Share Video
Stanek, who surrendered one infield hit and one walk over one inning in Friday's 3-1 Grapefruit League victory over the Twins, opened eyes with his velocity, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports. "Ryne Stanek, obviously, with the big fastball was impressive,'' Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "You can't overlook the velocity, it's pretty impressive.''
The 25-year-old righty generated an unsightly 4-10 record and 4.30 ERA over 102.2 innings between Double-A Montgomery and Triple-A Durham last season, but also rang up 113 whiffs courtesy of his big league arm. Stanek lit up the radar gun Friday, hitting 99 mph twice and 98 mph on nine other pitches. He was at 97 mph or above for 16 offerings overall, and threw in four sliders between 90 and 93 mph for good measure. With that level of stuff, Stanek stands a chance to at least make a case for a call-up later in the season with a solid spring.
