Red-hot Rays place center fielder on injured list 

The Tampa Bay Rays have placed outfielder Jose Siri on the 10-day injured list due to a right hamstring strain. Utilityman Vidal Brujan has been called up from Triple-A to take Siri’s place on the active roster.

Siri is one of several players off to a great start for the unbeaten Rays.  The 24-year-old Siri has blasted out of the gates with a .318/.333/.682 slash line and two home runs in his first 24 plate appearances of the season, while starting six of seven games as Tampa Bay’s apparent top choice in center field. There wasn’t much doubt that Siri’s glovework was worthy of a regular lineup spot, though his breakout (albeit in a small sample size) is extremely promising to his overall ceiling.

Siri had shown some intriguing hitting potential in his minor league days with the Cincinnati Reds and Houston Astros, but after an impressive 49-plate appearance stretch in his 2021 MLB debut season, Siri hit a far more modest .213/.268/.339 over 325 combined PA with Houston and Tampa in 2022.  The Rays acquired Siri as part of the three-team swap last trade deadline that saw Trey Mancini head from the Baltimore Orioles to the Astros.

Not much has gone wrong for the Rays in amassing their 7-0 record, but the club is certainly hopeful that Siri can be back on the field sooner rather than later. As usual, Tampa Bay has depth options in place to fill in for injured players, as any of Manuel Margot, Josh Lowe, or Brujan are likely to see time in center field until Siri returns. Brujan isn’t far removed from being a regular on top-100 prospect lists, though he has batted only .150/.207/.231 in 188 PA since making his big league debut in 2021.