FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Count Christopher Guerrieri among the many waiting in that long blue line of Rays starting pitchers.
"It's tough," the Rays' right-hander said. "You look at other organizations and think, 'Maybe I could pitch there.' Or, 'Maybe I could do this.' But at the end of the day, the Rays know what they're doing. They've had a lot of success with the team for a reason.
"They develop guys really well. It is a slow-paced organization when it comes to developing pitchers especially. But it's something you just have to deal with and hope for the best at the end of the day."
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Guerrieri, 24, once moved on the fast track. After the Rays selected him in the first round of the 2011 Draft, he got busy. Using a refined curveball, he made the process of retiring hitters look easy. But he had some growing up to do.
"It's tough being a high draft pick and coming in and not really knowing what to expect in certain situations," Guerrieri said. "Coping with it when I was young, I don't think I coped with it very well. And I think I had a lot of growing up to do over the years."
Tommy John surgery in 2013 knocked Guerrieri back a peg.
"That really forced me to find a work ethic that I didn't have before," Guerrieri said. "I learned to take what I do seriously. I think before Tommy John, I was just going about my business the wrong way. Not doing everything I could to take care of my body.
"After Tommy John, I kind of realized this is my career and I have to do everything I can to protect it. So I really started to develop a good work ethic. I've had two healthy seasons since then, and hopefully just keep it going. My dad always instilled hard work in me. But it was something I never wanted to go through again, so it was self-motivation, really."
Guerrieri, whom MLBPipeline ranks as the Rays' No. 18 prospect, feels as though he's back on track, even if he did spend the entire 2016 season at Double-A Montgomery.
"It was frustrating, but I wasn't very deserving based on the arms we had in [Triple-A] Durham," Guerrieri said. "I was kind of out of it last year in many ways, mechanically, mostly. I'm looking for a bounceback year."
Rays manager Kevin Cash likes what he's seen of Guerrieri.
"He worked on his [velocity], getting that boosted up a little bit," Cash said. "He knows his strengths, and that's putting the ball in play and letting his infield make plays behind him. I think anytime you see a young pitcher with a really good pitch, they want to see guys swing and missing. He's maybe more accepting now of letting guys put it in play and get some quick outs."