Drew

Rasmussen

The deal is now official. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports that the club option could be worth up to $20 million through performance escalators. Rasmussen is expected to return to Tampa Bay’s starting rotation next season after posting a sparkling 2.83 ERA, 1.08 WHIP and 35/6 K/BB ratio across 28 2/3 innings (16 appearances, four starts) last year in a relief role. The 29-year-old righty offers some appeal for fantasy managers, especially those with relief pitcher-only roster spots, but his numbers figure to take a hit from a run-prevention standpoint with the Rays’ relocation to hitter-friendly George M. Steinbrenner Field. He’s more of a late-round pick for re-draft purposes given his extensive injury history, but he projects as a quality ratio booster, especially in deeper mixed leagues.

Rasmussen took the mound in the top of the eighth with a one-run lead and tossed two perfect frames, striking out three batters to record his first save of the season.

Rasmussen last opened on Aug. 28. It seems like he’d be more helpful late in close games, but the Rays do want to structure his workload in his return from elbow surgery.

Rasmussen struck out two and required just 26 pitches (16 strikes) to navigate a pair of frames. The -year-old righty committed a throwing error on Randy Arozarena’s infield single to open the second inning, which wound up leading to the lone tally against him later in the frame on a Luke Raley sacrifice fly. He’s been an unexpected revelation for Tampa Bay since returning from last year’s Tommy John surgery, posting a strong 2.25 WRA, 1.08 WHIP and 16/3 K/BB ratio across 12 innings (seven appearances, three starts). He’s at least worthy of a speculative roster spot in deeper mixed leagues as a ratio booster.

It’s quite possible he’ll miss the rest of the year. Jason Adam is gone to San Diego, so there’s probably no big favorite for saves in the Tampa Bay pen while Fairbanks is out. Drew Rasmussen is the most intriguing reliever in the bunch, but the Rays have been using him as an opener and want him to have a structured workload in his first weeks back from Tommy John. Edwin Uceta is probably the best pickup of the bunch, but no one is a must-add guy right now. Also, Uceta probably won’t be available tonight, since he’s thrown 36 pitches the last two days.

Starting a ballgame is obviously a familiar role for the 29-year-old hurler, so he’ll work an inning or two before turning the ball over to Tyler Alexander who is expected to work bulk innings for the Rays. If targeting wins, don’t go chasing Rasmussen on Sunday as he will not qualify.

Rasmussen will take the ball for his first start since being activated earlier this week following a lengthy road back from last year’s Tommy John surgery. The 29-year-old righty struck out three over two perfect frames in relief earlier this week against the Cardinals in his season debut. The fact that he’s probably not going to work too deep into this contest limits his streaming appeal, but there’s definitely some intrigue here.

Rasmussen is returning from Tommy John surgery as a reliever, which might have made him pretty interesting here if the Rays had traded Pete Fairbanks at the deadline. Since Fairbanks stuck around, saves seem like a long shot for Rasmussen. Still, he’ll probably be very effective once he settles in. He should go back into the rotation mix next spring.

His 97.5 mph average on his fastball was up from 95.6 mph in his eight starts prior to Tommy John surgery last year, though that he’s only being asked to throw an inning at a time is surely a factor there. It sounds like Rasmussen will spend the rest of this year as a reliever, and he might not need much time in the minors if he keeps throwing like this.

Rasmussen has been working his way back from last July’s Tommy John surgery and will make his first rehab appearance this weekend in the upper minors. The 28-year-old righty is going to need a couple weeks to build up his workload and stamina, but could be an option for Tampa Bay at some point in the closing weeks of the year.