This story was excerpted from Adam Berry’s Rays Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

LAKELAND, Fla. -- Two pitches into the third inning Monday afternoon, Shane McClanahan glanced behind him, saw second baseman Raynel Delgado settling under Javier Báez’s pop-up to shallow right-center field, and signaled back toward the visitors’ dugout at Joker Marchant Stadium. He wanted to face one more batter. Having hit

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- Add another injury to the list in Rays camp: Veteran designated hitter Yandy Díaz is dealing with a sore left hand. Díaz hasn’t played since Tuesday. Manager Kevin Cash said Sunday that a ball hit off the end of Díaz’s bat, leading to soreness in his

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- Assessing the Rays’ shortstop situation back at the Winter Meetings in December, president of baseball operations Erik Neander expressed the team’s appreciation for Taylor Walls and noted that the elite defender’s skill-set is “most appreciated when he’s not available.” Unfortunately for the Rays, they’ve had time

TAMPA, Fla. -- Taylor Walls couldn’t shake the thought as he walked into George M. Steinbrenner Field on Friday afternoon. “I’m like, ‘Man, this feels a little weird,’” Walls said.

This story was excerpted from Adam Berry's Rays Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- The Rays made their first round of Spring Training roster cuts after Thursday’s 4-3 loss to the Orioles at Charlotte Sports Park. Top pitching prospects Brody Hopkins (No. 3 in the Rays’ system and No. 85 overall, according to MLB Pipeline) and TJ Nichols (Rays’ No.

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- As a team and an organization, the Rays are thrilled about returning to Tropicana Field this season after spending last year outside at George M. Steinbrenner Field. But you might not find anyone in Tampa Bay’s clubhouse who is more excited about getting back to the

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- The Rays’ brief history with Spring Breakout has provided plenty of highlights and unforgettable moments. There was the preposterous display of prodigious power that Xavier Isaac put on in the inaugural game, slugging two homers and an RBI double against the Twins. Then came last year’s

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- The World Baseball Classic hasn’t even officially started yet, and Junior Caminero is already making a powerful impression on the international stage. Caminero went 4-for-4 in the Dominican Republic team’s 12-4 win over the Tigers on Tuesday night at Estadio Quisqueya Juan Marichal in Santo Domingo,

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- Shane McClanahan walked off the mound after the first inning Tuesday afternoon, slowly making his way toward the Rays’ first-base dugout at Charlotte Sports Park, and pointed both hands to the sky. It’s hard to explain the wave of emotions the 28-year-old left-hander experienced in that

BRADENTON, Fla. -- With a couple of starters facing workload limitations and a bunch of jobs available in their Opening Day bullpen, the Rays are giving some pitchers a longer look in Spring Training. That’s true in the literal sense, as club officials will need to determine the state of

This story was excerpted from Adam Berry's Rays Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

In terms of star power, this may not be the best the Rays’ Minor League system has ever looked. They have only three players among MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 prospects, none of them in the top half of the list. But make no mistake: Tampa Bay’s system is ridiculously deep,

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- When Brody Hopkins first walked into the Major League clubhouse at Charlotte Sports Park earlier in spring camp, he couldn’t help but notice the placement of his locker: right next to two-time All-Star Shane McClanahan, a couple spots down from veteran starters Steven Matz and Nick

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- There weren’t many highlights for the Rays in a 12-3 loss to the Tigers on Saturday afternoon at Charlotte Sports Park, but Xavier Isaac provided one of the best moments of Spring Training in the eighth inning. Coming back from “life-saving” surgery to remove a brain

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- Junior Caminero stood in front of his locker at Charlotte Sports Park on Friday morning, a box of fresh equipment featuring his home country’s colors at his feet, and thought about two of his proudest accomplishments. What’s more exciting, he was asked: Getting to play for

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- There were four lines of Chandler Simpson’s handwriting on the underbrim of his cap, words meant to remind himself of the biggest lesson he learned while working with former Rays center fielder Kevin Kiermaier early on in Spring Training. “Every pitch. Every play. Every moment. Be

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- Since the Rays’ new ownership group assumed control of the club, CEO Ken Babby has often said Tropicana Field will look better than ever when the team reopens the ballpark on April 6. Some areas are sure to be new and improved, as the Rays on

This story was excerpted from Adam Berry's Rays Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- With his work on the mound and his mentorship in the clubhouse, Steven Matz has already made a positive first impression with the Rays in Spring Training. That continued on Thursday afternoon, when the veteran left-hander pitched two scoreless innings in the Rays’ 7-5 loss to

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- The Rays have earned their reputation for deploying pitchers as creatively and thoughtfully as any team in the Majors, but they were consistently traditional in one way the past three years. If there was a save situation in the ninth inning, and Pete Fairbanks was healthy,

This story was excerpted from Adam Berry’s Rays Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

BRADENTON, Fla. -- Jacob Melton had two very different experiences with balls soaring through the sky on a windy Sunday afternoon at LECOM Park. In the first inning of the Rays’ 7-4 loss to the Pirates, Melton took a step back and moved to his right when former Ray Brandon

BRADENTON, Fla. -- Sitting down with Pirates manager Don Kelly at the beginning of his first Spring Training with his new team, Brandon Lowe made just one scheduling request. When the Pirates visit the Rays at Charlotte Sports Park on March 15, Lowe wants to be in Pittsburgh’s lineup. More