Rays set to take on Braves, old friend Charlie Morton

The Rays play their final home game of the spring today, hosting the Braves and former teammate Charlie Morton.

Ryan Yarbrough, named the No. 2 starter in the Rays rotation, will be on the mound.

Manager Kevin Cash raved about Yarbrough Sunday morning.

“He’s been outstanding,” Cash said. “I don’t think you could ask for anything more for a young pitcher, the way he came up, the way he handled some unique management decisions with the opener, the performance. I think everybody recognizes that what he’s done has been good statistically, result-wise, and then also some of the underlying stuff to look at a guy that doesn’t necessarily overpower people but has a knack for creating as much soft contact as anybody in baseball over the last couple years.

“He’s just another guy that I don’t know where we would have been without him. There are certain parts of, I think, multiple seasons that he has filled the role of some guys getting hurt and then it’s almost like that’s when he gets hot. And he can carry a workload for seven, eight starts of a really special pitcher for us.’'

Cash said the Rays have many good memories of Morton, who was a key member of their staff in 2019-2020.

“We always get excited when we get to see him,” Cash said. “I talked to him at the rainout game. He was scheduled to pitch that day. Charlie’s awesome and wish him well and good performance, good health. And it’ll be fun to see him on the mound.”

Also Sunday, the Rays added Brian Reith to the big-league staff as “major league fellow, pitching development,” with the idea he will provide support to pitching coach Kyle Snyder and bullpen coach Stan Boroski. Reith, who pitched in the majors, was slated to be the pitching coach for Double-A Montgomery.

Here is the Rays lineup:

And for the Braves:

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