The Rays announced that right-hander has been designated for a signment. Replacing Whitley on the active roster is left-hander , who has been called up from Triple-A Durham to make his first appearance on a big league roster. It was just over two weeks ago that Tampa Bay acquired Whitley in a trade with Houston, after the Astros also DFAd the right-hander. The move marked the end of Whitleys nearly nine-year run in the Astros organization, as the 17th overall pick of the 2016 draft dealt with a bunch of injuries and a 50-game PED suspension (in 2018) over the course of what had been a star-cro sed career. Whitley didnt make his MLB debut until 2024 when he made three appearances for Houston, and the Astros opted to finally move on after the righty posted a 12.27 ERA over 7 1/3 innings this season. Things havent gone much better Steven Oleksy Jersey for Whitley since the trade, as he has a 15.43 ERA in 4 2/3 innings over five appearances with the Rays. All of the damage came in the final two of those appearances Whitley didnt retire any of six batters faced and was charged with all six runs in a disastrous outing on June 22, and he was tagged for four runs (two earned) in an inning of work in yesterdays 22-8 Rays lo s to the Orioles. As you might expect from such a football-esque score, the Rays ran through a lot of their bullpen last night, so Rock represents a fresh arm for the relief corps. Whitley is out of minor league options, so the Rays had to first go the DFA route before Whitley can be moved to Triple-A and off the 40-man roster. Tampa Bay could work out another trade to send Whitley elsewhere during the DFA period, or an interested team could simply claim him away on waivers. Whitleys prospect pedigree is such that another club might well pick him, though his out-of-options status complicates matters. It could be that Whitley might be in for a string of claims/trades and designations, unle s he shows enough immediate results to get himself a longer look in a teams bullpen. In the small sample of his time with the Rays, he threw his cutter far more often (51% of the time) than he did during his previous MLB stints with the Astros, though that attempted fix didnt last long. Rock will be making his Major League debut whenever he officially appears in a game. The southpaw has a notable draft position in his own right, as the Rockies selected 68th overall of the 2021 draft. Tampa acquired Rock in a trade in March 2024, and added him to its 40-man roster last November in advance of the Rule 5 Draft. After posting a 4.58 ERA in 137 2/3 Triple-A innings last year, Rock has pretty similar numbers in Durham this season, delivering a 4.81 ERA along with a 19.8% strikeout rate and 9.4% walk rate that are each steps backwards from his metrics in 2024. Rock has worked primarily as a starter during his minor league career, but could be viewed as an innings-eating long reliever in the Show. MLB Pipeline (which rates Rock as the 21st-best prospect in Tampa Bays farm system) suggests that relief work might be in Rocks future, as his 55-grade slider and fastball could be an effective one-two punch coming out of the pen. Cody Glass Jersey