Rays looking to get Jonathan Aranda more playing time

NEW YORK — The Rays are going to try to get rookie infielder Jonathan Aranda more at-bats.

Manager Kevin Cash stopped short of saying the sweet-swinging lefty will be a regular in the lineup, but given what he’s shown so far, they are planning to get him more opportunities.

“Every one of his at-bats that I can recall have been very competitive and he’s had good results. So we want to see what he can do and try to find a way where we can get him a little bit more consistency,” Cash said.

“Is it every day? No. We’re not built that way that we can do that. But if we can find ways to get him in there, (we will) see if that bat continues to play.”

That included a Sunday start, just Aranda’s second since being called up Sept. 1 and his sixth over three stints in the majors. Aranda, who can play first, second and third, was 1-for-3 and, despite the inconsistent playing time, is hitting .391 (9-for-23) over 11 games.

“He has certainly looked like he’s comfortable,” Cash said before Sunday’s game. “Doesn’t look like a guy that’s got (20) at-bats in the big leagues.”

The effort to get more at-bats for Aranda comes when two other lefty infielders are struggling mightily: Ji-Man Choi was 1-for-his last-18 and 4-for-52 with 25 strikeouts before getting two hits coming off the bench Sunday and has a .233 average; Brandon Lowe, after an 0-for-5 Sunday, is 0-for-his-last-16 and 11-for-70 (.157) since Aug. 1 and hitting .221.

Toronto travel issues

Reliever Brooks Raley will not play in Toronto since he has not been vaccinated against COVID-19, a requirement for foreigners to enter Canada. Raley also missed the June 30-July 3 series. He again will forfeit $93,406 of his $4.25 million salary and be placed on the restricted list. He said then that being vaccinated was “a personal decision every player has to make.” The Rays will replace him with Cooper Criswell, a 26-year-old righty who made one big-league appearance last year with the Angels, was claimed off waivers in July and has been solid for Triple-A Durham, going 1-0, 3.95 in eight games. Having sent down Luis Patino and Calvin Faucher, the Rays are also calling up relievers Javy Guerra and Kevin Herget. And they are adding lefty Josh Fleming and righty Jimmy Yacabonis to the taxi squad.

9/11 remembrances

A moment of silence before the anthem, NYPD and FDNY caps, and “We Shall Not Forget” patches on game caps were part of the remembrances for the 21st anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Rays field coordinator/catching coach Paul Hoover had a more distinct memory, having been a member of the then Devil Rays who played in the first game at the old Yankee Stadium after the attacks, on Sept. 25, 2001.

“It was incredible,” Hoover said Sunday. “It’s bone chilling, thinking about it now. It was cold. It was the Yankees versus the Rays — we were irrelevant at the time — but it was just where everybody was united as the United States. We were all united — a police officer to our right, fireman to our left or vice versa. But it was an incredible evening, an incredible experience.”

Miscellany

Wander Franco was taken out in the fourth inning; Cash said there was no injury issue, just a chance to get him off his feet in the midst of playing 18 games over 17 consecutive days. … Catcher Christian Bethancourt had a slight scare when he was hit on the left ear by Aaron Judge’s backswing, but stayed in and said he was fine. … Sunday’s game started at 3:22, a delay of nearly two hours due to rain. … The Rays finished the season series 8-11 against the Yankees. ... Cash’s issue on the second-inning play where Bethancourt was on first, and got forced at second on a Taylor Walls liner to rightfield that was trapped by Oswaldo Cabrera, was the “very late no catch call” by first base ump Nick Mahrley. But the play is not reviewable so his argument was to no avail.

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