- Per Steve Wiseman on Twitter (h/t TPR, The Ray Area), Brandon Guyer has been promoted to the Rays and will join them in Baltimore today. Also, from Marc Topkin this morning, Jeff Niemann has officially hit the Disabled List with a lower back strain. With Guyer's promotion, Andy Sonnanstine will be sliding into the rotation in place of Niemann, and the Rays will roll with a six-man bullpen for the time being. There's no set timetable for his return.
There's still no word on Upton's fine/suspension after his blowup a few days ago, but now the Rays have another outfielder that can help in case Upton is suspended for a period of time. RJ has a preview of what to expect from Guyer up over at The Process Report, so check it out. In short, he's an athletic outfielder and been absolutely mashing down in Triple-A this season. He's going to be a fun player to watch, and I'm excited he's gotten the call. - In other news, Felipe Lopez cleared waivers yesterday and accepted his assignment to Triple-A. So the Rays didn't lose some of their depth after all; Lopez will be really nice to have in Durham, as insurance in case anything else goes wrong this year.
- Also in Topkin's column from this morning: J.P. Howell had his first Triple-A rehab appearance yesterday. He has four more of these to go before making his return to the Rays, so he's not quite ready yet but he's getting close.
- And yet another thing from Topkin's column: "Note to the Free Matt Joyce campaigners: He was going to start against Jays LHP Ricky Romero, who ended up being scratched."
- Kevin has an article on Brandon Gomes up over at Rays Prospects. He breaks down Gomes' pitches, which is something I always find useful when trying to evaluate new pitchers. Definitely worth reading.
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