Hideki Matsui is expected to join the Tampa Bay Rays today, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Matsui signed a minor league deal with the Rays at the end of April and is expected to share time with Luke Scott as Tampa Bay’s designated hitter.
Matsui is set to turn 38 in a few weeks, but the Rays believe Godzilla can still have an impact at the major league level.
If Tampa Bay does promote Matsui from the minors today, the move will come as a bit of a surprise considering the veteran’s lack of production thus far. Over his 13 games with the Rays Triple-A affiliate, Matsui has only gone 8-47, good for a .170 batting average, with two extra base hits and four RBIs.
Despite his slow start in the minors, Matsui did show that he could still provide pop as recently as last season. As a member of the Oakland A’s, Matsui tallied 12 home runs, 28 doubles and 72 RBIs over his 517 at-bats.
Whenever he does join the Rays, Matsui is expected to split time with Luke Scott as the club’s designated hitter. Though Matsui and Scott are both left-handed hitters, Scott is much better against right-handed pitching while Matsui has solid career numbers versus southpaws (.808 OPS).
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