The Rays have designated right-hander Chris Ellis for assignment, per a club announcement. His spot on the 26-man and 40-man rosters will go to lefty Ryan Yarbrough, who has been reinstated from the Covid-19-related injured list.
It’s surely a bitter pill to swallow for Ellis, who was selected to the big league roster just two days ago and promptly pitched four brilliant innings in his lone appearance with the club. The righty picked up his first big league win in yesterday’s game when he tossed the final four innings of the game and held Baltimore scoreless on three hits and a walk with seven strikeouts.
That said, Ellis has had a rough go of it in Triple-A this year, which made his promotion to the big league roster look likely to be a short-term stint. In 15 appearances (13 starts) with the Rays’ top affiliate in Durham, Ellis has posted a 6.32 ERA with slightly below-average strikeout and walk rates. He’s also served up 14 home runs in just 57 innings of work thus far in Triple-A.
Ellis, now 28 years old, had a strong Triple-A season in 2018 but has been hit hard both in 2019 and 2020 at that level. Still, he’s a former third-round pick (Angels, 2014) who has been well-regarded enough to be included in a pair of trades involving notable big leaguers — Andrelton Simmons and Jaime Garcia — and was a Rule 5 Draft pick as recently as the 2018-19 offseason. The Rays will now place him on outright waivers or release waivers, giving all 29 other clubs the opportunity to claim him.
FredMcGriff for the HOF
This is seeming to be a recurring deal with the Rays. Call up a guy let him pitch a few inning then DFA him.
Cohn Joppolella
But I already bought the jersey!
sergefunction
Padres new ace.
The Baseball Fan
Until he gets injured
Moonlight Grahamcracker
He lasted a day longer than everyone thought!
chace alexander
Lmfao
ShootyBabbit
halos bring him home, release Slegers
angelsfan4life
Exactly
mt in baltimore
He will soon be in the other dugout tonight for Baltimore.
Dorothy_Mantooth
He must be a magician: “he tossed the final four innings of the game and held Baltimore scoreless on three runs”
Steve Adams
“Chris Ellis” has a magician-y ring to it, now that you mention it!
Thanks for that, haha. Obviously meant “hits,” and it’s now been updated. Appreciate it.
mike156
Steve, when a player is brought up and then DFA’d like this, how does it effect his salary and service time? Is he paid MLB minimum on a pro-rated basis?
5TUNT1N
Not to mention he played triple A in 2020. Must’ve been a ghost league. Or maybe he played it MLB the show, ya know kids these days.
bobtillman
Games against the Orioles don’t factor into a pitcher’s ERA.
And yes, the O’s should claim him. Along with Doc Ellis. Maybe Bette Davis.
Sideline Redwine
Wow, his stuff looked good last night. I predicted the dfa…but not after such a good performance!
kellin
Regular ol’ Nostradamas, ain’tcha?
bravesfan
Dang, pitched pretty well that one game lol
Enzosrevenge
Jackpot call AJ Pellet….
Ron Tingley
His career stats rounded into 162 games in pretty freaking impressive..
CrikesAlready
Padres, Padres, Padres…