Alex Colome appears headed to Tampa Bay Rays camp.
The right-hander, who's expected to be a favorite to earn the fifth-starter job until left-hander Matt Moore returns from Tommy John surgery in June at the earliest, tweeted Monday afternoon that he's en route to Florida after visa issues in the Dominican Republic. Earlier in the day, Rays manager Kevin Cash told reporters that he was cautiously optimistic that Colome would report to spring training Tuesday or Wednesday.
The top competition for Colome, 26, in the race for the fifth-starter job figures to be right-hander Nathan Karns. Colome also is an option for the bullpen.
A native of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Colome is 3-1 with a 2.50 ERA in eight appearances (six starts) with Tampa Bay throughout the 2013 and 2014 seasons. Last March, he received a 50-game suspension without pay after testing positive for Boldenone, a performance-enhancing substance. He was 7-7 with a 3.53 ERA and 83 strikeouts in 18 starts last season in time split between Triple-A Durham and High-A Charlotte.
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