Key storylines to watch at Rays camp

This story was excerpted from Adam Berry's Rays Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- With pitchers and catchers flocking to Florida and Arizona and position players not far behind, it’s officially baseball season.

Pitchers and catchers are reporting on Tuesday, and president of baseball operations Erik Neander and manager Kevin Cash will address their recent contract extensions during their annual Spring Training-opening press conference. This time next week, the full squad will be spread around the Charlotte Sports Park complex.

It’s a long camp, with a lot of workouts and more than a month’s worth of games. A lot -- good, bad and completely unexpected -- can happen between now and Opening Day. But as we get started, here are three key Rays storylines to follow this spring.

Familiar places, new faces

The Rays are back at their Spring Training home in Port Charlotte after a year away, and they find themselves in another familiar place: counting on younger, less proven talent to capably fill roles vacated by more experienced players.

Gone are Tyler Glasnow, Manuel Margot, Robert Stephenson, Andrew Kittredge, Luke Raley, Christian Bethancourt and others. Ace Shane McClanahan will spend the year rehabbing, while starters Jeffrey Springs and Drew Rasmussen figure to be sidelined for at least the first few months. Shortstop Taylor Walls is expected to begin the season on the injured list. All-Star shortstop Wander Franco’s future remains uncertain.

That’s a lot of important players.

In come starter Ryan Pepiot, outfielders Jonny DeLuca and Richie Palacios and infielder José Caballero, and up step starter Taj Bradley, infielders Jonathan Aranda and Curtis Mead, catcher René Pinto and perhaps top prospect Junior Caminero. The Rays are counting on those guys, the ones they might call “ascending” players, to create competition in camp and capitalize on the expanded opportunities they’ll likely receive throughout the season.

Tampa Bay still has a strong core set to return, featuring players like Yandy Díaz, Randy Arozarena, Brandon Lowe, Isaac Paredes, Josh Lowe, Zach Eflin and a bullpen headlined by Pete Fairbanks. Roster turnover has been a part of life even as the club has reached the postseason five years in a row.

Can this new cast of characters help make it six?

More moves to come?

The Rays will finalize one addition soon, as they’re set to sign former Astros reliever Phil Maton to a one-year deal with a club option for 2025. That deal has been pending a physical for more than a week now, so it will be interesting to hear how they see Maton fitting in and what it means for their bullpen.

But will that be the club’s first and final meaningful move of Spring Training?

As we’ve noted throughout the offseason, Pinto enters camp as the lone catcher on Tampa Bay’s 40-man roster, and non-roster invitee Alex Jackson is most likely to be his backup on Opening Day. But don’t be surprised if the Rays at least monitor the market for trades, waiver claims and mid-spring opt-outs/releases on the catching front, even if it’s just to get additional Major League-capable depth behind the plate.

Another possibility to watch? Trading Harold Ramírez. They don’t have to do so, and it would potentially harm their lineup against left-handers or when they need a clutch pinch-hit at-bat. But it would also resolve several other issues by freeing up right-handed at-bats for someone like Mead, opening the DH spot for a more regular rotation and creating space for another young player like Palacios or utility infielder Osleivis Basabe.

Who’s got next?

Spring Training is always a great time to glimpse the next wave of talent coming through the system. Except, well, we probably already saw the best of it when Caminero debuted last season.

If everyone else is healthy, Caminero -- MLB Pipeline’s No. 4 overall prospect -- seems likely to start the season in Triple-A Durham. At only 20 years old, he bypassed Triple-A entirely, so he still has some work to do defensively. But he’ll have a good chance in camp to show he’s ready, displaying his incredible bat speed and unbelievable power, and there’s no doubt he should bolster the Rays' lineup at some point this season.

This will also be the first Major League Spring Training for Carson Williams, MLB Pipeline’s No. 20 prospect, who will be in camp as a non-roster invitee. Williams will be the first to acknowledge his strikeout issues in the Minors, but he’s got everything else you’d want out of a shortstop prospect -- slick defense, a strong arm, power, speed and leadership qualities. There could be more than expected riding on Tampa Bay’s No. 2 prospect this year given the short- and long-term uncertainty with Franco.