Rays outfielder Jonny DeLuca was hit by a pitch during today’s game against the Red Sox, which took place in the Dominican Republic as part of this spring’s Dominican Republic Series. Per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, DeLuca was diagnosed with a broken right hand after undergoing an x-ray at a local hospital. Though Topkin notes that DeLuca is expected to undergo further evaluation when the club returns to Florida, he also adds that the typical recovery time for such an injury is “at least” 4-6 weeks.
The injury news is a notable blow to a Rays that club figured to carry DeLuca as a right-handed complement to the likes of Jonathan Aranda and Josh Lowe in the outfield and DH mix headed into the regular season. Acquired from the Dodgers alongside right-hander Ryan Pepiot in the Tyler Glasnow trade back in December, DeLuca has just 45 big league plate appearances under his belt after hitting a roughly league average .262/.311/.429 in a cup of coffee with the Dodgers last summer but figured to have a larger role with the Rays this season, particularly given the departures of outfield options Luke Raley and Manuel Margot via trade this winter. Those plans have been scuttled for the time being, however, as DeLuca now figures to miss at least the first few weeks of the regular season.
With DeLuca out of action to open the season, the Rays may find themselves less inclined to move right-handed slugger Harold Ramirez, who saw his name enter the rumor mill this winter but has remained in Tampa to this point. While the Rays are hardly averse to late-spring deals, having acquired Ramirez himself from the Cubs just before Opening Day 2022, the loss of DeLuca leaves the Rays short on outfield options to pair with the starting trio of Randy Arozarena, Jose Siri, and Josh Lowe. Ramirez can offer some insurance at the outfield corners while pairing well alongside Aranda at DH; while Aranda is a left-handed hitter who has hit a paltry .077/.250/.077 in limited playing time against southpaws in the big leagues, Ramirez crushed them to the tune of a .387/.411/.555 slash line last year.
Of course, Ramirez was already all but assured of a roster spot entering the season unless the club managed to work out a trade, taking a spot on the bench alongside Amed Rosario and a back-up catcher such as Francisco Mejia or Alex Jackson. While DeLuca previously appeared to be a strong contender for that final spot on the bench, the club may now look to a young infielder such as Curtis Mead or Osleivis Basabe to replace DeLuca’s right-handed bat on the bench. Both Mead and Basabe made their major league debuts last year but posted below-average offensive numbers in brief cups of coffee with the big league club.
If Tampa is content with Ramirez and Rosario as bench options against southpaws, however, the club could instead look to shore up its outfield mix by turning to a lefty-swinging outfielder such as Richie Palacios or Greg Jones for its final bench spot. The switch-hitting Jones has yet to make his major league debut but hit well at the Triple-A level last year with a .278/.344/.468 slash line in 51 games, while Palacios impressed with a 120 wRC+ in 102 trips to the plate with the Cardinals last year. Both Jones and Palacios boast experience in both the infield and the outfield, offering positional flexibility that could improve their value in a bench role for the club.
Things donta looku good for the rays. Ahahaha!
Because a guy who may or may not have been a 4th or 5th outfielder might be out for a month? Come on. Mead has more power so if almost rather have him be the last guy on the roster than DeLuca. Plus, it might allow them to keep Ramirez in the lineup every day, and he is going to break out being in the lineup every day. I would expect 25 Homers from Harold with consistent playing time. Your Yankee$ better hope Cole gets to use spider tac and that one of their free agent pitchers from the past 2 years don’t turn back into pumpkins because Soto can’t carry the team, Judge’s toe might get a boo boo again, and Stanton can get an injury blowing his nose. Bakee$ are going to need all of the pitching they can get with their broke and aging ‘sluggers’. Rays up!!!!
They gave Mead the contract last year, and it’s time to let him play. And Caminero is just about ready, so any injuries will just open up PT for these young guys who are ready to shine.
Laughing at another players Injury? Wouldn’t expect anything less for someone like you. The Yankees will sometime this year suffer an important injury, and when they do, I’ll do my best to hold back a smile.
Man, that happened quicker than I thought it would.
Tough break for Jonny and the Rays. Really sorry to hear about this. Speedy recovery Jonny!
Finally getting his shot. Get well soon, buddy.
Shorten Spring Training. They don’t need a month plus to get ready for the season
Pitchers do, and so do hitters when it comes to timing pitches of varying speeds.
Two weeks against each other, two weeks of games. Players with a tendency of starting slow don’t crank up until May/June no matter. April baseball is basically spring training anyway. May cut down on injuries. May not. Just spitballing.
Shorten Spring Training? Do you not understand how capitalism works? That’s less ticket sales. Wow.
nerf Balls in spring training
Spring Training is a tradition that does not need to be shortened.
Palacios is the answer.
Even if it is just Spring Training, the pitcher who threw the pitch that struck and injures a batter that results in lost time for the batter should be suspended for the same length of time that the services of the batter are lost to his team. “Oops, Sorry” and “It’s just part of the game”, just don’t make it anymore in the high stakes world of professional baseball.
MLB = Wake up and crack the whip.
When one team/organization is penalized due to an injury to their player caused by the negligent actions by a member of the opposing team; that team should justifiably also incur an equal, offsetting penalty.
Too many batters crowd the plate, and don’t allow themselves reaction time to move. That’s not the pitchers fault, but they should get suspended? I don’t think so.
Great article, Nick! But I’m pretty sure Raley is not right-handed 🙂
BR says he throws right-handed, so Nick was half right.
Half the stories I read about the Rays have misinformation. The other day there was mention the Rays would be a good fit for JD Davis. Um, what? He does not play shortstop, and we have Paredes and Diaz at the corners on the infield, Lowe at 2nd; a RH DH option was also floated…um, Harold Ramirez exists and is cheaper.
Rays never get respect. Just the way of the world.
I’m a Red Sox fan by dint of having been born in Boston, but I absolutely adore the Rays. When the Sox fall out of contention, they’re usually who I root for. I live in New Orleans now and am always baffled by the lack of enthusiasm for baseball along the Gulf Coast, especially since the Rays are right there, perennially contending on a shoestring budget, consistently defying the world’s expectations of them, which is about the most Gulf Coast spirit I can think of a sports team embodying. I think some baseball purists resent the Rays’ innovations now that they’ve been hijacked by the rest of the league, but I don’t think there’s a more impressive organization in the sport. Imagine winning so much with so little. Boston could never! And they’ve clearly tried!
Best of luck to you guys this year. I’m a little skeptical that the roster has enough talent on it this year for y’all to keep up with New York and Baltimore, but the Rays always seem to find a way.
Of course the Dodgers get rid of him and his life is over. No one wants to leave the super team but there are casualties. Pepiot and DeLuca will be garbage anyway. We can’t all be Brasier and Kelly and use our daddy cheat lab team to save our sorry careers.
Ah no, Pepiot will not be garbage.
He will be back. Kid will get his chance.
Would like to see Nico Hulsizer get a look one day but very much bat-first, too many errors on his minors track record for a Rays OF I guess.
Any news on josh lowe?