Rays' injury concerns ease as Wells, Cleavinger, Simpson return for ALDS

ST. PETERSBURG -- It seems like the Rays’ three biggest injury concerns coming out of the regular season are no longer a concern.

High-leverage reliever Tyler Wells, left-hander Garrett Cleavinger and left fielder Chandler Simpson took part in an intrasquad scrimmage at Tropicana Field on Thursday and participated in Friday’s workout ahead of Game 1 of the American League Division Series on Saturday night.

Wells was sidelined at the end of the regular season by forearm tightness, which he felt after pitching on Sept. 12. Wells immediately went for testing, which revealed no structural damage, so he was confident from the start that he would be ready for the postseason.

Facing his teammates in simulated game action on Tuesday and Thursday alleviated any lingering concerns for the big right-hander.

“The last couple days have been great. Feeling good and ready to contribute,” Wells said. “The most important part is feeling healthy and feeling good, and came out of that feeling great. So overall, just really happy about kind of the way that things are trending.”

The Rays acquired Wells from the Orioles prior to the Trade Deadline to have another reliable, late-inning option in front of closer Bryan Baker. He played that role to near-perfection during his brief introduction to Tampa Bay, recording a 1.50 ERA and 0.72 WHIP with 19 strikeouts in 18 innings over 14 appearances.

In the postseason, manager Kevin Cash can use Wells as a high-leverage arm alongside Baker, right-hander Kevin Kelly and lefty Cam Booser. Cleavinger, out since Sept. 5 due to left forearm tightness, could add another left-handed presence to that group if he can return to form as well as full health.

Like Wells, Cleavinger also pitched both Tuesday and Thursday, Cash said.

“They looked good, very much like themselves,” he added. “Encouraged by that.”

Simpson exited the Rays’ series opener in Philadelphia on Sept. 25 after fouling a ball hard off the top of his right foot. The speedster said he felt “general post-incident soreness” for a few days and received treatment, but he’s not worried about the injury being an issue moving forward.

Simpson played in Thursday’s scrimmage and tested his foot by dropping a bunt, running at full speed and going from first to third base. As Cash put it, “He looked like Chandler.” He also took part in Friday’s workout, which concluded with pitchers Jesse Scholtens and Mason Englert facing their teammates in live batting practice.

“Felt great,” Simpson added. “We're all good to go.

Rotation TBD

While the Yankees are teasing plans to use all four of their starters in this series, the Rays aren’t yet ready to reveal how they will handle Game 2 of the ALDS on the mound.

Cash didn’t name a probable starter for the Rays beyond Drew Rasmussen in Game 1. He only reiterated that all five starters are likely to “pitch a really big role in this” series.

“How we're going to line them up will be dependent on how we get through Game 1,” Cash said.

It seems safe to assume that the other four -- Freddy Peralta, Nick Martinez, Griffin Jax and Ian Seymour -- will be on the ALDS roster. Since it’s possible to get through the series with only a three-man rotation on normal rest, the Rays are likely to use at least one of their starters out of the bullpen at some point.

Roster not yet set

The Rays will take their final roster decisions down to Saturday morning’s deadline to submit the 26-man squad.

The only remaining decision on the position-player side is whether they’ll carry 14 or 15 hitters. If they opt for 14, they will just move forward with the group that finished the regular season. If they go with 15, they could add “catching closer” Kenny Piper to increase their pinch-hitting and pinch-running flexibility.

They have more decisions to make on the pitching front. They finished the season with 14 active pitchers; there are likely two coming back in Wells and Cleavinger, and they must trim that group to 12 or 11 while still carrying all five starters.