Tampa Bay Rays place Randy Arozarena on the COVID-19 IL

Prior to their series opener against the Baltimore Orioles, the Tampa Bay Rays have placed outfielder Randy Arozarena on the COVID-19 Related IL due to coming in close contact with someone with the virus. Taking his place on the active roster is outfielder Jordan Luplow, whom the Rays selected from Triple-A Durham.

Arozarena had been on a torrid stretch as of late that brought back memories of his historic 2020 postseason performance. Over his last 61 plate appearances, Arozarena was hitting .404/.443/.842 with 6 HR, registering 251 wRC+; overall this season, Arozarena has registered 2.1 fWAR and 125 wRC+ over 99 games.

Jordan Luplow joins the Rays active roster for the first time since being acquired by the team at the trade deadline from the Cleveland baseball team. Luplow is an on-base machine, who can also provide some pop. He has played in 36 games this season for Cleveland, hitting .173/.331/.439 with 7 HR over 121 plate appearances, missing the majority of the campaign with an ankle injury.

Luplow has been with Triple-A Durham for the past week, hitting .222/.300/.333 over three games. Luplow can serve in the same capacity as Arozarena, serving as a corner outfielder where he’ll share duties with outfielder Manuel Margot.