Fairbanks, who pitched in a simulated game during Thursday's summer camp session, made a strong impression on manager Kevin Cash by striking out three of the four hitters he faced, Juan Toribio of MLB.com reports. "This has a chance to be a pretty big season for Pete," Cash said. "To just continue to establish just how talented he is."
The young right-hander faced the foursome of Kevin Kiermaier, Hunter Renfroe, Nate Lowe and Chris Herrmann, striking out the latter three after allowing Kiermaier an infield single. Fairbanks' impressive four-seam fastball was on display, as well as a new changeup he's developed and what Kiermaier described as a "nasty" slider. Fairbanks already has two Tommy John surgeries on his medical chart, but he's back to throwing in the high 90s and offered some reason for optimism last season after arriving in Tampa following a trade with the Rangers. While the 26-year-old finished with a 5.11 ERA in his 13 appearances with the Rays, that bloated figure was accompanied by an impressive 2.89 FIP that implied Fairbanks ran into some tough luck.