On the injury front, Jeremy Hellickson threw a 10-minute bullpen session yesterday, tossing a total of 34 pitches. He's scheduled to throw again on Tuesday, so he's slowly making his way back from his hamstring tightness. My assumption is the Rays are just being extra cautious with Hellickson, as he can slowly ease into the season as the fifth starter anyway.
Also, according to Marc Topkin, Reid Brignac is feeling much better today and should be ready to play again within the next couple of days. The Rays may hold him out of games until the end of the week. but this is still encouraging news.
Who: Tampa Bay Rays @ Pittsburgh Pirates
When & Where: 1:05 PM, McKechnie Field, Bradenton, Fla.
Radio: None. Ugh.
Pitching for the Rays: David Price, Mike Ekstrom, Rob Delaney, Matt Bush, Alex Cobb
Pitching for the Pirates: Ross Ohlendorf, Mike Crotta, Evan Meek, Daniel Moskos, Jose Veras, Tyler Yates
Rays Lineup: Courtesy of Marc Topkin:
Jaso c
Damon lf
Longoria 3b
Ramirez dh
Joyce rf
Upton cf
D. Johnson 1b
Inglett 2b
Beckham ss
For your first chance to earn some Jonah Keri Points and work your way toward winning a free copy of The Extra 2%, and Dirk Hayhurst's The Bullpen Gospels, make some predictions on the below questions:
- Since the Rays are facing the Pirates and will (hopefully) score some runs, who will get an RBI in this game? (only one player)
- Which Rays pitcher will allow the most runs?
- Will the Rays actually win this game?