Tampa Bay Rays news and links: Johnny Venters on the road back

The Rays had an offday to bask in the glow of Matt Moore’s strong start, before hosting the Mariners today.

When asked by [DRaysBay community member] @ltw0303 if that start saved Moore from being moved to the bullpen, Topkin had this to say:

Speaking of bullpen, the Johnny Venters watch is on.

Sam Blum of MLB.com wrote about Venters going through his third major rehab. Lots of good quotes in there.

"Take away the physical side of what he's done; the mental side of what he's done -- going through three of these and not just three of them, two of them so close to each other," Rays athletic trainer Joe Benge said. "He's been to the pinnacle and he understands what it takes to get there."

Check it out.

Oh, and there’s beat reporter drama.

Topkin wrote about how the players who left the Rays are doing this season. Boring. Not much info, no analysis. Whatever. But skip way down to a line hidden in the middle of the Rays Rumblings, and you find this gem:

So Desmond Jennings was willing to talk after Monday's game with Fox Sports Sun, which employs Brian Anderson, who was most critical of him, but not with the Times or other reporters in the clubhouse, including mlb.com?

I assume Topkin is referring to something that started from this, from June 2?

The Lowe brothers, Rays first and thirteenth round draft picks, will sign shortly, says Bill Chastain.

Other Links

• Do you love etymology? I do. And this rundown, by Chris Landers, of the origin of baseball terms is pretty good.
• Bill Petti, one of the best baseball researchers/writers/graphers out there, dives into using Statcast to predict hits.
• The Rays are about to face the Mariners. And guess what? The Mariners offense is weird. They’ve hit more home runs than doubles.