Rays Send Lefty Josh Fleming Down to Triple-A Durham, Call up Ralph Garza Jr.

Josh Fleming has been an important piece on the Tampa Bay pitching staff since 2020, but he's been struggling so far this year and was sent down to Triple-A Durham on Saturday. Right-hander Ralph Garza Jr., was recalled.

SEATTLE, Wash. — The Tampa Bay Rays made another roster move with their pitching staff on Saturday and, for the moment, Josh Fleming is the odd man out.

Fleming, the lefty from Bridgeton, Mo., has made six appearances thus far, either as a short starter or bulk guy on ''opener'' days, but has struggled in every one of them outside of his 2022 debut, when he pitched 3 1/3 scoreless innings against Baltimore on April 9. 

Since then, he has pitched 15 innings and allowed 24 hits and 23 runs, although 10 of the runs have been unearned. Still, the 13 earned runs equate to a 7.80 earned run average. He pitched Friday night in Seattle, allowing two runs in 2 2/3 innings, giving up four hits and walking three batters.

This is Fleming's third year with the Rays, and he's been an important piece in the pitching rotation from the beginning. In the shortened 60-game 2020 season, he went 5-0 with a 2.78 ERA, appearing in seven games, and starting five. In 2021, he was 10-8 with a 5.08 ERA. This season, he is 2-3 with a 6.38 earned run average. His 27 hits allowed and and runs (23) and earned runs (13) allowed are all team highs.

He is being replaced on the roster by Ralph Garza, Jr., who was on the roster briefly the first week of the season. He pitched once, giving up three runs in three innings against the Oakland A's on April 12. 

Garza, who played collegiately at the University of Oklahoma, was drafted by the Houston Astros in 2015, and made his major-league debut last May. He made nine appearances for the Astros, going 1-2 with. 4.05 ERA, but was released by the Astros on Aug. 1, and was picked up by the MInnesota Twins, who used him 18 times in relief. He was 0-2 with a 3.26 ERA.

At Durham, Garza pitched 12 innings and was 1-2 with a 3.00 earned run average

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