PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. — Tampa Bay reliever Edwin Uceta, who withdrew from the World Baseball Classic because of what was described as a cranky right shoulder, didn’t feel great when he tested it playing catch Thursday.
“He was fine, and as he got deeper, (throwing at) more distance, didn’t feel great,” manager Kevin Cash said Thursday, as reported by the Tampa Bay Times. “We’ll probably let a doctor look at him and see where it’s at.”
The hard-throwing Uceta made 70 relief appearances for the Rays last season, when he was 10-3 with a 3.70 ERA. The 28-year-old right-hander was eligible for salary arbitration for the first time this offseason, and won his case to get paid $1,525,000, up from $815,000 last season, rather than the Rays’ $1.2 million proposal.
He had planned to pitch for the Dominican Republic in the WBC but withdrew from that after he started to feel discomfort before reporting to spring training with the Rays.
Uceta could take over the closer role for the Rays after Pete Fairbanks’ offseason departure as a free agent to Miami.
Uceta first arrived in Tampa Bay as a free agent before the 2024 season. He previously made big league appearances for the Los Angeles Dodgers (2021), Arizona (2022) and New York Mets (2023).
Opening starter All-Star right-hander Drew Rasmussen was announced as the Rays opening-day starter at St. Louis on March 26.
Rasmussen was 10-5 with a 2.76 in 31 starts last season, when he was an All-Star for the first time. He got a full season in his comeback from an internal brace procedure. That was his third major elbow procedure after twice before having Tommy John surgery.
The season opener in St. Louis also comes where Rasmussen made his return Aug. 7, 2024, nearly 15 months after the latest surgery. He threw two scoreless innings to end that game.
