Tampa Bay Rays place Jonny Venters on the disabled list, recall Austin Pruitt, and Chris Archer update

The Tampa Bay Rays have placed LHP Jonny Venters on the 10-day disabled list with a strained hamstring. In his place, they have recalled RHP Austin Pruitt.

Venters, 33, is among the best baseball stories in recent memory as he worked back from “3.5” Tommy John surgeries to make his first major league appearances since the end of the 2012 season. His story of perseverance is incredible, and he proved to be more than just a novelty as he has been one of the more dependable relievers in the Rays bullpen.

He has only allowed runs in two of his 21 appearances for the Rays, and one of those instances was a disastrous attempt at serving as ‘The Opener.’ Other than that, he has been dominant, with the only thing separating him from his stellar Atlanta Braves days is his diminished velocity. Overall, Venters has allowed 6 runs on 11 hits over 13.2 innings pitched (5 of those runs scored during his ‘Opener’ attempt.)

Pruitt, 28, had a short stay off of the Rays active roster as the team optioned him prior to Friday night’s series opener with the New York Yankees. With Jonny Venters going on the disabled list, the Rays were allowed to bring Pruitt back up, despite the brief demotion.

Thus far in 2018, Pruitt has thrown in 14 games for the Rays, serving as a long reliever as he put up a total of 51 innings pitched. Overall he has a 4.24 ERA / 4.11 FIP while opponents are hitting .245 off of him.

In other Rays news, Chris Archer and Jake Faria completed bullpen sessions as they work their way back from their respective injuries.