Rays Notes: Longoria Misses Rehab Game, Derek Dietrich Promoted

Rays fans checking their minor league boxscores on Saturday had to be a little scared when Evan Longoria, who was scheduled to play, was not actually in the lineup. The Durham Bulls didn’t have a problem, as Chris Archer and others combined for a 4-hit shutout, but Longoria’s absence had to be concerning. Luckily, it seems that everything is OK.

Longoria was sore after back-to-back games for the first time since June 17th-18th, but it seems like he’ll be fine and back in a Rays uniform soon. The Rays have really missed him and he’ll be a huge lift to their lineup.

Pretty slow day for the Rays on Saturday- all they did was beat the Angels and then have their minor league affiliates go 7-0, but the other big news is that infielder Derek Dietrich has been promoted from High-A Charlotte to Double-A Montgomery. Dietrich is replacing Tyler Bortnick, who was traded to Arizona in exchange for Ryan Roberts. Dietrich, who played primarily shortstop for the Stone Crabs, will play second base for Montgomery with top prospect Hak-Ju Lee entrenched at shortstop. Dietrich posted a .282/.343/.468 line in 98 games for Charlotte with 21 doubles, 9 triples, 10 homers, 58 RBI, and 4 of 6 stolen bases. Congratulations to Dietrich and good luck to him as he continues his journey towards the major leagues.