The Tampa Bay Rays on Friday placed right-handed setup man Peter Fairbanks on the 10-day injured list with a strained rotator cuff. Right now, he's expected to miss more than a month, and that's assuming his recovery goes as planned.
That brings us to the current state of the Rays' bullpen. Here's a look at the current injury list of Tampa Bay relievers:
- Fairbanks, as noted above.
- Nick Anderson has a partially torn UCL and will probably be out until after the All-Star break.
- Chaz Roe strained his shoulder and will likely miss at least the next three months.
- Oliver Drake has been out since last October, when he suffered a flexor strain during the ALDS, and has no clear time table for his return.
- Jalen Beeks underwent Tommy John surgery in September of last year and will almost certainly miss all of 2021.
- Colin Poche will be out until at least September after undergoing Tommy John surgery in late July of last year.
All of those relievers except for Poche, who missed 2020 with a torn UCL, were major contributors to the bullpen last season, when the Rays went on to win the pennant. All of those who pitched in 2020 except for Drake pitched well. In total, the names above last season worked 82 2/3 innings (Fairbanks made two starts, but they were of the "opener" variant) and pitched to a combined ERA of 2.83. Given that the Rays as a team pitched just 527 2/3 innings across the abbreviated 60-game regular season, that's a big chunk of innings missing -- largely quality innings at that. All of this is to say nothing of Ryan Sheriff (zero runs allowed in 10 relief appearances last season), who's on the restricted list after deciding to take some time away from the game for personal reasons.
This would be bad news for any team, but it stings the Rays in particular because they're so reliant on their bullpen. Last season, Rays relievers worked 269 2/3 innings, while Rays starters logged 258 innings. Also bear in mind that the latter tally includes a handful of opener starts that were in essence relief appearances. That reflects not only the strength of the Rays bullpen when healthy but also the organizational philosophy of limiting their starters' repeated exposure to the opposing lineup in a given game. This isn't some one-off tied to the short 2020 season, either. In 2019, Tampa Bay's relievers also logged more innings than their starters did.
In matters related, the Rays' bullpen thus far in 2021 has struggled badly with an MLB-worst ERA of 8.18. The underlying peripherals paint a less grim picture, but there's no doubt that all the injuries have exacted an early cost. It's also no coincidence that at this writing the Rays are 2-4 and have been outscored by the opposition by 19 runs. With a big weekend series against the New York Yankees in the offing, manager Kevin Cash may be scrambling to get outs from a bullpen that in recent seasons has been the team's most pronounced strength. Given the depth and breadth of these injuries, the issue likely won't be going away anytime soon.