Izzy wants to be a Ray

By ROGER MOONEY
rmooney@bradenton.com
PORT CHARLOTTE — They met and discussed and discussed and met and in the end, Jason Isringhausen will begin the season on the disabled list.

The right-handed relief pitcher threw only six innings this spring, enough to show his surgically repaired right elbow is fine, but enough to build sufficient arm strength to enable Isringhausen to begin the season on time.

“We all agreed I need a few more innings to get to where I want to be with my mechanics and my arm strength and stuff, so this is the right thing to do,” Isringhausen said Wednesday morning. “This is the right situation for me. I love the team. Love the guys, the management, the GM, everything. So, kind of a no-brainer for me. I could have went somewhere else and pitched, but that’s not the same situation. I want to pitch and I want to help these guys win as much as I can, because I think it’s a special group of guys. Groups of guys like this, they don’t come around very often. That’s pretty much the bottom line. I’m not worried about the rest of it. The rest of it will take care of itself. When it’s time to come off the DL things usually take care of itselves up in the big leagues and we’ll figure out some then. So until then we’re going to get a throwing program together and stick to that.”

Isringhausen will continue his rehab at Tropicana Field and join the Charlotte Stone Crabs of the Florida State League on nights he’s scheduled to pitch.

“Obviously, we are very excited about this development,” Rays vice president of baseball Andrew Friedman said. “We feel there is a very good chance that at some point in 2009 Jason will help us win games. We are going to be fairly methodical here of getting him all the way back. We’ve seen a lot of good things this spring, and by doing this we feel it greatly increases the chances of him helping in a meaningful way.”

Isringhausen doesn’t expect to need much time to get ready, but Friedman didn’t want to place a timetable on Isringhausen’s return.

“When we feel like and he feels like he’s 100 percent, we’ll sit down and see where we are. But we feel he has chance to impact us once he returns to 100 percent. When that will happen we’re not sure,” Friedman said. “This guy is obviously very talented, has a lot of experience pitching late in games, and just provides even more depth for us, and we feel it’s a very good thing for us, and from talking to him (Tuesday), a very good thing for him as well. He knows the prudent thing is coming back 100 percent coming off surgery, and coming off the various ailments that plagued him last year and get him back to 100 percent. If anything, we feel we’ve saved some bullets for later on this season that can impact us in a positive way.”

Waiting is the hardest part
Jeff Niemann wore a long face as he walked through the clubhouse Wednesday afternoon. He had just met with manager Joe Maddon and Friedman and knew as much about his status as the team’s fifth starter as he did before he entered Maddon’s office.

Niemann and Jason Hammel will remain in Port Charlotte, where both will pitch in minor league games Sunday. The Rays have to announce their 25-man Opening Day roster at 3 p.m. Sunday.

Both Niemann and Hammel, and Lance Cormier, who will pitch in one of the two games in Philadelphia this weekend, will have to wait until Sunday to learn if they’ve made the team.

Cormier will be the long man in the bullpen if the Rays trade Niemann or Hammel, while the runner-up for the fifth spot in the rotation will move to the bullpen.
Niemann was asked if he is anxious.

“Yes and no,” he said. “It’s taken this long, what’s another day or two. It’s not an easy decision to make on either of us. It’s a great position for (the Rays) to be in, but it (stinks) for us.”

The bullpen
The Rays will start the year with a bullpen of Troy Percival, J.P. Howell, Dan Wheeler, Grant Balfour, Brian Shouse and Joe Nelson.

To the DL
Isringhausen will be officially added to the disabled list on Sunday along with Fernando Perez, B.J. Upton and Chad Bradford.

Each will be retroactive to March 27, which means Upton is eligible to be activated for the April 13 home opener.

Back to Durham
Outfielders Jon Weber, Ray Sadler, catcher Michel Hernandez, second baseman Adam Kennedy and first baseman Chris Richard were all optioned to Triple A Durham. The six will make the trip to Philadelphia and play in the two exhibition games

Kennedy not surprised
Adam Kennedy, who signed a minor league contract the first week of camp, was not too upset to be headed to Durham.

“It would have more than a surprise if it had been anything other than Durham,” Kennedy said.

The Rays tried moving Kennedy around the infield and even played him in left field once in an attempt to use him as a Super Utility fielder.

He’ll play second base with the Bulls.

Kennedy said he was pleased with the amount of innings in the field and at-bats at the plate this spring.

He hit .302, one of seven Rays to hit above .300.

NOTEWORTHY
Jason Bartlett led the raise with a .362 average. Dioner Navarro batted .347 ... Joe Nelson pitched two perfect innings Wednesday, striking out two ... Grant Balfour pitched a scoreless inning, but needed a heads up play by Bartlett and a strong throw from Gabe Gross to cut down a runner who took too big of a turn around second base to get out of the inning ... Gross his second home run in as many days.