ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) - Tampa Bay Rays ace Blake Snell is scheduled to start against the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday in his return from a fractured right fourth toe.
The announcement Tuesday was made two days after Rays manager Kevin Cash said the 2018 AL Cy Young Award winner was ready to be reinstated from the 10-day injured list.
Snell threw 18 pitches off a mound Saturday and an eight-pitch bullpen session Monday.
“It felt good and I’m ready to go,” Snell said.
Snell hurt the toe attempting to move a decorative display in a bathroom on April 14.
“I know the first couple days, it was like no shot,” Snell said. “I feel good, I feel I can pitch and feel like I can run. It should be good.”
Snell still has some discomfort in the toe when he walks, but says he does not when throwing on a mound.
“With the bullpen that I threw, felt very comfortable,” Snell said. “Wednesday is a day that all of us believe in, and think I’ll be 100 percent.”
Cash is completely confident that Snell is not facing any additional risks taking the mound and also does not need a full-length bullpen session.
“If Blake waits, then we’re talking about shaving more pitches off his outing, so it was either pitch or go rehab,” Cash said.
Snell ran in the outfield before Monday’s short bullpen session but didn’t join other pitchers in defensive drills.
Notes: 1B Ji-Man Choi was placed on the restricted list to tend to a personal matter and RHP Austin Pruitt was recalled from Triple-A Durham. Choi will be back Wednesday but may not start because of a strained left calf that forced out of Saturday’s game with Boston. … Cash said RHP Hunter Wood, due to come off the paternity list Wednesday, will be likely be moved to another list because the reliever is not ready yet to return. “Things are going well, baby is fine,” Cash said.
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