The Rays have chosen the contract of right-hander Joey Gerber and transferred fellow righty Hunter Bigge from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL to clear area on the 40-man roster, per a crew announcement. Gerber was instantly optioned again to Triple-A Durham, the place he’d beforehand been pitching.
An addition to the 40-man and speedy possibility again to the minors — the A’s made the identical transfer with outfielder Carlos Cortes yesterday — doubtless signifies that Gerber’s minor league contract contained a mid-July opt-out clause. Such provisions are frequent on the season’s midpoint and usually give the crew 24 to 48 hours to determine whether or not so as to add the participant to the 40-man roster or grant him his launch.
Gerber, 28, made a short main league debut with the 2020 Mariners — the crew that initially drafted him within the eighth spherical again in 2018. He pitched 15 2/3 innings and logged a 4.02 ERA however with a dismal 9.7% strikeout charge in opposition to a stable 8.1% stroll charge.
Gerber’s minor league run-prevention and strikeout numbers had been glorious and would doubtless have gotten him a glance in subsequent seasons had he remained wholesome. That wasn’t the case. He missed all of 2021 following again surgical procedure and pitched only one inning in 2022 as a consequence of a forearm pressure that ultimately resulted in Tommy John surgical procedure that worn out his complete 2023 marketing campaign as properly.
After an almost three-year layoff from pitching, Gerber signed a minor league take care of the Yankees for the 2024 season. He pitched 33 1/3 innings of two.43 ERA ball throughout 4 ranges, fanning 28.2% of his opponents and issuing walks at a 12.2% charge. He didn’t get a name to the majors and wound up turning into a minor league free agent, finally signing with Tampa Bay in mid-December.
Gerber’s earned run common is as much as 4.73 with the Rays in 2025, however his strikeout and walks numbers are higher than they had been within the Yankees’ system. He’s punched out a comparable 28.6% of his opponents however trimmed his stroll charge to a a lot leaner 8.9% mark. The 93.8 mph Gerber is averaging on his four-seamer in 2025 is definitely a half-mile enchancment over the 93.3 mph he averaged throughout his temporary debut effort with the 2020 Mariners.
That is the second of Gerber’s three possibility years. Now that he’s on the 40-man roster, he might be shuttled freely between the Rays’ main league membership and Triple-A Durham affiliate each this 12 months and subsequent. He’ll be within the combine the following time the Rays want a recent arm and could possibly be an possibility to assert a bigger position relying on what occurs on the commerce deadline.
Tampa Bay is three video games over .500 and 1.5 again from a Wild Card spot. They’re usually anticipated to function totally on the purchase aspect, however they rode a four-game shedding streak into the All-Star break and are usually open to pay attention on veterans even throughout contending seasons. A commerce of an impending free agent like starter Zack Littell, for example, may push a present bullpen member like Ian Seymour or Joe Boyle into the rotation. Ace Shane McClanahan is on the mend from a triceps harm and will step into any rotation emptiness that opens up, however additional accidents and/or a commerce of a veteran reliever with dwindling membership management (e.g. Pete Fairbanks, Garrett Cleavinger) may result in further alternatives for Gerber and different depth arms.
The 27-year-old Bigge’s transfer to the 60-day IL is a formality. He’s been out since Could 1 as a consequence of a lat pressure and has thus already spent greater than 60 days on the injured listing. He’s pitched to a 2.51 ERA in 32 1/3 MLB frames between the Cubs and Rays since making his debut with Chicago final 12 months and being traded to Tampa Bay on the 2024 deadline. He resumed baseball exercise late final month and can proceed to work towards a late-season return.
