End of Season Call-Ups

Tampa Bay reached down into the Durham Bulls roster after yesterday's game and pulled a few guys up. Mostly expected, but a couple of surprises. Links here and here.

• Left-hander Justin Marks was the surprise. He's got a lot going for himself. He's thrown a ton of pitches (2,400) with little apparent ill effect. He's left-handed. He has some experience as a reliever. He's got a decent WHIP (1.27). His won-loss record of 7-11 wasn't stellar, but neither was the team behind him. And he's got that big no-hitter. Plus, 13 of his 25 starts had game scores of greater than 50. Good luck!
• Mikie Mahtook was no surprise at all. Here's hoping he gets some playing time. He's had a tough year.
• Richie Shaffer is in the same category. His season with the Bulls has shown only rare moments of flash. But some of those moments have been in August. Again, good luck to both.
• Steve Geltz was called back. We like him. We hope he does well enough to stick with the Rays into 2017.

But who did not get called up? Yet. The two that stand out are infielders Tim Beckham and everyman Taylor Motter. Tampa Bay beat writer Mark Topkin speculates at the end of his article. Since the player for whom the Rays gave up Matt Moore, Matt Duffy (we saw him here on a rehab assignment), is out for the season, you'd think that one or both of these guys have a shot.

To make room on the roster, Bulls catcher Hank Conger was designated for assignment.

The only other Bulls on the 40-man are starting pitcher Jake Faria, who is probably done for the season, and reliever Tyler Sturdevant, who has been back-and-forth a lot this season. Some possibility that he could go back up.

Lastly, Eddie Gamboa had a very solid three innings against the Orioles yesterday. Box. Good for him!