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.
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Yankees' Ben Rortvedt: Sitting in fourth straight
Rotowire
Rortvedt is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Astros.
Rortvedt will be on the bench for the fourth game in a row and is unlikely to be anything more than the Yankees' No. 3 catcher over the final month of the season after New York called up prospect Austin Wells from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Friday. Wells will make his third straight start Sunday and is expected to get a long look as the team's top backstop down the stretch. Since receiving a call-up of his own from Triple-A on July 21, Rortvedt has slashed an abysmal .087/.192/.217 over 22 games.
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Yankees' Ben Rortvedt: Sitting again Monday
Rotowire
Rortvedt is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Tigers.
Rortvedt will take a seat for the second straight day while the Yankees reward Kyle Higashioka with another turn behind the dish after he slugged a home run in Sunday's 7-4 loss to the Rays. Expect the Yankees to deploy Rortvedt and Higashioka in a roughly even timeshare as the season winds down.
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Yankees' Ben Rortvedt: Gets Sunday off
Rotowire
Rortvedt is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Rays.
Rortvedt will get a maintenance day after catching in the first two games of the series while going 0-for-5 with a walk against three strikeouts. Kyle Higashioka will step in behind the dish for the series finale.
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Yankees' Ben Rortvedt: Homers Tuesday
Rotowire
Rortvedt went 2-for-2 with a solo home run in Tuesday's loss against the Nationals.
Rortvedt was responsible for the Yankees' lone run in the 2-1 loss with a solo homer off Josiah Gray in the third inning, his second long ball of the season. The 25-year-old Rortvedt has seen the majority of the playing time behind the plate in New York recently, despite going just 1-for-22 in 11 contests prior to Tuesday's matchup. Overall, he's slashing just .136/.255/.295 with four runs scored and three RBI across 51 plate appearances this season.
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Yankees' Ben Rortvedt: On bench Wednesday
Rotowire
Rortvedt is not in the lineup Wednesday against the Nationals.
Kyle Higashioka will start behind the plate and bat eighth versus the Nationals and left-hander MacKenzie Gore. Rortvedt has been drawing the majority of the playing time at catcher in recent weeks, but he carries a weak .136/.255/.295 overall slash line for the year.
Rortvedt is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Red Sox.
Rortvedt will take a seat for the series finale after starting in three of the past four games behind the dish. The 25-year-old might have the edge on playing time over Kyle Higashioka behind the plate at the moment, but any advantage Rortvedt might have is likely thin. Rortvedt is batting .059 in 15 games since being recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on July 21.
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Yankees' Ben Rortvedt: Clubs first homer for Yanks
Rotowire
Rortvedt went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Sunday's 8-7 loss against the Marlins.
The sixth-inning blast was his first with the Yankees. This was Rortvedt's first start in four games, though he had started five of the previous seven contests. Rortvedt has an opportunity to continue to push Kyle Higashioka for playing time, especially if Rortvedt shows he can provide some offensive punch.
