Gameday Preview: Manuel Margot Returns to Rays' Lineup for Wednesday's Game vs. Marlins

Manuel Margot (hamstring) and Yandy Diaz (shoulder) are back in the lineup for Tampa Bay on Wednesday night, and both say they are good to go. Here's our gameday preview, with how to watch, video with Margot, starting lineups and pitcher's bios, plus a full dose of newsy nuggets.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Tampa Bay gets back to closer to full strength in its lineup on Wednesday night with Manuel Margot and Yandy Diaz both ready to go after missing games with hamstring and shoulder injuries, respectively,

The big news is with Margot, who had to go on the 10-day injured list with a hamstring strain. He was the hottest hitter in baseball before he left — he was the American League Player of the Week two weeks ago and is hitting .348 on the season — and Rays manager Kevin Cash is thrilled to have him back in the lineup.

"We're excited. When he got hurt, he was doing a lot of good things for us,'' Cash said of Margot, who has an 11-game hitting streak going. "I'm really happy that he just missed the minimum amount and he feels good. Is two games of at-bats enough to get timed up? He's got a short, compact swing so I'd like to think he can pick up where he left off.''

Margot, who played Monday and Tuesday in extended spring training games to get his swing back, says he feels good. He went 2-for-7 down there with two walks. He's playing right field and batting eighth.

"I'm super happy to be here. It's always frustrating when you go down with injury, so I'm happy to be back,'' Margot said. "I hope to feel good (after 10 days off). I'll trust the work that I've been doing, and I feel good. They were throwing really hard down here, so I got ready.

"I know it's a process. I haven't really been running 100 percent yet, but I know when I do, it will be OK.''

The Rays are 25-17 and eight games over .500 for the four different times this season, but have failed all four times to get to nine over. The Marlins are 18-23 but have won only six times in their last 21 games. They were 12-8 at one point and had a seven-game winning streak earlier. 

Here's how to watch Wednesday's game, with TV information and starting lineups and more:

How to watch Marlins at Rays

• Who: Miami Marlins (18-23) at Tampa Bay Rays (25-17)
• When: 6:40 p.m. ET, Wednesday, May 25
• Where: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Fla.
• TV: Bally Sports Sun
• Stream: Fubo.tv CLICK HERE
• Announcers: Dewayne Staats (play-by-play), Brian Anderson (color commentary) and Tricia Whitaker (reporter).
• Radio: WDAE 95.3 FM/620 AM; SiriusXM Channel 182
• Announcers: Andy Freed and Dave Wills.
• Latest line: Tampa Bay is favored at minus-188 on the money line according to the SISportsbook.com website opening line as of Tuesday afternoon. The Marlins are plus-155. The over/under is 6.5.

Projected starting pitchers

• Marlins right-hander Cody Poteet: Cody Poteet has made 10 appearances thus far for the Marlins, but just one start. His numbers have been very good. He's pitched 23 pitches so far, and has allowed only two earned runs, good for an 0.78 earned run average. He made seven starts last year, going 2-3 with a 4.99 earned run average. He has never faced the Rays before. Poteet is 27 years old and a San Diego, Calif. native.
• Rays right-hander Drew Rasmussen: The Rays turn to Drew Rasmussen to sweep this short two-game series with the Marlins, and he's an excellent choice considering he has allowed only three earned runs in his last five starts combined, good for a 1.01 ERA. Overall, he's 4-1 on the season with a 2.33 ERA and the Rays have won five of his starts in a row and seven of eight on the season. 

Projected lineups

• Marlins lineup: Garrett Cooper 1B, Jesus Aguilar DH, Jorge Soler LF, Avisail Garcia RF, Brian Anderson 3B, Jacob Stallings C, Jesus Sanchez CF, Miguel Rojas SS, Erik Gonzalez 2B, Cody Poteet P.
• Rays lineup: Kevin Kiermaier CF, Wander Franco SS, Yandy Diaz 3B, Ji-Man Choi 1B, Randy Arozarena LF, Harold Ramirez DH, Francisco Mejia C, Manuel Margot RF, Vidal Brujan 2B, Drew Rasmussen P.

Newsy nuggets

• No. 1 — Knight back to Durham: Tampa Bay reliever Dusten Knight was sent back to Durham to make room for Margot. He performed well during his three days with the time. He took the loss on Sunday in the extra-inning loss to Baltimore, even though he didn't do anything wrong. They bunted over their placed runner in the 11th and then Ji-Man Choi couldn't play a slow roller to first, allowing the winning run to score. Knight pitched two scoreless innings on Tuesday night and only allowed one hit. "He did a nice job,'' Cash said. "He picked us up the other day in Baltimore. You don't try to put guys in that position, but it kind of came out of need. Yesterday we stuck him in a 4-0 ballgame trying to freshen up the bullpen and he gave us two solid good innings.''
• No 2 — Baz getting close: Right-hander Shane Baz is pitching in Durham on Wednesday night, and Cash said the hope is ''he'll have three ups and roughly 45 pitches.'' The goal is to still see him in the Rays' starting rotation sometime in early June. "We've got to get his pitch count built up. We're going to look for any starter coming back to carry 80 to 90 pitches.''
• No. 3 — Inside-the-park record: Rays center fielder Kevin Kiermaier led off the game with an inside-the-park home run on Tuesday night, and that set a team record. He's done that four times now in his nine-year Rays career, breaking a tie with Carl Crawford, who did it three times. Randy Winn did it twice and 12 others have done it once. 
• No. 4 — Milestone pending: The Rays won their 999th game inside Tropicana Field on Tuesday when they beat the Marlins 4-0, so win No. 1,000 should come soon. The Rays technically have 1,007 home wins, including ''home'' games played at Disney, in Japan and at Citi Field in New York. 

Related stories on Rays baseball

• RAYS BLANK MARLINS (Tues.): Kevin Kiermaier opened the game with an inside-the-park homer and Shane McClanahan threw six scoreless innings as the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Miami Marlins 4-0 on Tuesday night at Tropicana Field. The Rays also got homers from Harold Ramirez and Ji-Man Choi. CLICK HERE
• KITTREDGE BACK ISSUES: Tampa Bay closer Andrew Kittredge is dealing with tightness in his lower back, and it's been bad enough to force him to the 15-day injured list. He's eligible to return on June 3, and he's planning to be ready to go again on that day. He talked about the injury on Tuesday night. CLICK HERE
• 1-2 PUNCH WITH McCLANAHAN, RASMUSSEN: The argument can be made that Tampa Bay starters Shane McClanahan and Drew Rasmussen are the best one-two punch in the American League, and they've been really good the past month or so. Their numbers are exceptional, and here's our comparison of the best pair of pitchers in the league. CLICK HERE
• KIERMAIER'S HOMER: Here's the video of Kevin Kiermaier's inside-the-park home run, and his full postgame press conference. CLICK HERE
• RAYS 2022 SCHEDULE: Here is the complete 2022 schedule for the Tampa Bay Rays, with results and stats from every game far, and dates, locations and gametimes for the rest of the season. CLICK HERE

Watch full Manuel Margot pregame interview