Jason Bartlett Activated From DL; Reid Brignac Optioned To Triple-A

We all saw what a knee injury did to him last year, and while a knee injury should hurt your range more than an ankle, it will see be something to keep an eye on.

Don’t under-estimate an ankle injury.

3 2Bs in the last week. He was still striking out too much and not walking, but I think that’s pretty much his M.O. I think he should be, at worst, a useful up the middle defender. Hopefully, he’ll go back down with an idea of what he needs to do, and the next time we need him (hopefully not this year) he’ll be even more improved.

Great to have MVB back. I hope he’ll return in somewhat similar fashion to how he left.

Barring any injury, Dillionaire will be sticking around for awhile. If the FO was going to part with Dillionaire, they would’ve done it this week. Brignac brings nothing off the bench. Maddon’s not going to use him as a defensive replacement or a pinch hitter. He’d just be wasting space until he wanted to give Bartlett a day off. As for Joyce vs Dillionaire, Maddon would rather have the flexibility of a guy like Dillionaire that can play different infield positions.

But why send Brignac down when he brings so much more value defensively than Dillon? Dillon is there to hit lefties, but with Burrell and MVB coming back, we get two lefty crushers back in the lineup. Also, if there is a pinch hit situation, I would expect to see Willy over Dillon. I understand the move because you obviously want to give Briggy his fair share of AB’s but part of me would have loved to see him stay up.

The Rays don’t want to expose him to waivers. I think they’re also using him as a hedge against future injuries. He’s basically taking on the Ben Zobrist utility role from earlier in the season. Zorilla is officially the starting 2nd basebman.