TODAY: Patino has been officially called up from the taxi squad, the Rays announced.
APRIL 24: The Rays made a quartet of roster moves, including the activation of right-hander Diego Castillo from the COVID-related injury list. Catcher Deivy Grullon was designated for assignment in a corresponding move to open up a 40-man roster spot, while right-hander Chris Mazza has been placed on the regular 10-day IL due to shoulder inflammation. Luis Patino has also been added to Tampa Bay’s taxi squad, and is expected to join the active roster tomorrow. (MLB.com’s Adam Berry was among those to report the news.)
Patino is expected to make his Rays debut Sunday, pitching in some type of piggyback capacity along with scheduled starter Josh Fleming, who told Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times that he isn’t yet sure how the Rays will deploy the combination of Fleming’s relatively soft-tossing arsenal along with Patino’s high-powered fastball.
Patino was the centerpiece of the four-player package sent by the Padres to Tampa Bay last offseason in exchange for Blake Snell. For a controlled and affordable former Cy Young Award winner, San Diego had to pay a hefty price, and this mean parting ways with one of the sport’s top pitching prospects in Patino. The 21-year-old righty has had some issues with his command, though his fastball and slider are already considered plus pitches and his changeup isn’t behind, according to MLB Pipeline’s scouting report. Patino made his Major League debut last season, tossing 17 1/3 innings in the regular season for the Padres (with a 5.19 ERA, 21 strikeouts, and a troubling 14 walks) and then 2 2/3 more frames in the postseason.
Castillo returns after just a one-day stint on the COVID-IL. Castillo has already recorded four saves in his role as Tampa Bay’s top choice at closer, along with a 2.79 ERA and 33.3% strikeout rate over 9 2/3 innings.
Mazza has an ugly 8.49 ERA over six outings this season, mostly generated during two rough appearances against the Rangers and Red Sox that saw him allow a combined 10 runs over 5 2/3 innings. Mazza looked better in last night’s game against the Blue Jays, allowing only a single hit in three shutout innings of relief.
After being claimed off waivers from the Reds in early April, Grullon could find himself on the move again without seeing any big league action in a Rays uniform. Grullon appeared in four games with the Phillies in 2019 and one game with the Red Sox last season, before Cincinnati claimed him away from Boston in December. Grullon has a .253/.305/.405 slash line and 70 home runs over 2387 career minor league plate appearances in Philadelphia’s system.
Poor Deivy Grullon. He’s been bouncing around for some time now. Phillies, Red Sox, Reds, now the Rays don’t want him.
agreed, poor guy just not getting a chance
i dont really get it either. he’s graded out well as both a defender and a hitter, unless it all tanked last year or something.
The Rays made a quartet of roster moves, including the activation of violinist Diego Castillo from the COVID-related injury list. Cellist Deivy Grullon was designated for assignment in a corresponding move to open up a 4-man roster spot, while violist Chris Mazza has been placed on the regular 10-day IL due to bowing shoulder inflammation. Luis Patino has also been added to Tampa Bay’s violin section, and is expected to join the quartet tomorrow.
Love the mute section. Bad attempts at comedy are more offensive to me than obvious trolling.
Seriously. Everyone thinks their dad jokes are hilarious. It’s insanely annoying.
I rather see andujar for trout trade proposals
Really? I think you’re just stringing us along.
I read it. Guess I should only be mad at myself. Goo Angels!
Cringe worthy
Being the 41st or 42nd guy in an organization is terrible. They call you up, knowing they are cutting you when the real guy is back.
Probably not as bad as the 43rd and 44th guys who never make the 40. At least you get a little exposure on the waiver wire.
Patino? He’s 21, with little experience; this helps break him in, and he will be up for good later. Baseball is a bit more complicated than many think.
Hmmmmm….a highly touted pitcher with great stuff but suspect command. Where have I heard that before?
Glasnow
It’s shocking how small Francisco Meija is,5/5,5/6 tops, is he going to be a Rays catcher ever
He’s played in 11 games. Caught 10, DH’d 1. Not sure what you’re talking about.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Patino ends up with more innings pitched in 2021 than Blake Snell. I know he has ZERO endurance, but Snell isn’t even averaging 4 INNINGS per start this year! He’s a glorified long reliever since he can hardly pitch 3-4 innings, let alone 5-7 innings required by an ace. I know he blamed Kevin Cash for his continued failures, but for his entire career, he BARELY averages 5 innings per game. Wasn’t Josh Hader a starting pitcher before they moved him to the pen? I wonder if Snell could be a lights-out closer in the same way.
the outlier is the one game he left in the 1st in…
He’s now 27 straight outings without going 6 full innings. That’s more than 2 years. Astounding
That’s what I always argued with people about Blake Snell, dude has the potential but you are not an ace throwing 5 innings and 100+ pitches.
When did he “blame” Kevin Cash for his “continued failures”?
Beyond that, as another Rays example, Glasnow has barely averaged more than five innings per start during his time with the Rays, so it’s unlikely Patino will pitch more innings than Snell in 2021, but you are on record. Let’s see what happens.
oh yeah and also Fleming is the GOAT
Snell’s problems have always been from the neck up; see last night when he picked up a ball clearly going foul, and had to eat it, extending the Dodger rally. That, and no doubt his agent told him not to let his team pitch him any more than 100 pitchers, based on (the very flawed) pitch count theology.
As long as that continues, he’ll miss that leap you have to take to be an “ace”. And that’s not denying his ability; it’s obviously there. But “having” it and “using” it sometimes aren’t the same.
*Patiño
I have always been intrigued by this arm. Can’t wait to watch him.
Rays signed Grullon with the obvious intention of DFAing him after a few weeks and trying to sneak him through waivers. I expect him to remain a Ray, but time will tell.