Ben Rortvedt DVOA, Advanced Stats, & Fantasy Rankings

Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Junior Caminero, infielder/outfielder Christopher Morel and catcher Ben Rortvedt will all start on the bench for Sunday's series finale against the visiting Milwaukee Brewers and right-hander Chad Patrick. Jose Caballero is starting at third and batting sixth, Travis Jankowski is in right field and batting seventh, and Danny Jansen is doing the catching and batting ninth. Caminero will take a seat despite holding a current five-game hitting streak in which he's gone 6-for-18 with a homer, three RBI, a steal and a run scored. The 21-year-old will be back in there for Tuesday's series opener against the division-rival Toronto Blue Jays. Morel will sit for the second straight day against a righty and may be in a platoon in Tampa's outfield after starting the year with a poor .223/.310/.369 slash line in 103 at-bats.

Tampa Bay Rays catcher Ben Rortvedt (shoulder) returned to action on Saturday as a designated hitter. Rortvedt was dealing with a sore shoulder last week but was able to see time in a DH role. In this contest, Rortvedt went 0-for-2 with a strikeout. Fantasy managers should continue to monitor his status during camp as he may need additional time to be cleared to return as a defender. Currently, Rortvedt is expected to be Tampa Bay's No. 2 backstop behind Danny Jansen. Last season, Rortvedt appeared in 112 games for the Rays and posted a .228/.317/.303 slash line with 13 doubles and three home runs. He drew walks at a strong 10.4 percent rate but held a high 26.8 percent strikeout rate. If Rortvedt were to continue to be limited by this shoulder injury, Jansen could see an even larger share of the starts behind the plate at the start of the campaign.

Tampa Bay Rays catcher Ben Rortvedt (shoulder) is dealing with shoulder soreness and is expected to miss a few games. Fantasy managers should continue to monitor his status, but given that he is only viewed as day-to-day, suggests the injury is not serious. Rortvedt appeared in 112 games for the Tampa Bay Rays last season. Across this stint, Rortvedt held a .228/.317/.303 slash line with 13 doubles and three home runs. He swiped one bag and held a high 26.8 percent strikeout rate. However, he was graded as an excellent defender as he placed in the 75th percentile in blocks above average and the 83rd percentile in pop time. Fantasy managers should expect the 27-year-old to operate as the No. 2 option behind Danny Jansen during the season and carry little fantasy value.