Tampa Bay Rays news and links: Will a new simplified approach help Souza?

New turf.

Better get that starburst painted soon.

There still is going to be an outfield starburst, right?

Links

• This is an ever-present recurring story with Steven Souza Jr., so take it with a grain of salt. But new hitting coach Chad Mottola is focusing on simplifying Souza’s approach and getting him to relax.
• Austin Pruitt, in somewhat of a surprise, made the opening-day roster. Rays Radio has good audio from both Pruitt and Kevin Cash, with Cash talking about Pruitt, Chase Whitley, and Jamie Schultz (Schultz will work out of the bullpen in Durham, Whitley will start).
• Jonny Venters will again try to rehab and return, and the Rays are giving him that shot.
• Bill Chastain writes that Matt Duffy’s return date is still uncertain and that Tim Beckham will get most of the time at shortstop.
• Mike Petriello used Statcast to rank and write about outfield defense. Interesting tidbit: Kiermaier is great, but he also had “the least difficult batted balls in baseball” hit to him. That’s interesting, and Petriello says he’ll dive into that separately.
• Montreal investors look ready to bring a team back to the city. It could happen. Whether that’s through relocation or expansion still depends on how MLB handles Tampa Bay and Oakland.