The Tampa Bay Rays placed pitcher Drew Rasmussen on the 60-day injured list Friday afternoon with a strained flexor tendon in his right elbow.
According to president of baseball operations Erik Neander, who went on 95.3 WDAE just minutes after the announcement was made, Rasmussen suffered the injury at the end of his seven shutout inning performance Thursday in defeating the New York Yankees.
Neander told Ronnie Lane and Tom Krasniqi that the right-hander will be shut down from throwing for a minimum of eight weeks, and they are hopeful that rest and rehabilitation will help him avoid surgery.
“First and foremost, just really feel for him. There’s not a better human out there,” Neander told Ronnie and T-Kras. “He’s overcome so much from a health standpoint, and has been integral to our success. So, hopefully, the remaining news we get on this will be good news. And it’s some rest, and then he can get back and going again and join us later this year.”
Listen to the entire conversation below:
Rasmussen has already had Tommy John surgery twice on his elbow.
To take Rasmussen’s place on the 40-man and active rosters, the Rays have selected the contract of reliever Chris Muller.
Steve Carney is the founder and publisher of St. Pete Nine. One of the people most associated with baseball coverage in Tampa Bay, he spent 13 seasons covering the Rays for flagship radio station WDAE, first as producer of Rays Radio broadcasts, then as beat reporter beginning in 2011. He likes new analytics and aged bourbon, and is the owner of one of the ugliest knuckleballs ever witnessed by baseball scouts.
