Two Rays minor-league pitchers will get an opportunity to represent their country in the upcoming Tokyo Olympics.
Pitchers Shane Baz and Joe Ryan were named to the roster of Team USA for the upcoming Summer Olympics, which begin later this month.
Congrats to Bulls pitchers Shane Baz & Joe Ryan on being named to the U.S. Olympic Team roster!
— Durham Bulls (@DurhamBulls) July 2, 2021
Ryan has spent all of 2021 with the Triple-A Durham Bulls, going 3-3 with a 3.73 earned run average in eight starts and a bulk appearance. The 25-year-old has allowed just 19 runs, 17 earned, in 41 innings of work, and has struck out 54 and walked just nine batters.
Baz began 2021 with Double-A Montgomery before being promoted to Triple-A. The 22-year-old right-hander is 3-4 with a 2.12 earned run average, 69 strikeouts in 46 2/3 innings and a 0.771 WHIP rate overall this year.
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.
