Rays Select Cooper Criswell

The Rays have selected the contract of right-hander Cooper Criswell from Triple-A Durham, per a team announcement. In a pair of corresponding moves to accommodate his promotion, right-hander Trevor Kelley was optioned to Triple-A while righty Shawn Armstrong was moved from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day injured list. The Rays also announced that top prospect Taj Bradley is on today’s taxi squad. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets that he’ll likely be added to the 26-man roster to start tomorrow’s game in Cincinnati.

Criswell, 26, made his big league debut with the Angels in 2021 but tossed just 1 1/3 innings, and he had a similarly brief run with the 2022 Rays, tossing 3 1/3 frames. He’s out to a fine start in Durham this year, with a 3.09 ERA and 10-to-1 K/BB ratio in 11 2/3 innings of work. The Rays are expected to use lefty Jalen Beeks as an opener in today’s contest, so Criswell will give Tampa Bay another fresh arm to help navigate the waters of this bullpen day. It could be a brief stay on the big league roster for Criswell, particularly if he throws multiple innings today, as the Rays will need to make another move to get Bradley on the roster for tomorrow’s contest.

Armstrong, 32, posted a 3.60 ERA with a 26% strikeout rate and 6% walk rate in 55 innings as a Ray in 2022. He’s missed the entire season so far due to a neck injury incurred in spring training. The shift to the 60-day injured list pushes his earliest possible return date back to May 29; it’s retroactive to his initial placement on the IL, not the move from the 15-day to the 60-day. Neil Solondz of Rays Radio tweets that Armstrong would’ve likely needed about that long to finish mending and build back up to game readiness anyhow, so the decision was likely a fairly straightforward one for the team.