Rays likely to make decision on McGee soon

ST. PETERSBURG -- Jake McGee threw a scoreless inning for Triple-A Durham against Buffalo on Monday night, and all signs point to the hard-throwing left-hander returning to the Rays by the weekend series in Minnesota.

"Good outing yesterday," Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "Came in feeling really good. I think the plan is for him to pitch tomorrow and then we'll kind of evaluate where we're at from there. So that's great news. Seems like he's recovering just like he would after a normal outing. So that's a good sign."

The "bridge inning" -- meaning pitching in back-to-back innings -- the Rays had hoped to see McGee throw no longer is a priority.

"[Having McGee pitch a bridge inning] was probably a luxury; if we had a bunch of time to do it, we would," Cash said. "I think right now, a day off, see how he recovers and then maybe start making some decisions."

Cash allowed that those decisions could see McGee land in Minneapolis to join the team for its series against the Twins. The lefty had elbow surgery in December.

While the news was good on McGee, Cash said he had "nothing at all" on the status of lefty Drew Smyly (labrum tear). And righty Alex Cobb will have a consultation with Dr. James Andrews on Wednesday in Birmingham, Ala., in advance of his scheduled Tommy John surgery on Thursday.

Infielder Ryan Brett (partially dislocated left shoulder) is fielding and throwing. He has also started taking soft toss and swinging off a tee. Brett said he needs to continue building up strength in and around his shoulder, but he feels as though he's close to resuming full baseball activities. Once he's ready, he'll likely see his first action in extended spring camp.

Kirby Yates (strained right pectoral) is long tossing and moved out to 90 feet for 10 throws on Tuesday. The right-hander said he is starting to feel healthier in the affected area.