Tampa Bay Rays to recall Blake Snell from Triple-A to start Thursday

Tampa Bay Rays top prospect Blake Snell will be called back up to start on Thursday, taking Matt Andriese’s spot in the rotation.

The Tampa Bay Rays are set to shake up their pitching staff, announcing on Sunday that minor league pitcher Blake Snell would be recalled from Triple-A Durham on Thursday to start against the Seattle Mariners at Tropicana Field.

In a corresponding move, the Rays will remove right-hander Matt Andriese from the rotation and begin using him out of the bullpen starting on Tuesday.

The decision may seem a bit puzzling considering how well Andriese has pitched this year as a starter. The 26-year-old boasts a 2.82 ERA, 1.16 WHIP and 2.50 K/BB over 44.2 innings in seven starts. On a crew that has seen names like Chris Archer (4.61 ERA), Drew Smyly (4.94 ERA) and Matt Moore (5.05 ERA) underperform, Andriese has been a surprisingly reliable arm.

Tampa Bay, however, believes Andriese will have a positive impact on its bullpen. Rays relievers currently own a 3.73 ERA, placing them 15th in MLB. Manager Kevin Cash explained the rationale for the move after Sunday’s win over the Astros:

“We think that’s going to help us win ballgames. Matt’s very capable of providing a huge boost in the bullpen. (We) fully understand what he’s done as a starter has been tremendous, but we got to think about what we’re doing to win ballgames. That was our thought process.”

Andriese does have prior experience pitching out of the bullpen at the major league level: 17 of his 25 appearances in 2015 came in relief.

Snell, of course, is the Rays’ number-one prospect, as ranked by Baseball America and MLB Pipeline. The 23-year-old lefty made his major league debut on April 23 against the Yankees and acquitted himself well, allowing one run on two hits over five innings. He also racked up six strikeouts on the afternoon.

Snell’s impressive minor league resume is part of what makes him such an appealing prospect. He was named Baseball America’s Minor League Player of the Year in 2015 after posting a sparkling 1.41 ERA across three levels of the Rays system. He’s been enjoying another strong campaign at Triple-A this season, managing a 3.29 ERA over 63 frames, along with 90 strikeouts. A consistent strikeout generator, Snell’s current 12.9 K/9 rate is the highest of his minors career.

Does the highly-touted youngster have a chance of staying in the Rays rotation long-term? Cash was noncommittal: “We’ll get through one start and then kind of see where it goes from there.” However, as Roger Mooney of the Tampa Bay Times reasons, Snell has already crossed the deadline for Super Two eligibility, pushing his arbitration clock back. If he pitches as well as Tampa Bay hopes, there doesn’t appear to be a compelling argument against letting him stick with the big league club.

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Though still in the cellar of the AL East, the Rays have been playing well recently. They’ve won seven of their last nine contests and are four games out of the second Wild Card spot. If their new arrangement with Snell and Andriese works out the way they envision, it could provide a valuable boost to both their rotation and bullpen as they seek to remain in the playoff hunt.