Tampa Bay Rays news and links: Vegas favorites to sign Jose Bautista

It’s that time of year where we start up our favorite game, the Chris Archer Changeup Watch. Archer was on the hill against the Red Sox in Fort Myers, and he said that he felt really good, and that he threw a lot of changeups (some of which the scoreboard called sliders), including changeups to righties:

Today’s the best I’ve felt all spring, I was able to face a really good team, get a lot of outs, and get outs in ways that I typically wouldn’t . . . you know, a lot of changeups, got a lot of great feedback. Not all of them were strikes, but high quality pitches.

There’s also postgame audio from Ryan Yarbrough (who was not pleased with his sequencing):

And from Kevin Cash, who talked more about Archer’s changeup, and who agreed with Yarbrough on the sequencing issue:

Rays Links

• The Rays Radio profile today is on Joey Wendle, who is in the mix for the second base job.
• Mark Topkin got some more details on how the four-man rotation will work, as well as some additional questions of how it will affect things like player arbitration.

The plan is to have four capable of working two to four innings, roughly up to 50 to 60 pitches, then getting two or three days to recover (and also to have options to be sent down and replaced by a fresh arm). Then three of their other four — from a group led by Sergio Romo, out-of-options Chaz Roe and maybe either Jose Alvarado or Dan Jennings — will be available to be used for one-plus inning work and expected to be available on shorter rest. Closer Alex Colome primarily will work one inning, but occasionally extended.

• Brian Auld was in St. Pete to talk about the prospective stadium move across the bay.
• Hi rich dude who got diz seet.
• Baseball America listed 20 players likely to make an impact as rookies in 2018, with Wily Adames coming in at number eight.
• Jose Bautista anyone?

• Today’s lineup:

Other Links

• David Kagan wrote about the physics of humidors (which are coming).
• Jeff Sullivan looked at spring training trends (walks, strikeouts, and homers are up), which probably will matter for real baseball trends.
• I don’t think I get this, Matt Ellis, but I’m intrigued enough to link anyway. If metahistory isn’t your thing, go straight to the radio broadcasts. Then if you like the, click the first link and double check whether metahistory actually is your thing.