Colby Rasmus Getting Closer to Tampa Bay Rays Debut

Colby Rasmus may not be performing well in his rehab outings, but that may not matter. One of the free agent signings from this past offseason, Rasmus is likely to make his season debut either tomorrow or Wednesday.

Typically, one can take the statistics from a rehab assignment with a grain of salt. Even the best players will, on occasion, struggle during their time in the minors, as they are focused on regaining their timing or building up their stamina, instead of success. However, when a player struggles as much as Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Colby Rasmus has during his rehab outing, it garners notice.

Nonetheless, Rasmus will be heading to the Rays soon. According to Marc Topkin, Rasmus will be coming up to Tampa Bay to workout with the team on Monday, with an eye towards being activated on either Tuesday or Wednesday.

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In theory, getting Rasmus back should help the Rays offense. For as good as Peter Bourjos has been defensively, he has been a disaster with the bat. Thus far, he has a .161/.257/.258 batting line, with just one extra base hit and just two steals. As the Rays offense has gone in fits and spurts, getting Rasmus back could be a boon to the lineup.

Of course, that is with the caveat that Rasmus will produce better than he did in 2016. Last year, he struggled mightily, with a .206/286/.355 batting line. However, he did slug 15 homers, helping to power the Astros. If he can improve that batting line, and still hit for the power that he has since 2012, Rasmus could be what the Rays need to provide more consistency.

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Ready or not, Colby Rasmus is set to return to the Tampa Bay Rays lineup. If nothing else, his presence could end up resulting in addition by subtraction, with Peter Bourjos heading to a bench role.