KISSIMMEE, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Rays held their first full-squad workout of spring training on Monday morning.
Seventy-nine players in the Rays organization reported to Disney’s ESPN Wild World of Sports. To begin the day, manager Kevin Cash brought the whole group together to go over introductions and expectations.
“The message was, we start working toward something today,” Cash said. “Basically, let’s continue being good teammates, supporting each other, and let’s go out and have a good spring.”
Most of the position players reported to camp last Wednesday with the pitchers and catchers.
“We had a pretty good turnout leading up to it,” Cash said. “Yandy [Diaz] came in today; he’s excited as he should be with a little more money in his pocket. Very deserving. It was good energy. I think the guys enjoyed seeing one another.”
Diaz signed a three-year contract worth $24 million this offseason. He’s expected to shift from playing third base to first base this season.
“Early on, it was always a little bit of work, time, and effort,” Diaz said through an interpreter. “I think splitting between third and first the last few years, I’ve gotten a lot more comfortable there recently.”
Outfielder Randy Arozarena is coming off a 20 home run and 32 stolen base season, but his goal this year is to make better decisions on the field.
“I want to be more present during game time, be smarter in a game situation,” Arozarena said through an interpreter. “Obviously, I want to get my numbers better than last year. I’ve done that two years in a row. Just the start of game time, I want to be more present.”
The Rays' first spring training game is Saturday against the Minnesota Twins in Fort Myers.
