The Rays announced that left-hander Colin Poche has been activated from the 15-day injured list. Poche will return to take the roster spot of fellow southpaw Richard Lovelady, who is headed to the 15-day IL due to a flexor strain in his left forearm.
Poche last pitched on April 23, as he has been recovering from tightness in the middle of his back. Poche required two injections to aid the healing process, the second coming just under a month ago after his initial throwing program was shut down due to recurring back discomfort. He officially returned to the mound in game action this past week with Triple-A Durham, tossing 2 2/3 total innings over three rehab appearances.
The back problems likely contributed to Poche’s slow start, as he had a 6.75 ERA across his first 9 1/3 big league innings for Tampa this season. Poche’s average fastball velocity was down to 90.9mph from 92.5mph in 2023, and his strikeout rate plummeted from 24.8% to 14.3%. After allowing 15 homers over 119 1/3 relief innings for the Rays in 2022-23, Poche had already given up three long balls in his small sample size of work this season.
A return to form for Poche would greatly aid a Rays bullpen that has been uncharacteristically average this season, with a cumulative 4.20 ERA that ranks 20th of 30 teams. Poche joins Garrett Cleavinger as the pen’s two left-handed options, while Lovelady will now be sidelined with a potentially serious arm injury.
Lovelady’s health history includes a Tommy John surgery in 2021, and then a pronator muscle strain in his forearm that brought an early end to his 2023 season. A flexor strain likely indicates a lengthy rehab process even for a pitcher without these past injuries on his resume, though hopefully Lovelady can avoid another surgery.
The Rays only just brought Lovelady into the organization three weeks ago, when Tampa acquired the left-hander from Chicago after the Cubs had designated him for assignment. The results haven’t been there for Lovelady before or after the trade, as his 7.62 ERA breaks down as a 7.94 ERA in 5 2/3 frames for the Cubs and a 7.36 ERA in 7 1/3 innings with Tampa Bay. Despite the ugly bottom-line numbers, Lovelady’s SIERA is only 3.65, as he has hampered by a very low 45.9% strand rate and a very high .386 BABIP.