Tampa Bay Rays Brad Boxberger Returning Soon, And Its Effects

The Rays may be in a conundrum when injured closer Brad Boxberger returns from injury. He is on the comeback trail, but Alex Colome is pitching well.

The Tampa Bay Rays expected to start this season with the same closer they ended 2015 with. That plan took a turn in the wrong direction during the offseason. Supposed-to-be Rays closer Brad Boxberger was placed on the disabled list after undergoing core muscle surgery in mid-March.

He is on the road to recovery and could be back in the bullpen very soon. What does this mean for fantasy owners and the current Rays closer, Alex Colome?

More from Fantasy Baseball

• 5 fantasy baseball waiver wire pivots to replace Triston McKenzie
• Fantasy baseball mock draft 2023, 12-team: Aaron Judge over Trea Turner?
• 3 fantasy baseball sleepers being drafted too late
• NBA DFS picks December 25: Merry Bucking Christmas
• Fantasy Baseball: Hot pitchers worthy of starting this weekend

Boxberger took over closer duties last season after Jake McGee underwent elbow surgery. Boxberger finished the season with a 3.71 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, 41 saves and 74 strikeouts in 63 innings.

As the closer this season, Colome is filling in quite nicely. In 15 appearances, he has a 1.69 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, nine saves, 21 strikeouts and four walks. The Rays know how to develop a bullpen and they’ve had an amazing one for the last few years.

Colome is owned in just 53.1 percent of ESPN leagues. You would think for a guy who has been the team’s closer all season that he would be owned in more leagues. But with Boxberger returning soon, who is the closer?

Brad Boxberger threw a scoreless inning for High-A Charlotte in his first official rehab appearance Sunday. The Rays’ closer actually opened the game, and worked around a leadoff double and two-out walk to get out of the inning. He threw 14 of his 24 pitches for strikes and reached 92 MPH on the radar gun.

He has one more appearance for Charlotte coming before moving up to Triple-A Durham. The plan is to continue to increase his pitch count while building stamina until he is back to 100 percent. This is basically his Spring Training.

Many reports say that Brad Boxberger will be back in the Rays bullpen before June 1 and immediately take over the closer role. Even Rays manager Kevin Cash said that Colome will be out of the ninth inning when he returns.

If you own Colome, I think you need to keep him rostered. He is posting an astounding 11.8 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9. Boxberger, while successful last season, had a 10.6 K/9, 4.6 BB/9 and gave up nine home runs for the second consecutive season. Let’s hope he can bounce back and perform like he did in 2014, minus the lack of saves.

Next: Shawn Tolleson Out As Closer

The Rays will be competing in the American League East for the rest of the season. If management was smart, they would keep Colome in the closer role and have Brad Boxberger as the set-up while he acclimates himself back to big-league play.

Boxberger is already owned in 37 percent of leagues, so owners are already jumping on his potential save count. If you need saves, you might as well too.