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Zobrist's Versatility May Be Handy

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By MARC LANCASTER

mlancaster@tampatrib.com

Published: March 14, 2009

SARASOTA - The initial reaction for many Rays roster-followers in the wake of Fernando Perez's injury last week was to assume Justin Ruggiano would be the primary beneficiary.

That was my first thought, and it could very well hold up if B.J. Upton isn't quite ready to go for Opening Day. The Rays trust Ruggiano, and certainly would have no problem using him in what would be primarily a reserve role for a prescribed amount of time. But it might not necessarily be the slam dunk that it seems to be at the moment.

The Rays have found a way to parlay spring training injuries into roster spots for veteran nonroster players in recent years, most notably the Greg Norton trip to the disabled list in March 2007 that famously ushered in the Carlos Pena era.

The Perez injury could open the door for another such scenario, and the beneficiary this time could be Adam Kennedy (or, less likely, Morgan Ensberg). Both fit the profile of guys the Rays would like to find a spot for on the club, a la Pena two years ago and Eric Hinske last spring. And there is no apparent place for either of them as things currently stand.

However, the versatility of one player already locked into a bench spot, Ben Zobrist, could make it possible for the Rays to get creative. Zobrist could essentially function as the Rays' fourth outfielder behind Carl Crawford, Gabe Gross and Gabe Kapler, backing up at all three spots.

Such a setup would allow the Rays to start Ruggiano in Triple-A Durham and give him everyday at-bats there, and it might make some sense to do it that way if Upton is projected to miss only the first week or so of the season, which seems to be what most expect. The Rays could then keep Kennedy around for at least a short spell and see what happens from there.

"The fact that Zobrist can do so many things permits us to do different things," Manager Joe Maddon said.

Maddon loves Kennedy's professionalism and plans to give the veteran second baseman some time in the outfield and at shortstop in the coming weeks. If Kennedy proves functional there (he already has played 12 innings at third base this spring), his value would only increase.

Of course, that value could manifest itself in a late-spring trade of Kennedy to a team in need of a regular second baseman or part-time infielder. But don't rule out the Rays finding a way to make their low-risk pickup of Kennedy benefit them directly.

THE IRREGULARS: The longstanding rule for spring training has been that teams are supposed to take at least four regulars to every road game.

Anecdotally, at least, it's hard to imagine that rule being bent more than it has this year. The World Baseball Classic has been the main factor in a slew of watered-down visiting lineups that have been seen all spring, and teams such as the Mets and Red Sox that have lost more than a dozen players from camp to participate certainly have an excuse.

The Rays haven't been hit nearly as hard by WBC absences, with only Akinori Iwamura missing among their regular position players. But they also have been without Upton all spring and Pena for the first 11/2 weeks of games. Still, they have thrown out some doozies - most notably the starting nine for Friday's game in Dunedin. No one among that group is expected to start regularly during the season and only two of them - Zobrist and Shawn Riggans - are even assured spots on the 25-man roster.

Maddon makes no apologies, noting a schedule dotted with off days and paired road games that makes it difficult to parcel out the work as he would like. While the Rays sent no one of consequence to play the Blue Jays, their lineup for Saturday's game against the Reds in Sarasota featured most of those who will be on the field Opening Day in Boston.

You'll see the same type of breakdown next weekend, as the frontline players will make Friday's return trip to Dunedin while a lesser squad will be on Saturday's jaunt to play the Orioles in Fort Lauderdale.

"I'm always going to take the better players to the shorter trip - always," Maddon said.

"So regardless of how that's presented to us, I've got to think about our players first all the time."

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