BRADENTON — If baseball were a board game, the Tampa Bay Rays would be all over the table right now — with their next move still unknown.
That's because one of their key pieces — centerfielder B.J. Upton – has tumbled to the floor, causing a domino effect that has manager Joe Maddon and baseball operations chief Andrew Friedman weighing a multitude of options with the regular-season only a week away.
When the week began, the pressing question of the day for the Rays was who would be in their starting rotation. But on Wednesday, Upton's expected return to the field hit a snag. It was announced that he would start the season on the disabled list, still recovering from a back injury stemming from his outfield collision with Desmond Jennings two weeks ago.
Now the big question is who'll be in the starting lineup April 6 against the New York Yankees — and until the time Upton returns, presumably by mid-month.
One answer could be the contingent the Rays placed in the outfield in Clearwater on Thursday against the Phillies and Friday in Bradenton against Pittsburgh — a game that ended in a 3-3 tie at sunbaked McKechnie Field following a strong outing by rookie lefthander Matt Moore.
Fleet second-year player Desmond Jennings moved from left to center, with rightfielder Matt Joyce sliding over to left and Ben Zobrist — the sometimes second baseman, sometimes rightfielder — making himself at home in right.
Maddon started Rays newcomer and utility infielder Jeff Keppinger at second and Reid Brignac at short on Friday, a day after starting Elliot Johnson at second and Rodriguez at short. It wouldn't be surprising to see Keppinger, who rarely strikes out and has wielded a hot bat this spring (16-for-48, .333) get the nod at second for the time being. That would leave Rodriguez and Brignac to platoon at short, as long as Brignac can withstand the occasional searing pain from his plantar fascia foot condition.
But, not so fast. Maddon stressed Friday morning that he and Friedman could stay within the organization yet find a different way to compensate for Upton's absence.
"It is possible to remain internal, but there are also other ways to remain internal — guys who've been sent to the minor leagues could be brought back under these circumstances," Maddon said. "I had a conversation with Andrew on the way down, and we were all over the map talking about this thing, because it's pretty wide open.
"We're just trying to figure out how it best balances out versus a righty or versus a lefty, and see what perhaps helps us get off to a better start. So we'll do anything that it takes to set this up properly."
One such recently assigned minor leaguer is Brand Guyer, who could conceivably play left field. In that case, Maddon could continue platooning Joyce and Zobrist in right, playing Joyce predominantly against righthanders and switch-hitting Zobrist against lefties.
"He (Guyer) is the strongest possibility, probably, being a righthanded hitter," Maddon said. "That's part of an obvious situation right now. But again, that's what I'm saying. We have internal other (possibilities) than what you're seeing right now."
Maddon stressed that Friedman is "checking under every rock" and that the situation is fluid.
"Andrew is still doing his Andrew thing," he said. "He's checking everything out. And when we talk, man, it is all over the map. But that's how you've got to be. You've got to be trying to not miss anything. And when you get a little quick with decisions like this, you may miss something. So, it's good to take your time and get everybody's opinions and see what you can possibly do. Because again it's important to us to get that right group back there."
Could there be a scenario in which Joyce, who wants to be an every day player, finally gets his wish to face more lefties now?
"Possible," Maddon said.
In that case, might he be in the season-opening lineup against Yankees' lefty ace CC Sabathia?
"Not out of the question," said the skipper. "It's possible."
A clearer picture will no doubt emerge soon, since the clock is running out on spring training. Tampa Bay wraps up its Grapefruit League schedule with games Saturday home against Boston, Sunday at the Orioles, Monday home with the Twins, Tuesday at the Twins and Wednesday with a 1:40 p.m. "Rays Futures" game at the Trop. The team has off on Thursday, followed by the 3:10 p.m. season opener against visiting New York.
In the meantime, a handful of minor health updates surfaced Friday. Righthanded starter Jeff Niemann, who early in the week won a spot in the rotation over Wade Davis, has a blister on his right hand. As a precaution, Maddon won't start Niemann Saturday against the Red Sox, especially since his first regular-season start (as the fifth man in the rotation) won't fall until April 11 or 12.
"It's not awful; it's just something we want to watch to make sure it does not become awful," Maddon said. Niemann may pitch again before the season starts, but Maddon will take a wait-and-see approach before deciding on that.
In the bullpen, Fernando Rodney is sore from being hit Wednesday in his right forearm by a hard liner, but X-Rays were negative.
"He's just sore and swollen but fine," Maddon said. "I talked to (trainer) Ronnie Porterfield yesterday. I don't know exactly when he's going to be able to throw again. But there's nothing wrong structurally. So he's fine…. It wasn't right on the elbow but it was really close. It hit part of it. When I saw it, it was puffy. This guy has arms like calves, so that's why he's able to come back."
Closer Kyle Farnsworth is expected to get the start Saturday against Boston now, with Davis getting a chance to work for the first time in his new relief role.
In the other pitching news of note, Moore looked sharp Friday against the Pirates in his first extended outing of the spring. He pitched six innings and gave up only three hits, one run (a homer by Casey MeGehee) and one walk, while striking out three.
"I definitely needed to get 90 pitches out of my body today," he said. "…It feels like we're coming along nicely and I have one more coming up next Wednesday. We're right where we need to be."
Still, Moore wants to focus on before the regular season. "Yeah, my fastball command early in the count was kind of hanging me up from getting out of these innings quicker," he said. "I just fell behind to (Andrew) McCutchen and MeGehee today — three times to McCutchen, I think. Good hitters like that are eventually going to start making you pay for it."
Maddon's assessment: "I thought Matt was very good today — that really good fastball, some good change-ups and curveballs. I liked everything about him today. I thought he was very composed as he normally is."
Moore's battery mate, veteran catcher Jose Molina, made his presence felt not only behind the plate calling the game, but also drilling a bases-clearing double to the right-center gap that put Tampa Bay ahead 3-1 in the seventh.
That piece of the Rays' backstop game has certainly fallen into place nicely. But stay tuned for the short-term moves will shape the rest of the starting — and perhaps startling — lineup.
