Rays Notebook: New Outfielder Roman Quinn Looks To Fit In With Rays
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — With Kevin Kiermaier, Manuel Margot and Harold Ramirez no longer available in the Tampa Bay outfield, the Rays added veteran outfielder Roman Quinn to the roster on Thursday. The 29-year-old from Port St. Joe, Fla., has seem limited action in the majors, but the Rays are hoping he can lend a hand now.
"We do like the speed, like the defense, like the switch-hit component to the bat, and to just get him in the mix where we’re kind of rotating a lot of those outfielders through,'' Rays manager Kevin Cash said.
Quinn spent part of six seasons in the big leagues with the Philadelphia Phillies, but never played in more than 50 games. In his career, the switch-hitter is a .223 hitter with eight home runs and 41 RBIs in 493 at-bats. He was with the Miami Marlins in the spring, and then signed with the Kansas City Royals. He's been in their minor-league system, but had an out in his contract and took it.
The Rays, who were interested in his services earlier this year too, snapped him right up. They put Ramirez (broken thumb) on the injured list to make room for Quinn and designated pitcher Christofer Ogando for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster.
“I’m definitely excited. There's a bunch of great guys here and everyone's been showing a bunch of love,” Quinn said.
Quinn said he knows a couple of Rays teammates, but not too many. His one connection to Tampa Bay isn't a good one. He tore his Achilles tendon during a game at Tropicana Field last year, ''something I'd like to forget for sure. I try not to think about that. It was definitely a humbling experience, but I've got all my speed back. It's still top of the line, and that gave me confidence to get out there and still play my game.''
With left-handed hitters Brett Phillips and Josh Lowe getting all of the playing time in center field now, Quinn might see some action against lefties. His speed might also come in handy off the bench in certain situations. He's still fast, and is a good defensive player as well. He played the final two innings in left field on Friday night, and caught the final out in the ninth.
Quinn is a career .223 hitter and the two guys playing centerfield right now — Josh Lowe and Brett Phillips — are hitting .200 and .151. And versus left-handed pitching, Josh Lowe is hitting .088 and Brett Phillips is 0-for-31, a .000 average, with 16 strikeouts.
Quinn said it's also nice to fall into a playoff chase, too, he said.
“That’s one thing I haven’t done yet is play with a playoff team. I’m excited to help this team out however they need me,” Quinn said. "I want to take advantage of the opportunity I get here.''
Roman Quinn has played parts of six seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies, and has a career .223 batting average. (USA TODAY Sports)
Family weekend for Jason Adam
Coming to Kansas City is a happy homecoming for Tampa Bay reliever Jason Adam, He grew up in the KC suburbs and his parents still live here, so it's a great time for his wife and kids to be around family.
On Saturday, he's hosting all sorts of friends and family at the game, and Adam said the head count is up over 60 people. "Yeah, I'm probably playing this game for free, maybe even paying to play, but that's OK. We'll have a lot of family and friends there. It'll be great. it's going to be nice to have everyone together''
Adam said he spent a lot of time at Kauffman Stadium as a kid, and it was nice to be back home. He's been terrific for the Rays this year. He's has a 1.41 ERA and four saves in 42 appearances.
Finally, a series-opening win on the road
With a big 7-3 win on Friday night to open up the second half after the All-Star break, the Rays broke a rare streak this season. Prior to this, the Rays had lost NINE straight series openers on the road. They hadn't won a game to open a road series since beating the Seattle Mariners back on May 5.
For a team that's 11 games over .500, you'd think it would be impossible to lose nine straight games in any category, but this has happened. Here's the list of losses:
- May 9 (Monday): Lost at Los Angeles Angels 11-3
- May 20 (Friday): Lost at Baltimore Orioles 8-6 in 13 innings
- May 30 (Monday): Lost at Texas Rangers 9-5
- June 10 (Friday): Lost at Minnesota Twins 9-4
- June 14 (Tuesday): Lost at New York Yankees 2-0
- June 17 (Friday): Lost at Baltimore Orioles 1-0
- June 30 (Thursday): Lost at Toronto Blue Jays 4-1
- July 4 (Monday): Lost to Boston Red Sox 4-0
- July 8 (Friday): Lost at Cincinnati Reds 2-1 in 10 innings
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- RAMIREZ INJURED: Tampa Bay right-handed hitter Harold Ramirez fractured his right thumb on Sunday when he was hit by a pitch in the first inning of Sunday's game with the Baltimore Orioles. Ramirez, who was hitting .329, will be reevaluated in two weeks. CLICK HERE
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