, he has made seven starts for Triple-A Durham and posted a 4.25 ERA. His most recent outing came a week ago, when he worked five innings.
The Rays have Seymour, Freddy Peralta and Griffin Jax lined up as their starters for the next three games, with Sunday listed as TBD. With the club already locked into the top seed in the American League and a bye through the Wild Card round, it does not need to stretch pitchers any further than it wants to in order to get them ready for the ALDS.
Woodford could be used in that mix as Tampa Bay looks for innings while giving others a breather. Because he is out of options, the Rays would need to remove him from the 40-man roster if they want to add another fresh arm later on.
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