Danny Russell: The Rays are short a left handed reliever with Jose Alvarado being sidelined for two weeks before he’ll be able to throw again after a lat-strain.
Reliever is one of three areas in which the Rays have had injuries, the other being the starting pitching core with Morton out momentarily and both Chirinos and McKay done for the season. The team may also be underperforming at catcher but that could also just be small sample sizes.
There are options at the Alternate Training Site — LHP Shane McClanahan can close the gap if the Rays need a southpaw fireballer like Alvarado, C Ronaldo Hernandez has made his way up to the Taxi Squad despite only reaching High-A ball, and the team is able to turn to the likes of LHP Josh Fleming to close some gaps — but what about the trade market?