Rays Tank: Well met, Preston Guilmet

Yesterday afternoon, the Rays put a claim on Preston Guilmet (and then moved Drew Smyly to the 60-day DL). Guilmet, 27, is a righty that has some pretty filthy minor league numbers and has 15.2 IP in the majors. He's thus far presented himself as a fastball and splitter guy, with a sinker in there for funsies.

He's already been optioned to the minors, but given how Cash has used both the major league bullpen and the available arms in the minors, I imagine we'll see Preston soon.

I actually kind of Cash's approach with bullpen usage. It's very unpopular but quite cutting edge to rip a young starter from the game after two trips through the order. The net result definitely leans heavier on the bullpen, but also creates a depressed run environment. And with guys like Guilmet, Andrew Bellatti, Matt Andriese, and Grant Balfour percolating in and cycling through the minors, the Rays can swap out tired relievers as needed.

Speaking of Grant Balfour: He's completed 4.0 IP in the minors, meaning he has almost as many minor league outs as major league out this season, and he's walked only 2 batters while striking out 8. Hopefully he gets in gear and redeems this season. I think that would be awesome.

Other Rays News

• Steven Souza Jr's sixth homer of the season was a doozy -- a blast deep to centerfield -- but it was only his third longest homer of the season. (His longest is still among the longest homers of the MLB season.)



• Speaking of yesterday's game, Nathan Karns put himself together quite well after a rough first nine pitches (all balls) and a rough first inning. And as Danny passed along to me this morning, it's comforting to see his pitch speed keeping so steady:



Maybe the Rays can stall his mandatory arm explosion and 60-day DL?

• John Sickels admits Blake Snell is the greatest pitching prospect ever. Or something. I dunno; I skimmed it.

Elsewhere in Baseball

• Former Ray and former Guy We Were All Excited About Reid Brignac is on his way to the minors again. Fun fact: His -1.2 fWAR makes him one of the worst players in the majors since his callup in 2008. The best player in that span? Evan Longoria. Do you know what this means? Probably nothing.

• Hey, speaking of former Rays, your friend Luke Scott just signed a minor league pact with the Toronto Blue Jays! Canada is going to love this guy.

• Troy Tulowitzki might be looking for a trade on account of the Colorado Rockies being a perennially awful team and whatnot. Fine, if you throw in some cash, we'll go Asdrubal Cabrera for Tulo -- no strings attached.

• The Dodgers are scoring many runs.

• For those into making visualizations, I highly recommend Tableau. Well, now Tableau Public Premium is free. Be careful, though, because Tableau might ruin Excel for you.

• Surely you've heard by now, but Corey Kluber -- y'know, that pitcher I once traded away so I could have a Cubs backup infielder -- struck out 18 batters without walking anyone. That's a heck of a way to get your first win of the year.

• In an innovation that almost certainly will be coming to the Rays soon, Kia Tigers recently shifted their third baseman to behind the catcher. The umpires, however, were having none of that.