The Rays are shuffling the back end of their staff again, and this time Jake Woodford is the odd man out.
Tampa Bay reinstated right-hander Manuel Rodríguez from the 15-day injured list and designated fellow righty Woodford for assignment to clear the roster spot. The move fits the larger pattern the Rays have been following as they manage workloads for pitchers who could matter in October, even with the club already locked into the top seed in the American League.
That approach has shown up over the past few days. Tampa Bay called up Mason Englert to start a game, then optioned him the next day after pushing Ian Seymour back. Woodford joined the roster in that sequence, and Seymour took the ball yesterday but was lifted after five innings and 58 pitches.
Woodford came in after Seymour, with the Rays hoping he could soak up some innings. It didn’t go smoothly.
He faced eight batters, got only four outs, and was tagged for three earned runs. Brody Hopkins and Steven Matz finished the game from there.
Now the Rays have moved on quickly, opening a spot for Rodríguez’s return by sending Woodford off the roster. Because the trade deadline has already passed, he’ll go on waivers. He should clear, and since he has been outrighted before, he would then have the ability to elect free agency.
Woodford could choose to accept an outright assignment and hang around in hopes of another postseason call, though he’d be far down the list. He has spent the last several seasons in that kind of emergency role, bouncing from team to team as a plug-in arm. Since the start of 2023, he owns a 7.00 ERA across 146 2/3 innings for seven different clubs.
In Other News...
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Kevin Cash said roster decisions remain preliminary, and there are still spots open as the club weighs the readiness of other pitchers working back from injury. Even so, the way Johnson and Hopkins have pitched has pushed them into the conversation for the American League Division Series, which is exactly the sort of October problem the Rays were hoping to have, even if the final call is still hanging in the balance. [Read more 🡒]
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The trouble started once the bullpen took over, and a four-run lead entering the sixth inning unraveled into a 6-4 loss. The decisive blow came on a go-ahead two-run homer in the eighth, turning a comfortable afternoon into the kind of reminder teams try to avoid right before the postseason, when every late-inning pitch gets a little more magnified. [Read more 🡒]
Rays Are Betting On One Bullpen Arm For October
Manuel Rodriguez is back on the Rays active roster after recovering from a low back strain, giving Tampa Bay another late-season bullpen option as the postseason arrives. To clear space, the club designated right-hander Jake Woodford for assignment, a move that underscores how tightly every roster spot is being managed with October in view.
Rodriguez is expected to be part of the bullpen mix in the playoffs, a boost the Rays will take with some other arms still unavailable for the ALDS. With Shane McClanahan among the injured pitchers, Tampa Bay is leaning on health and matchup value as it tries to line up the right relief help for the games that matter most. [Read more 🡒]