Tampa Bay Rays Reunite with Former All-Star Pitcher to Help Shore Up Starting Rotation

In an effort to help fortify the starting rotation, the Tampa Bay Rays have come to terms with former All-Star pitcher Jake Odorizzi, who spent five years with the organization previously.

In an effort to help fortify the starting rotation, the Tampa Bay Rays have come to terms with an old friend, signing right-hander Jake Odorizzi to a minor league deal.

They made the announcement on social media on Friday:

The Tampa Bay Rays have signed RHP Jake Odorizzi to a minor league contract with an invitation to major league camp.

Odorizzi is an 11-year veteran who has played with the Kansas City Royals, Minnesota Twins, Atlanta Braves, Houston Astros, and the Rays, where he played for five seasons. He was with the Texas Rangers in 2023 but missed the entire season because of injury.

Lifetime, Odorizzi is 74-69 with a 3.99 ERA. He made the All-Star Game with the Twins back in the 2019 season when he ended the year at 15-7 with a 3.51 ERA.

The signing makes sense for the Rays, who are dealing with all kinds of questions in their starting rotation heading into 2024. First, the team traded away ace Tyler Glasnow this offseason to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Then, they are going to be without Shane McLanahan for the season (Tommy John surgery), and are going to be without Jeffrey Springs and Drew Rasmussen for most or all of the year because of serious elbow injuries.

And just this week, they learned that Taj Bradley is going to start the year on the injured list in all likelihood because of a pectoral issue.

Tampa Bay won 99 games last season and finished second in the American League East.

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