While the full squad has worked out for most of this week, one veteran has taken it slow to begin 2021, as outfielder Kevin Kiermaier has not gone through a full workout including hitting.
“We’re probably going to slow-play him just a little bit in the first couple of games,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said Friday. “Both of his hips were just a little tight coming into camp, and we’ve got time on our side. We know KK. We just want to make sure he’s ready for when it matters most. And I think with his thoughts and also Joe [Benge] and our trainers, just to give him those extra days to not do anything to tweak it.”
Cash says Kiermaier should be out for drills and BP in the next couple of days. The 30-year-old center fielder played in 49 of the team’s 60 regular season contests, and did not spend any time on the injured list for the first time since 2015.
Fleming On Living With His Best Bud, Trying New Veggies
Rays pitcher Josh Fleming talks Friday about his live BP session and what living with Pete Fairbanks has introduced to his life. (screencap by Steve Carney/St. Pete Nine)
Pitcher Josh Fleming threw his first live batting practice session Friday in Port Charlotte, but much more has been made about his living situation. The left-hander is staying with reliever Pete Fairbanks, whose face he wore on a shirt during the postseason depicting the two of them like Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly in the movie Step Brothers.
“It’s going well,” Fleming said. “He’s made me try some new foods. I’m not a big vegetable guy, so he’s kind of been forcing me to eat some veggies and whatnot.”
“One big one if you had told me last year ‘Hey, you’re going to try these and you might like them’ were Brussel sprouts,” Fleming admitted. “He had me try some Brussel sprouts, and I was like ‘All right, I guess I’ll give them a try.’ They were air fried, and they were actually pretty good.”
Fleming said he does like vegetables like green beans and peppers, but these are vegetables he’s never tried before.
“I’m sure cauliflower and broccoli will be on the menu sometime soon.”
Pitching Getting Outlined For Start Of Grapefruit League
With the Grapefruit League beginning on Sunday at Charlotte Sports Park against the Atlanta Braves, the Rays are starting to get the pitchers they want for these seven-inning games lined up.
Cash announced Friday that minor-leaguer Chris Ellis will start Sunday’s opener, with Hunter Strickland, Andrew Kittredge, Jeffrey Springs, and Stetson Allie in line to work innings in the game.
Other pitchers already scheduled for Grapefruit League appearances are:
- Monday vs Minnesota: RHP Tyler Glasnow, RHP Trevor Richards, LHP Dietrich Enns, RHP Louis Head, LHP Kenny Rosenberg
- Tuesday at Boston: RHP Michael Wacha, RHP David Hess, RHP Ryan Thompson, RHP Pete Fairbanks, LHP Ryan Sherriff, RHP Chris Mazza
- Wednesday vs Pittsburgh: LHP Shane McClanahan, LHP Josh Fleming
- Thursday at Minnesota: LHP Ryan Yarbrough, RHP Luis Patino
Spring Television Schedule Announced
Fox Sports has released the schedule for Rays Grapefruit League games that will be aired locally.
13 spring games will be shown on television, beginning with the March 3 game against Pittsburgh from Charlotte Sports Park. The Fox Sports Sun crew of Dewayne Staats, Brian Anderson and Tricia Whitaker will be heard on ten of the games. The Fox Sports North crew will be used for three games involving the Minnesota Twins.
Staats and Whitaker will work all ten local television games, while Anderson will join the crew March 16 and work the final five games. The full schedule is below.
Spring Tickets Sold Out
If you were hoping to wait until the end of the day to get tickets to see the Rays this spring, you’re out of luck.
The team announced Friday that Spring Training tickets at Charlotte Sports Park sold out in around five minutes after going on sale at 10:00. The team said a vast majority of the tickets didn’t make it to the general public, as previous years season-ticketholders and other insiders were allowed to purchase tickets in presales earlier this week.
Charlotte Sports Park is expected to have a capacity of just over 1,000 for games this spring.