Rays' Poche to miss 2020 with torn UCL

ST. PETERSBURG -- The Rays placed Colin Poche, one of their top bullpen arms, on the 45-day injured list Tuesday with a torn left ulnar collateral ligament. Poche will miss the 2020 season and Tommy John surgery has been recommended, putting his '21 season in jeopardy as well.

“We all feel awful for Colin,” said Rays manager Kevin Cash. “As hard of a worker as anybody. You don’t like to see that happen.”

Poche was a big part of the Rays’ bullpen in 2019, making 51 appearances and finishing his rookie season with a 4.08 FIP. He also struck out 72 in just 51 2/3 innings of work. Tampa Bay's bullpen is expected to be the strength of the team, but losing the left-hander is certainly a blow. Poche was projected to be an important part of the group, especially against left-handed hitters, who hit just .167 off him last season. Righties also hit below .200 off Poche last season.

Poche pitched in an intrasquad game on Monday, giving up a pair of runs on a Mike Zunino homer. It’s unclear when he suffered the injury. If Poche elects to have Tommy John surgery, it will be the second time he will undergo the procedure in his career, with the first coming when he was in college in 2014.

“It’s pretty significant,” Cash said of the impact of losing Poche for the season. “He’s a guy, you take away a couple solo home runs here and there, and he was pretty dominant for us at points. He really got on some good runs and really was going to keep developing as a pitcher. We’re going to have to hit the pause button on that and it’s going to present another opportunity for somebody else to come and fulfill a big role that we anticipated him fulfilling.”

Aaron Loup and José Alvarado will be the two left-handed pitchers the Rays will lean on to fill the void. Oliver Drake excelled against lefties last season despite being a right-handed pitcher. Pete Fairbanks also has the ability to fill in as a middle reliever and get both righties and lefties out.

The Rays also have the option to bring in Jalen Beeks or Anthony Banda out of the bullpen against a left-handed-heavy lineup. Prospects Shane McClanahan and Josh Fleming are two lefty options down in the Port Charlotte camp who could also help this season.

“We do feel confident that we have guys that certainly can do special things like [Poche] can,” Cash said. “If we can get Alvarado like we’ve seen him during those runs, we should be pretty good.”