Rortvedt isn't in the Rays' lineup for Saturday's game against Toronto, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
Rortvedt will take a seat after going 0-for-4 with a run scored and two strikeouts during Friday's series opener. Alex Jackson will take over behind the plate while batting eighth.
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Rays' Ben Rortvedt: Hitting bench Monday
Rotowire
Rortvedt is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Red Sox, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
Alex Jackson will handle the catching duties for the Rays on Monday, but Rortvedt still appears to be the team's No. 1 backstop, despite having now started in just one of the team's last five games. The lefty-hitting Rortvedt should see the bulk of the starts against right-handed pitching, while the right-handed-hitting Jackson likely represents the top choice to catch when the Rays oppose lefties.
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Rays' Ben Rortvedt: Sitting again
Rotowire
Rortvedt is out of the lineup Friday against the Yankees.
Rortvedt will be out of the lineup for the second straight game, leaving catching duties to Alex Jackson.
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Rays' Ben Rortvedt: Taking seat Wednesday
Rotowire
Rortvedt is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the White Sox, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
The White Sox are bringing a right-hander (Chris Flexen) to the mound, but Flexen has been far more effective against lefties (.314 wOBA) than righties (.372 wOBA) for his career, which likely explains why the lefty-hitting Rortvedt is on the bench. Alex Jackson will fill in for Rortvedt behind the plate.
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Rays' Ben Rortvedt: Not in Sunday's lineup
Rotowire
Rortvedt is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Mets.
Rortvedt started four of the previous five games but will receive Sunday off after he went 3-for-12 with four strikeouts during that stretch. Alex Jackson will step in behind the plate to catch for Ryan Pepiot on Sunday.
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Rays' Ben Rortvedt: Takes seat against LHP
Rotowire
Rortvedt is out of the lineup for Friday's game against the Mets.
Rortvedt will get the day off against lefty Jose Quintana, with freshly called-up Alex Jackson filling in behind the dish. During the Rays last series, Rortvedt went 1-for-9 (.111) with three strikeouts over three games.
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Rays' Ben Rortvedt: On base five times
Rotowire
Rortvedt went 3-for-3 with two walks, a stolen base and two runs scored Saturday against the White Sox.
The former Yankee has had a relatively even share of the playing time at catcher alongside Rene Pinto, but Rortvedt has started three of the Rays' last four games. He had a big performance Saturday and narrowly missed his first home run of the season, which was originally ruled to have cleared the fence only to be overturned on replay. Rortvedt has benefitted from a .548 BABIP to inflate his batting average early on, though he has a 10.2 percent walk rate across 225 career big-league plate appearances, which gives him a boost in on-base leagues.
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Rays' Ben Rortvedt: Resting for day game
Rotowire
Rortvedt is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the White Sox, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
The lefty-hitting Rortvedt looks to have secured the large side of a platoon at catcher with the righty-hitting Rene Pinto, but Rortvedt will give way to Pinto against White Sox right-hander Erick Fedde as Tampa Bay wraps up its series in Chicago. Rortvedt's absence from the lineup is likely just for maintenance purposes in the day game, as he caught all 10 innings of Saturday's 8-7 loss while going 3-for-3 with two walks, one stolen base and two runs.
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Rays' Ben Rortvedt: Resting against lefty
Rotowire
Rortvedt is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Tigers.
The lefty-hitting Rortvedt will head to the bench Monday with southpaw Tarik Skubal toeing the rubber for the Tigers. The Rays will go with the righty-hitting Rene Pinto behind the dish.
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Rays' Ben Rortvedt: Sitting versus lefty
Rotowire
Rortvedt isn't in the Rays' lineup for Saturday's game against the Yankees, Ryan Bass of Bally Sports Sun reports.
Left-hander Nestor Cortes will start on the mound for New York, forcing the lefty-hitting Rortvedt to step out of the lineup. Rene Pinto will take his place behind the dish and bat ninth.
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Rays' Ben Rortvedt: Sits against righty
Rotowire
Rortvedt is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Angels, Steve Carney of StPeteNine.com reports.
Rortvedt has started in just one of the Rays' last five games. The first three of those absences came against left-handed starting pitchers, but the lefty-hitting Rortvedt will give way to the right-handed-hitting Rene Pinto on Thursday even while right-hander Griffin Canning takes the hill for the Angels.
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Rays' Ben Rortvedt: Takes seat against southpaw
Rotowire
Rortvedt is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Angels.
The lefty-hitting Rortvedt will give way to the righty-hitting Rene Pinto behind the plate while southpaw Reid Detmers takes the hill for the Angels. Rortvedt appears to have secured a strong-side platoon role at catcher after posting an .852 OPS through his first 31 plate appearances of the season.
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Rays' Ben Rortvedt: Heads to bench Sunday
Rotowire
Rortvedt is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Giants, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
Rortvedt will retreat to the bench after he started behind the plate in each of the Rays' last three games while going 2-for-9 with a walk. Though the 26-year-old may still be in a timeshare at catcher with Rene Pinto, the playing time has been tilting in Rortvedt's favor of late.
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Rays' Ben Rortvedt: Playing time trending up
Rotowire
Rortvedt will start at catcher and bat ninth in Sunday's game against the Rockies.
Billed as a glove-first catcher, Rortvedt has brought more to the table than expected as a hitter in the early going. He's driven in a pair of runs in both of the past two games in Colorado and has two extra-base hits -- both doubles -- in just 15 plate appearances this season. Rortvedt still looks to be behind Rene Pinto on the depth chart on catcher, though he'll be making his third start in four games and is making a case for the Rays to embrace a timeshare at the position.
Rortvedt is not in the Rays' lineup for Saturday's game against the Blue Jays.
Rortvedt drew the start Friday and went 2-for-3 with one walk. Rene Pinto will return behind the plate to start at catcher.
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Rays' Ben Rortvedt: Makes Rays debut
Rotowire
Rortvedt went 2-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored Friday against the Blue Jays.
The Rays acquired Rortvedt on Wednesday, and he quickly drew his first start behind the dish while batting eighth. Rene Pinto is expected to serve as the team's primary catcher, but it's not yet clear what the workload split between them will be.
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Rays' Ben Rortvedt: Lands in Tampa Bay
Rotowire
The Rays acquired Rortvedt from the Yankees on Wednesday in a three-team trade involving the Marlins, Christina De Nicola of MLB.com reports.
Rortvedt is out of options and wasn't going to make the Yankees' Opening Day roster. In Tampa Bay, he'll take over as the backup catcher behind Rene Pinto. Rortvedt isn't much of a hitter with just a .489 OPS over 71 games in the majors, but he will bring a good defensive reputation to the Rays.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Monday that Rortvedt could make the Opening Day roster, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports.
In order for Rortvedt to break camp with the big club, the Yankees would almost certainly need to decide to carry three catchers, as Jose Trevino and Austin Wells are locked in as the top two backstop options. Rortvedt got into 15 games this spring and slashed .231/.375/.269 with one extra-base hit (a double), but the primary reason why he may have a chance of sticking on the roster is that he is out of minor-league options. Even if he does make the cut for Opening Day, Rortvedt isn't likely to see much playing time.
