There was a wonderful Twitterrific flury of activity Friday night, when a) B.J. Upton was pulled from the Rays' game against the Royals for no apparent reason, and b) prospect Desmond Jennings was scratched from the Triple-A Durham Bulls' lineup.
Rays Call Up Prospect Desmond Jennings, Demote Shortstop Reid Brignac
Has to be a trade, right? With Jennings taking over for Upton in center field?
Alas, the truth (so far) is somewhat less dramatic. Tampa Bay shortstop Reid Brignac, in the middle of an absolutely terrible season, has been demoted to Durham; that's whose roster spot Jennings is getting.
Upton might still be traded, of course. But for the moment it looks like Jennings will simply join the outfield mix, along with Upton, Matt Joyce, and Sam Fuld (who's been pretty good since his legendary April and nightmarish May).
Jennings, one of the Rays’ top prospects for some years now, was hitting .275/.374/.456 with Durham. Speed and defense are big parts of Jennings’ game, and he’s swiped 17 bases in 18 attempts for the Bulls after going 37 for 41 last year.
Elliot Johnson probably takes over at shortstop; Johnson's batting .197 but has showed some power, which is a lot more than Brignac can say this season.
There’s probably more to this story, as we still haven’t heard why Upton was pulled from the game Friday night. Stay tuned...
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