Tampa Bay Rays News: Jake Odorizzi, Alex Torres

By now, everybody knows that the Tampa Bay Rays will officially start top pitching prospect Jake Odorizzi tomorrow in an AL East rivalry game against the Toronto Blue Jays, and it will certainly be a treat to watch Odorizzi make his Rays debut tomorrow. In 44.2 innings with Triple-A Durham this season, Odorizzi had a 3.83 ERA and did an excellent job gunning down hitters with a total of 47 strikeouts and just 15 walks to go with that.

According to Rays manager Joe Maddon, the Rays plan on giving Odorizzi all of David Price’s starts until the Rays ace returns from the disabled list with a triceps injury. This news comes to us via a tweet from the Tampa Bay Tribune’s Roger Mooney. The Rays don’t think Price will miss much time, and we’ll likely see Odorizzi getting two or three starts whilst Price is out. It’s a great contingency plan to have, and the talented 23-year-old RHP makes tomorrows game against the Blue Jays a must-watch for me.

The Rays also optioned 25-year-old left-handed reliever Alex Torres to Triple-A Durham just three days after promoting Torres to the team on Thursday night. Torres did an excellent job in that spot-up gig as a reliever by tossing four hitless innings  yesterday against the Baltimore Orioles for the win. He finished the rivalry game with three strikeouts and two walks allowed, and he previously nabbed an out against the Boston Red Sox in his season debut with the Rays on Thursday. The Rays are replacing Torres’s spot in the bullpen with a fresh arm in Jeff Beliveau.