Tampa Bay Rays: Brent Honeywell Could Throw Off Mound in February

Tampa Bay Rays’ long-hyped pitching prospect said he could take the mound for the first time since 2017.

One of the Tampa Bay Rays‘ most highly regarded pitching prospects of the past several years has been on the shelf for the past two seasons. After being spotted playing catch at Tropicana Field just five days ago, he revealed when he may return to the mound in an interview with MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM.

Honeywell was ranked as the 11th best prospect heading into the 2018 season by Baseball Prospectus. He finished 2017 with 123 innings at Triple A-Durham where he went 12-8 with a 3.64 ERA. Honeywell struck out 11.3 batters per nine and walked only 2.3 hitters every nine innings.

Brent Honeywell was working his way back from a Tommy John surgery that cost him the entire 2018 season when in April of last year he suffered another setback. Honeywell fractured a bone in his elbow on Saturday, June 8th of 2019.

Two full seasons removed from his last time throwing on a pitcher’s mound, Honeywell re-surfaced at Tropicana Field playing catch in preparation for 2020.

During an interview with MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM (embedded below) Honeywell indicated that if things continue to go well he should be ready to start throwing off of the mound in about one month.

The hope is Honeywell will be healthy enough to finally make an impact on the big league club this season. Despite his two-year absence which included a Tommy John surgery and a broken elbow, Honeywell still found himself ranked among Baseball America’s top 100 prospects, landing the 80th spot on the list.

Rays’ fans are hoping he proves his health and reclaims his role as one of the top prospects in all of the game. You can never have enough starting pitching. While the Rays are happy with their current rotation of Charlie Morton, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Yonny Chirinos, and Ryan Yarbrough, you never know who will struggle or get hurt.

The Rays’ stacked pitching depth also includes Baseball America’s 14th ranked prospect Brendan McKay and former Marlins’ starter Trevor Richards.

If Honeywell is able to live up to the lofty expectations that were set for him the past few years, the Rays will find a way to make room for his arm.

Either way, we are happy to see him progressing toward his return to pitching. We’ll let him take things one step at a time. Being away from the game for two years is a serious obstacle to overcome. We hope to see Honeywell back on a mound soon!