Tampa Bay Rays: Arozarena Earns Start, Blake Snell to Debut

The Tampa Bay Rays welcome the Minnesota Twins to Charlotte Sports Park on the heels of a 15-2 victory.

Port Charlotte, FLA- The Tampa Bay Rays are welcoming the Minnesota Twins to Charlotte Sports Park today, Tuesday, February 26 at 1:05 p.m.

The Rays have released their lineups already in anticipation of handing out another beat down.

Yesterday, the Rays walloped the Orioles 15-2. One of the many standouts from that game was outfielder, Randy Arozarena.

Arozarena has had six plate appearances this spring resulting in two walks, two singles, a double, and a triple.

His triple came in the bottom of the eighth against the Yankees with the Rays down by one. The triple drove in two and set the Rays up for the win.

Arozarena draws the first start of his hot spring today against the Twins. He will be leading off and manning left field in a lineup with what projects to be many of the Rays’ regulars.

WARNING: Twins’ Fans May Find the Following Disturbing – Reader Discretion is Advised

Rays’ Starting Lineup

1. Randy Arozarena (R) LF
2. Yandy Diaz (R) DH
3. Ji-Man Choi (L) 1B
4. Hunter Renfroe (R) RF
5. Yoshitomo Tsutsugo (L) 3B
6. Willy Adames (R) SS
7. Kevin Kiermaier (L) CF
8. Kevan Smith (R) C
9. Michael Brosseau (R) 2B

Blake Snell (L) SP

Arozarena and Tsutsugo are the only rays with a perfect batting average at the moment. They are both slated to start today, we’ll see if they can stay perfect.

Backup Catcher Battle
Michael Perez has shown above-average power in the minors and led the Rays in hard-hit percentage last season. He fired a shot across the bow of Kevan Smith and Chris Herrmann yesterday by blasting a home run. Kevan Smith gets his chance at a rebuttal today.

Perez also led the Rays in walk percentage last season. He has two walks in four plate appearances this spring.

Hunter Renfroe looks to get something going with a start in right field and will be hitting cleanup. Renfroe is currently 1-6 this spring with one strikeout.

In a bit of frightening news for the Twins, Blake Snell will take the mound for the Rays. Snell is coming off of a down year (for him) with a 4.29 ERA. Snell was slowed by injuries last season, but his underlying stats all indicate the numbers were a bit flukey. Snell begins his journey to reclaim his spot as one of the game’s elite pitchers in 2020, and he begins today against the Twins.

It’s still early in the spring, so we’ll try not to jump to any conclusions on anyone. However, some guys are battling for roster spots and we love watching and discussing Ray’s baseball. Join the conversation. Let us know your takes in the comments below, on Twitter, or Facebook.