PORT CHARLOTTE — Rays minor-league pitching coordinator Dick Bosman wasn’t sure what he was seeing when Jake Faria walked through the door a few days before camp began.
“Who are you, and what did you do with Jake Faria?” Bosman asked.
Faria was sporting a full beard, but, more striking, he had added 30 pounds during the offseason with the help of a diet that included daily pints of ice cream from Baskin-Robbins. With 31 flavors to chose from, Faria actually went more than a month without repeating flavors. The 6-foot-3 Faria, who now weighs 230, said he went up two sizes in both his pants and his shirts.