Rays pitching depth after the Jeffrey Springs trade

The 40-man roster is full of pitchers likely to contribute in 2024

The Rays pitching depth has only expanded this off-season, despite the recent trade of Jeffrey Springs and Jacob Lopez. The Rays 40-man roster remains full of pitchers, with the majority of them ready to contribute at the major league level.

In the list below I’ll denote players are out of options with an asterisk (*), and players on contracts where options do not apply, like Pete Fairbanks, with two asterisks (**).

First up are the pitchers who either project as starters, or who have traditionally played that role.

Starting Pitchers

1. LHP Shane McClanahan
2. RHP Taj Bradley
3. RHP Ryan Pepiot
4. RHP Shane Baz
5. RHP Zack Littell**
6. RHP Drew Rasmussen
7. RHP Joe Boyle
8. LHP Joe Rock
9. LHP Ian Seymour
10. RHP Yoniel Curet

Drew Rasmussen worked as a reliever last season after returning from elbow surgery, but intends to try starting again in 2025 coming year, which might suggest that he’s a candidate to begin the year in Durham while he slowly works back up to starters’ length.

Also on the list is Joe Boyle, the centerpiece of the Springs trade, an imposing pitcher with top shelf stuff who needs to improve his ability to throw strikes. Springs could not be optioned (nor should he have been), Boyle can be (and perhaps could benefit from it as well), so that trade can be in part seen as a manouver to hold more quality starters on the 40-man roster.

Indeed, among these players, only Curet is not yet at Triple-A — he had five starts at Double-A in 2024 with a 1.75 ERA, and is has been ranked the systems #10 prospect by FanGraphs and #11 by Baseball America.

Swing Men

1. RHP Mike Vasil (Rule 5)
2. RHP Jacob Waguespack
3. LHP Mason Montgomery

In 2024, on a team like the Rays, it’s foolish to draw a hard line between starters and relievers. It’s probably better to think about the innings as being covered by “multiple times through the order” pitchers and “one time through the order” pitchers. If everyone is healthy and performing, and if no one is traded, that might bump Littell down into a bullpen role where he can still cover 5+ innings every six days, or fewer innings on a shorter schedule as needed.

These are your depth roles, and fluid usage is how the Rays build depth. Being a swing man doesn’t mean you aren’t a good pitcher.

Squarely on this list sits Mike Vasil, who the Rays just added via a trade following the Rule 5 draft. Vasil has worked as a starter in the minors and has a deep repertoire, but he must stay on the Rays 26-man roster all season, including being active for 90 days (i.e. not injured), for him to remain with the Rays in years following. He’s unlikely to break into a healthy rotation, so expect the Rays to look for how else he may fit this spring.

Mason Montgomery worked as a Triple-A starter in 2024, but became much more effective after converting to short relief, where he could pump his fastball up to 98 mph, complementing it with a sharp, hard slider. The Rays may decide that his permanent home is as a short reliever, where he’s already shown he can dominate.

Then there’s the curious case of Jacob Waguespack. He is 6’6” with great extension over the top, the second most vertical arm in the majors. He posted a very good whiff rate of 38% in his 10 innings pitched, but somehow tallied only 11 strikeouts. He’s making good money for a depth piece ($1.3m), but also has an option remaining. There’s probably a lot the Rays like about his potential in the Rays clock. He worked as a starter in the minors until he suffered a shoulder injury. He could continue as a long relief and starting depth piece, but we wouldn’t be surprised to see him emerge late in the season as part of a late-season ‘pen shakeup.

Short-relief arms

1. RHP Pete Fairbanks**
2. RHP Edwin Uceta*
3. LHP Garrett Cleavinger*
4. RHP Manuel Rodriguez*
5. RHP Cole Sulser*
6. LHP Nate Lavender (Rule 5, injured)
7. RHP Hunter Bigge
8. RHP Kevin Kelly
9. RHP Eric Orze

Almost every one of these players with an option will likely be headed up and down this year, as the Rays value flexibility in their bullpen. The reason is simple: the weather is gonna be hot, and the need to rest pitchers will be more extreme than in any Rays season before now.

The first four names are locks, with Fairbanks — a star in Tampa Bay who (yes let’s go there) will likely have incredible trade value at the deadline if he’s healthy and the Rays are lagging in the division. Fairbanks will be flanked by breakout Uceta, and firemen Cleavinger and Rodriguez.

Cole Sulser will get a long look in 2025. He’s soft tossing by comparison to the above three at 92 mph (20th percentile), but gets great extension and above average movement on his fastball. We’ll be interested to see if the Rays pitch lab can do something new with his breaking ball this year.

Lavender is the Rays pick in the Rule 5 draft, and like Vasil came from the Mets system. His recent elbow surgery will prevent him from pitching until mid-season, making him a potential addition at the time around the trade deadline. He cannot be optioned otherwise if the Rays want to keep him around beyond this season.

Now for the Durham Shuttle, which right now looks to be arguably the best Shuttle in team history.

Bigge (acquired in the Paredes trade with the Cubs) and Kelly (a former Rule 5 selection before the 2023 season) will both feature regularly, and can be viewed as part of the core bullpen, even if they are up and down this season as the front office keeps arms fresh. If the Rays choose to keep Montgomery a short reliever and no other roster moves are made, he too will join this core shuttle group.

Orze, the third pitching prospect newcomer from the Mets, was the return for Jose Siri and has options remaining, so he’ll be in the same boat as Bigge and Kelly. Like Kelly, he can pitch in a multi-inning role. He has a “plus-plus changeup” but hasn’t thrown for strikes lately, so he’ll probably start the year in Durham.

The Rays 40 man is full of both quantity and quality, and there’s always a few non-roster invitees who play a role on the major league roster as well, so it’s going to be interesting to see what the Rays do with it next. Will they deal from this depth to patch other areas of the team? Will they add further?