Caminero day to day after exiting with back tightness

CLEARWATER, Fla. -- Rays rising star Junior Caminero exited Thursday¡¯s 5-4 win over the Phillies after three innings due to low back tightness.

Caminero¡¯s early departure was considered precautionary, according to the team. Manager Kevin Cash described Caminero as day to day. The third baseman will receive treatment on Friday.

¡°Don't expect him to miss too much time,¡± Cash said.

The 21-year-old made a nice running scoop and throw to retire Alec Bohm to end the third inning. He did not return to the field in the fourth, with prospect Cooper Kinney taking his place at the hot corner.

Caminero came into camp with lofty expectations for the season, and he has looked like his powerful self at the plate, with impressive displays during batting practice and three homers in his first six games. He struck out against Aaron Nola in both of his at-bats on Thursday afternoon at BayCare Ballpark, going down swinging at curveballs each time.

Cash said Caminero reported the tightness came about after a swing in his second at-bat. He swung at all four pitches he saw from Nola in the third inning, with a pair of whiffs and two foul balls.

Shane¡¯s stuff sharp

Happy to be back in a normal starter¡¯s routine after his return to the mound last Saturday, Shane McClanahan went to work against a Phillies lineup full of regulars on Thursday.

McClanahan gave up a hit and a walk and struck out four while throwing 40 pitches (29 strikes) over 2 2/3 innings in his second outing of the spring. Tampa Bay¡¯s Opening Day starter used all four of his pitches, with some experimentation that he might not attempt during the regular season.

For instance, McClanahan threw a pair of changeups to left-handed batters -- one to retire Bryson Stott and another with two strikes that Brandon Marsh took for a ball. According to Statcast, McClanahan has only thrown 16 left-on-left changeups in his Major League career, compared to 1,239 against righties.

¡°I was just trying to work on stuff. You know how Spring Training is,¡± McClanahan said. ¡°You¡¯re throwing pitches you might not normally throw in counts, just to try to get the feel and everything like that. ¡­ Just working on stuff you might not normally get to work on.¡±

The Phillies whiffed on 11 of their 24 swings against McClanahan, who ramped his fastball up to 98.3 mph and might have completed three innings if not for a one-out walk to Marsh in the third. The Rays plan to have him built up to work at least five innings on Opening Day.

¡°He looked good. Really good,¡± Cash said. ¡°I was happy he built off his first outing, mixed his pitches well, dialed up some fastballs when he needed to. ¡­ He looks great.¡±

Around the horn

? Infielder Curtis Mead continued his unbelievably hot spring, going 4-for-4 with a walk while playing the whole game at second base. Mead crushed his first two singles, the first coming off his bat at 110.9 mph off Nola and the second at 100.4 mph off reliever Jos¨¦ Alvarado, and his last one came off his bat at 98.9 mph.

In seven games this spring, Mead is 14-for-18, good for a .778 average and a 1.810 OPS.

¡°It looks like he's handling every pitch that's being thrown to him right now, laying off the tough ones and getting pitches to handle,¡± Cash said. ¡°So pumped for him.¡±

? Catcher Ben Rortvedt made his first start behind the plate since Feb. 23. After sitting out about a week due to soreness in his right shoulder, Rortvedt had been limited to DH duty in each of his past two games.

¡°I felt better behind the plate today than I did the first two games, so it was awesome,¡± said Rortvedt, who also worked with McClanahan in a game for the first time.

? Closer Pete Fairbanks had a tough outing, walking four batters while only retiring two. Of his 24 pitches, eight were strikes.

¡°Struggled a little bit with the command,¡± Cash said. ¡°We've got some time to work through it, and know that he will.¡±

? Minor League outfielder Brock Jones had a big day at the plate. A second-round pick in the 2022 MLB Draft, Jones went deep in both trips to the plate during his first Grapefruit League appearance of the spring.

¡°A bunch of guys were like, 'You've got to save them! You've got to save them!' I'm like, 'Hopefully they just keep coming,¡¯¡± Jones said, smiling. ¡°I've been putting in a lot of hard work this offseason, so I'm proud of the work that I'm doing and the results that are showing.¡±