Rays place Fairbanks on IL with nerve-related issue

ST. PETERSBURG -- The Rays on Monday placed closer Pete Fairbanks on the 15-day injured list due to an unspecified nerve-related issue.

Manager Kevin Cash said Fairbanks has undergone two tests on his neck and shoulder area, which “seemed to be OK,” and will be sent for further testing to scan for issues further down his arm.

“We’ll continue to kind of check boxes to see if we can narrow it down,” Cash said. “Not sure where it's going to go, but felt like it was time to rest him and let's run some imaging from his neck to his shoulder, all the way down to the fingers, to see if we can see anything.”

Fairbanks last pitched on Wednesday, when he blew a save by allowing two runs on three hits and two walks in the ninth inning of a 5-4 loss to the Angels at Tropicana Field. The 30-year-old right-hander was obviously frustrated after that outing, saying it “generally sucked” and calling his performance “like an all-encompassing type of suck.”

Fairbanks did not pitch this past weekend at Yankee Stadium due to a stomach bug that forced him to stay at the team hotel on Friday. He reported to the ballpark to play catch on Saturday and felt “a little bit of a zinger in his hand just playing catch,” Cash said, then spent the rest of the day receiving treatment.

“We were still optimistic that he was going to be good to go on Sunday,” Cash said, “but it repeated itself Sunday before the game.”

Fairbanks has previously dealt with Raynaud’s syndrome, which impacts the blood flow to the fingers and affects his grip on the ball, typically in cold weather. His IL assignment was made retroactive to Friday. The Rays recalled reliever Kevin Kelly to take his spot on the active roster.

It had been a tough start to the season for Fairbanks, one of the Majors’ best late-inning relievers when healthy over the past few years. He’s given up eight runs (seven earned) on eight hits and eight walks while striking out 10 over seven innings, with three saves and two losses in eight appearances. Cash didn’t think his current issue was a factor in his previous appearances.

“I think he would have said something immediately after, and he did not,” Cash said.

The Rays' bullpen got off to a similarly disastrous start, but has stabilized a bit over the past week. In their last six games entering Monday’s series opener against the Tigers, Rays relievers posted a 0.77 ERA with 21 strikeouts and six walks while holding opponents to a .157 (13-for-83) average; Fairbanks was charged with both earned runs they allowed during that stretch.

“I think it was only a matter of time. I think everyone in the clubhouse, in the building here, had the confidence in all the guys to kind of get it right and just know that you're going to go through stretches like that,” left-hander Colin Poche said.

“It just seemed like kind of everybody was going through a rough stretch at the same time. So we kind of knew, once we started getting things going in the right direction, it would all kind of settle into place.”

Fairbanks had served as a fairly traditional closer for the Rays the past two seasons, but it’s unlikely the Rays will replace him directly in that role. Cash said they will be “very much matchup-based,” mixing and matching their relievers depending on who’s available.

Right-hander Jason Adam, Poche and free-agent addition Phil Maton figure to see most of the late-inning work, although left-hander Garrett Cleavinger recorded his first Major League save by pitching the 10th inning in the Rays’ 2-0 win Saturday at Yankee Stadium. Shawn Armstrong, Chris Devenski and Kelly all have high-leverage experience as well.

“You can't replace Pete. You can't replace what he brings to this team on the mound and in a leadership role, so that's obviously going to be tough, to be without him,” Poche said. “But we do feel like we have a lot of talented players behind him that we can kind of fill that gap until he does get back, hopefully, at the end of the 15 days.”

Kelly played a key role in Tampa Bay’s bullpen as a Rule 5 Draft rookie last season, putting together a 3.09 ERA in 67 innings over 57 appearances. He broke camp with Triple-A Durham and made four appearances for the Rays earlier this month, giving up four runs on six hits and one walk in 4 2/3 innings.