MLB Player News

The Rays optioned Pruitt to Triple-A Durham on Saturday, Juan Toribio of MLB.com reports.

With the Rays bringing a wealth of long relief/"primary pitcher" candidates to spring training, Pruitt needed to perform well in the Grapefruit League to secure his spot on the Opening Day roster. After surrendering three home runs across 8.2 innings, Pruitt made it easy for the Rays to include him among one of their earlier rounds of cuts. Expect Pruitt to build up his innings as a starter at Durham in preparation for another look in Tampa Bay at some point later in 2019.

The Rays reassigned Santos to their minor-league camp Saturday, Juan Toribio of MLB.com reports.

Santos made 15 appearances (one start) with the Blue Jays a season ago, but he didn't make much of a run at an Opening Day bullpen gig with the Rays after attending camp as a non-roster invitee. Expect him to report to Triple-A Durham to begin the season.

Stanek fired two scoreless innings in a split-squad win over the Tigers on Friday. He allowed one hit and struck out three.

The right-hander lowered his spring ERA to 5.63 with Friday's clean outing, which came in the wake of Stanek allowing five earned runs across six innings over his six previous appearances. The hard-throwing 27-year-old has been missing plenty of bats, however, as he sports an 11:1 K:BB across eight exhibition frames, along with a .194 BAA. Stanek was a valued member of the staff in 2018, logging 59 appearances (29 starts/openers) and generating a 2.98 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and eight holds across 66.1 innings. Given Stanek's versatility and upper-90s fastball, Ralph Long of MLB.com reports he could profile as a right-handed late-inning option alongside southpaw closer Jose Alvarado.

Beeks allowed two earned runs on four hits over 1.2 innings in a split-squad win over the Tigers on Friday. He struck out two and now sports an 8.31 ERA across 8.2 spring innings over six spring appearances.

Other concerning metrics in Beeks' spring resume include a .385 BAA and 2.08 WHIP, as well as four home runs allowed. The 25-year-old southpaw is battling for a "bulk" reliever role on the Rays' staff this season alongside the likes of Ryan Yarbrough and Yonny Chirinos, and although Friday's final line was far from pretty, he still earned praise from manager Kevin Cash for a 12-pitch showdown against Dustin Peterson, Juan Toribio of MLB.com reports. "That long at-bat, I don't know if he's capable of doing that last year," Cash said. "He just kept throwing strike after strike. Really encouraged."

Romano allowed one hit and one walk while striking out two over two scoreless innings Friday against the Indians.

Romano has bounced back with a pair of scoreless outings after getting hit hard March 7. "He is looking better and better," manager Chris Woodward told T.R. Sullivan of the MLB.com. "He's got conviction behind his pitches. We really challenged him after that and he's accepted it. He has pitched really well. That was impressive. He got hit pretty hard and he bounced back." As a Rule 5 selection, Romano needs to make the Opening Day roster or be offered back to the Blue Jays. The White Sox originally selected him from the Blue Jays then flipped him to the Rangers for cash considerations. The right-hander was a starter in the Blue Jays organization but will be a reliever for Texas. Five of his six Cactus League outings have been scoreless.

Duffey was optioned to Triple-A Rochester on Saturday.

Duffey spent more time in the minors than the majors last season as he appears to be out of Minnesota's long-term plans despite stretches of being productive as a reliever in 2017. With a minor-league option left, he's likely to be shuttled up and down from Triple-A.

Devenski allowed one hit and struck out one in one inning Friday against the Cardinals.

Looking at Devenski's spring numbers are misleading. His 8.31 ERA appears ugly, but all four runs he's allowed came in his first outing. Since then, Devenski has pitched four scoreless innings and worked to get himself back to the form he showed in 2017 when he was dubbed the "Dragon." Earlier this spring, manager AJ Hinch told Brian McTaggart of MLB.com that he wanted Devenski to air it out and not be too cute. "We really wanted to get him away from thinking too much and get him into Dragon mode, basically," he said. "Let him come and show a ton of energy, get through the ball, let the ball go wherever it goes and not get overly complicated." The 28-year-old reliever will be a weapon out of the bullpen if rediscovers the 2017 version of himself.

Banda (elbow) threw another bullpen session Friday, Juan Toribio of MLB.com reports.

Banda underwent Tommy John surgery last May, so he's still working up to live batting practice sessions like fellow rehabbing hurlers Brett Honeywell and Jose De Leon have. However, Banda continues to make steady progress and has not suffered any setbacks, leaving him on track for a potential return to game action at some point in the mid-to-late summer.

De Leon (elbow) threw his second batting practice of the week Friday, Juan Toribio of MLB.com reports.

De Leon joined fellow Tommy John surgery rehabber Brett Honeywell in throwing a live BP on Friday. De Leon was also throwing his second session of the week after having worked up to 15 pitches Tuesday. The right-hander will continue to work towards an eventual minor-league rehab assignment, which would appear to still be several weeks away at minimum.

Honeywell (elbow) threw another successful live batting practice session Friday, Juan Toribio of MLB.com reports. "Everything today was good," Honeywell said. "The action was good. It was a lot better than the first time because of my comfort level."

The right-hander threw 20 pitches Friday after having topped out at 15 in his first live BP on Tuesday. Honeywell missed all of 2018 after spring Tommy John surgery, He'll strive to work up to 25 and 30 pitches, respectively, in his next two sessions, and if he avoids setbacks Honeywell is projected to get into minor-league game action at some point in May.