Bartlett to DL; Zobrist and Brignac coming up

The Rays followed Wednesday's sweep with some bad news Thursday as SS Jason Bartlett - a huge key to their improved defense - had to be placed on the DL due to a right knee sprain.

"It's tough,'' executive VP Andrew Friedman said. "Obviously our defense has been a big part of our success to date and Jason's been right in the middle of that.''

INFs Ben Zobrist and prospect Reid Brignac are coming up from Triple-A, and RHP Mitch Talbot, who was called up Wednesday to bolster the bullpen, was sent back down, without appearing in a game.

Bartlett was hurt when he slid into the base awkwardly after stealing third at the start of the big seventh-inning rally Wednesday, and it looked at the time that he would have to leave the game. The Rays actually had pitcher James Shields ready to hit for Bartlett when his turn came up again in the order, but Bartlett came back from the clubhouse and batted again, singling in two runs.

He played the field for the final two innings, but made a throwing error on Manny Ramirez's ground ball to open the ninth, and manager Joe Maddon said later that the knee was an issue. Bartlett hit .256 with 18 stolen bases, starting 77 of the Rays' 84 games.

Friedman said they expect Bartlett to be back right after the July 14-17 All-Star break. Zobrist seems likely to get most of the playing time, with Brignac to provide depth in case Zobrist's shoulder problem, which had landed him on the Triple-A DL last month, flares up. But Brignac, a lefthanded hitter, could also get some starts, and the Rays could benefit from having an extra middle infielder. Until now, 3B Evan Longoria was considered the backup shortstop.

Zobrist has been up and down twice from Triple-A this season, and has a .292 average in nine games, homering back-to-back games in Miami last week. Brignac, 22, is making his major-league debut. He is hitting .265 with seven homers, 24 doubles and 28 RBIs for the Bulls.

The move means the Rays will go with 11 pitchers, and only six relievers, with RHP Al Reyes not expected to be ready until after the break. Friedman said if they need more pitching they would consider sending one of the infielders back down.

Comments

[Ray F]

Ughhh... Enough already.

Imagine, I'm Joe Maddon.

I move Longo to shortstop, put Aybar at 3rd and use Benzo in pinch-hit situations.

Any thoughts???

[mike]

Sounds good.... Except for the fact that Longoria is playing gold glove defense at 3rd base. Why not see what Reid can do? How about letting the roster moves get handled by the guy who has put a 52 win team on the field so far...

[Ray F]

wow mike, stiff.

I would love to see Reid take the Cal Ripken route. Cal came in as an injury sub and we all know that when a good player on a great team goes down, the guy that replaces him gets a lot of scrutiny.

I hope Reid starts on Friday and lights it up. Imagine if Bartlett had power...

Reid does.

(BTW) the only reason Longo didn't become a MLB shortstop is because some guy named Troy Tulowitski (sp) was already the shortstop at Long Beach State. So he has skills. Maddon put him at shortstop once already this year too so don't count out that possibility.

[J.R.]

mike cant agree more...

[cg]

Tim Beckham? har har

[Bodog]

Great win last nite, Ray F - Gonna disagree with you on this one buddy. We have to leave Longo at 3rd, Reid has range at ss and he has a little more punch than Bartlett with the bat, gonna miss Bartlett's base running skills though.

[Anthony Gironda]

Now we need to pick up the slack, if one man falls, another should take his place, GO RAYS!!! & Bartlett, get better soon cause we need YOU!!!

Yeah I have to agree as well with the notion that Longo needs to stay at 3rd. This guy is the REAL deal.

On thing we can all agree on....its a great time to be a Rays fan. Now lets hope we can get everyone healthy for the 2nd half.

[Bill]

The good news is the Rays are finally at a place in time where they have options.......Longo at short, Zobrist was hitting very well but fielding just ok, and Brignac is young and provides depth.....in the past whoever they called up was probaby a single A talent at best.........now we are getting legit players to come up and help out.

[Mo]

Brignac is one of our top prospects, I think he'd be able to handle himself nicely at short for two weeks

[Felicia]

I say let's give Reid a shot. If it doesn't work move Longo to SS and Aybar to 3rd. Aybar has been a fantastic utility infielder that can hand third. I am confident Longo would hold down SS until Jason comes back. I definitely do not want Benny back at SS, he made 3 errors in one game. At least he hit a home run that night to make up for it.

[Rays Fan]

Put Aybar at shortstop I think his offense would really help the lineup

[Razzlegator]

Longo and Reid developed a close relationship coming up through the system. Imagine if Longo had his bud back next to him. What could happen if he got really comfortable at this level?

[Bill]

I, too, think it's time to give Brignac a chance.........he will be traded.....with Bartlett here for the near future and Beckham in the wings......supply and demand say he will be dealt.,,,,although I'd be careful thinking Beckham will be a shortstop........he's already very tall and he's only 18....so he could 'grow out of that spot.'

[Ray]

Bartlett got hurt because of a dumb mental mistake by stealing 3rd, with no outs and down 4-1.

You don't take the chance in that situation. Total fundamentals (like bunting) that this team has lacked all year. Coaches need to get off their butts and teach these kids.

[Bodog]

Someone please get the straight jacket for Ray, ship this dude to the mental ward. Are you for real?

Ray F, has Aybar played short before, I hope Joe doesn't forget about him, he'll be a very good bat in the 9 hole.

[btw, it's a joke]

why not put upton back there?

[What?]

Bill, Beckham isn't tall, he's only 6 feet (no inches). He might not stay at short, but it won't be because he outgrew the position.

[Jake]

The good thing is, we can experiment with Brignac against a 39-47 KC Royals. It's good we didn't have to deal with this against the Bo Sox...