ST. PETERSBURG -- The Rays are giving Steven Matz another shot in the bullpen, and they’re hoping the veteran left-hander can settle in quickly after a month on the shelf with a sprained left ankle.
Tampa Bay reinstated Matz from the 15-day injured list on Saturday, a move that brings him back into a role he handled well last season. The Rays signed the 35-year-old to a two-year, $15 million deal last offseason with the idea that he could start, and he opened this year in the rotation with a strong stretch: a 3.86 ERA over seven starts before landing on the IL with left elbow inflammation.
The path since then has been bumpier. Matz returned after only a few weeks, but his recovery between outings didn’t go as smoothly, and that led to two rough starts and a shift to relief. He had mixed results there before going back on the injured list.
“Once things start going bad, you can start to force some things, then things snowball. That’s kind of where I was at,” Matz said. “Now, I’m feeling good, ultimately in a really good spot, and I’m excited to help the team.”
Matz took five rehab appearances with Triple-A Durham, including two scoreless one-inning outings earlier this week. Manager Kevin Cash said the Rays plan to ease him back in with “shorter” outings, and Matz said he liked how his stuff felt by the end of the rehab assignment.
The bullpen track record is exactly why Tampa Bay is willing to lean on him there again. Matz was highly effective in relief last season, working almost entirely out of the pen while posting a 3.05 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP across 76 2/3 innings in 53 appearances, with two starts, for the Cardinals and Red Sox.
“He did it last year and was very good,” Cash said. “Maybe we can catch lightning here with the next two months of him providing a pretty big role for us.”
To create the roster spot, the Rays optioned right-hander Chris Roycroft to Triple-A Durham. Cash called it a “tough conversation,” especially after Roycroft threw three solid innings to earn his first Major League save on Friday night.
“I don’t imagine too many scenarios where he’s not helping us at some point the rest of this season,” Cash said.
The Rays also remained cautious with shortstop Taylor Walls, who sat for a third straight game. Walls jammed and hyperextended the middle and ring fingers on his left hand while diving back to second base on Wednesday night in Toronto. He missed Thursday and Friday, and he was out of the starting lineup again Saturday night.
Walls said he was feeling “better each day” and didn’t think he’d be out “much longer,” but the issue is still the swelling in his fingers, which has to calm down enough for him to grip a bat and squeeze the ball in his glove. Ben Williamson, who made a couple of standout plays at shortstop on Friday night, was back there Saturday.
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