Taylor Walls's Stats, Metrics, Game Logs, Projections & Rankings

Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Jose Siri and infielder Taylor Walls will both start Thursday's game against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field on the bench. Jonny DeLuca will start in center field and bat eighth for the Rays, with Jose Caballero starting at shortstop and hitting sixth against Guardians right-hander Gavin Williams. DeLuca is hitless in two career at-bats against Williams, while Caballero is hitless in his only at-bat against Williams. Siri could see more time on the bench moving forward if he can't break out of his recent slump soon. The 29-year-old Dominican is hitting .184 (69-for-374) on the year and is 1-for-24 (.042) with two walks and 11 K's in eight games in September. Walls has played in only 72 games this year due to injuries and is hitting a similarly weak .179/.287/.242 with a homer, 13 RBI and 14 stolen bases.

Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Taylor Walls (hip), who was moved to the 60-day injured list on April 20 after having right-hip surgery in the offseason, began a minor-league rehab assignment with the Rookie-level Florida Complex League on May 21 and went 2-for-17 with a homer, two walks and two strikeouts while playing five games at shortstop. He then joined Triple-A Durham on May 30 and went 2-for-6 with two doubles and played all nine innings at the 6. Manager Kevin Cash said that Walls felt "the best he's felt in a long time, so really encouraged by that." Walls said on Feb. 13 that he had been dealing with a "noticeable hip impingement" for more than a year, and it reached the point in the playoffs where he could barely swing a bat. When he's healthy enough to return, Walls will give the Rays another option at shortstop.

Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Taylor Walls (hip) has started a spring training-type progression at the team's spring complex in Port Charlotte, Fla., which will take about two weeks before he starts getting into games. Manager Kevin Cash said the team received a "very good report" from Walls' visit with Dr. J.W. Thomas Byrd on April 1. But given the amount of time that Walls has missed, it's likely he'll have to recreate a progression similar to spring training when he returns to game action. He was transferred to the 60-day injured list on April 20 after having surgery on Oct. 27 of last year to fix a labral tear and to relieve discomfort from an impingement in his right hit. It's something that Walls had been dealing with for more than a year. It's unclear what Walls' role will be when he eventually returns to the majors, but it's likely to be a bench role.