ST. PETERSBURG -- The Rays reinstated left-hander Steven Matz from the 15-day injured list on Saturday, hoping the veteran will return to form after missing a month due to a sprained left ankle.
It’s been an up-and-down season for Matz, the 35-year-old lefty who signed a two-year, $15 million deal with the Rays last offseason. He got off to an excellent start in the rotation, posting a 3.86 ERA in seven starts to begin the year before going on the IL with left elbow inflammation.
Matz only missed a few weeks, but he didn’t recover as well after his outings when he came back. That led to a pair of rough starts and a move to the bullpen, where he found mixed results before going back on the IL.
“Once things start going bad, you can start to force some things, then things snowball. That’s kind of where I was at,” Matz said. “Now, I’m feeling good, ultimately in a really good spot, and I’m excited to help the team.”
Matz made five Minor League rehab appearances for Triple-A Durham, including a pair of scoreless one-inning outings earlier this week. Manager Kevin Cash said the Rays will reintroduce Matz with “shorter” stints in mind, and Matz said he was pleased with how his stuff felt by the end of his rehab stint.
While the Rays signed Matz to be a starter, something he set out to do, they knew he had a strong track record pitching out of the bullpen. He was especially effective in that role last season, when he almost exclusively worked in relief while posting a 3.05 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP in 76 2/3 innings over 53 appearances (two starts) for the Cardinals and Red Sox.
“He did it last year and was very good,” Cash said. “Maybe we can catch lightning here with the next two months of him providing a pretty big role for us.”
To make room for Matz, the Rays optioned right-hander Chris Roycroft to Triple-A Durham. Cash said it was a “tough conversation” to send out Roycroft, especially after he pitched three solid innings to record his first Major League save on Friday night.
“I don’t imagine too many scenarios where he’s not helping us at some point the rest of this season,” Cash said.
Elsewhere on the injury front, the Rays were still in wait-and-see mode with shortstop Taylor Walls, who was out of the lineup for a third straight game. Walls jammed/hyperextended the middle and ring fingers on his left hand while diving back to second base on Wednesday night in Toronto. He didn’t play Thursday or Friday, and didn’t start Saturday night.
Walls said he was feeling “better each day” and didn’t think he’d be out “much longer,” but it’s mostly a matter of the swelling in his fingers subsiding enough for him to grip a bat and squeeze the ball in his glove. After making a couple spectacular plays at shortstop on Friday night, Ben Williamson was back there on Saturday.
“I think we can probably force it, but I don’t know how much sense that makes,” Cash said. “He’s so valuable to us.”