Pinto went 2-for-4 with two home runs and four RBI in Sunday's win over San Francisco.
Pinto drilled a three-run shot in the fourth inning and later tacked on a solo blast. They were his first two home runs of 2024, as well as his first multi-hit performance. The 27-year-old catcher boosted his OPS to .863 with four extra-base hits through 28 plate appearances.
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Rays' Rene Pinto: Draws back into lineup
Rotowire
Pinto will start at catcher and bat ninth in Sunday's game against the Giants, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
Pinto is back in the starting nine for the series finale, but he had been excluded from the lineup in each of the previous three contests while Ben Rortvedt handled catching duties for the Rays. At this stage, Pinto appears to have moved into a timeshare at catcher, if he's not already being viewed as the No. 2 option behind Rortvedt.
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Rays' Rene Pinto: In timeshare at catcher
Rotowire
Pinto is absent from the lineup Friday against the Giants.
It's been an even timeshare at catcher this season for the Rays, as Pinto and Ben Rortvedt -- who is in Friday's lineup -- have both received seven starts. Pinto has put up a .579 OPS with a 1:11 BB:K in 23 plate appearances and is still looking for his first RBI this season.
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Rays' Rene Pinto: Resting Wednesday
Rotowire
Pinto is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Angels, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
Pinto will take a seat for the series finale after he was behind the dish for the first two games in Anaheim, going 2-for-7 with three strikeouts. Ben Rortvedt will start at catcher Wednesday.
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Rays' Rene Pinto: On bench again Sunday
Rotowire
Pinto is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Rockies.
Pinto will take a seat for the third time in four games as Ben Rortvedt gets another turn behind the plate. Though Pinto is still seemingly viewed as the Rays' top backstop, he appears set to play less frequently than most No. 1 catchers around the league.
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Rays' Rene Pinto: Sitting out Saturday
Rotowire
Pinto isn't in the Rays' lineup for Saturday's game against the Rockies, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
Pinto has struck out in each of his last five at-bats since Tuesday, so he'll get a day to regroup Saturday. Ben Rortvedt will fill in behind the dish and bat eighth.
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Rays' Rene Pinto: Taking seat Wednesday
Rotowire
Pinto is not in the lineup for Wednesday's contest against the Rangers, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
The Rays and Rangers are playing a day game after a night game, so Pinto will get a breather while Ben Rortvedt handles the catching duties. Pinto is 3-for-13 with a couple of doubles in the early going this season.
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Rays' Rene Pinto: Takes seat Friday
Rotowire
Pinto is out of the lineup for Friday's game versus the Blue Jays.
The 27-year-old started behind the plate Opening Day and went 1-for-3 with a double, a run and a strikeout. Pinto is expected to serve as Tampa Bay's primary backstop this season, but the newly acquired Ben Rortvedt will receive the nod Friday.
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Rays' Rene Pinto: Set up for big workload
Rotowire
Rays manager Kevin Cash said Tuesday that the team is "going to lean heavy" on Pinto at catcher this season, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
The Rays traded Christian Bethancourt this offseason and didn't really replace him, leaving Alex Jackson and Rob Brantly to battle for the backup job. Pinto popped six home runs in 38 games last season and rated very well from an average exit velocity (90.5 mph) and barrel rate (15.9 percent) perspective, but a 34:2 K:BB was worrisome. It sounds like he's going to receive all the playing time he can handle, and he has enough power to be relevant in two-catcher leagues.
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Rays' Rene Pinto: Headed for big opportunity
Rotowire
Pinto is currently the only catcher on the Rays' 40-man roster and is expected to get a lot of opportunities in the starting lineup, Adam Berry of MLB.com reports.
Pinto emerged as a viable backup across the second half of the 2023 season, but he should see a more significant role with both Christian Bethancourt and Francisco Mejia in new organizations. Across 105 plate appearances last year, Pinto posted a .204 ISO and 98 wRC+, though those marks also came with a 32.4 percent strikeout rate and only a 1.9 percent walk rate. His batting average could be a significant concern as a result.
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Rays' Rene Pinto: Takes seat Wednesday
Rotowire
Pinto is not in the lineup Wednesday versus the Red Sox.
Pinto contributed a two-run homer to the Rays' 9-7 win at Boston on Tuesday, but he'll grab a breather during Wednesday's series finale as Christian Bethancourt starts behind the plate.
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Rays' Rene Pinto: Cranks sixth homer
Rotowire
Pinto went 1-for-3 with a two-run homer in Tuesday's 9-7 win over the Red Sox.
Pinto extended Tampa's lead to 7-0 in the third inning with a two-run, 424-foot blast off Tanner Houck. The 26-year-old Pinto has taken over as the Rays' primary option behind the plate -- he's gone 10-for-50 (.200) in his last 16 games, though five of his hits have been home runs. Overall, Pinto's batting .245 with a .717 OPS, six homers, 16 RBI and eight runs scored through 96 plate appearances this season.
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Rays' Rene Pinto: Gets breather Saturday
Rotowire
Pinto isn't in the Rays' lineup Saturday against the Blue Jays, Steve Carney of StPeteNine.com reports.
After going 0-for-7 with three strikeouts across his last two games, Pinto will take a seat Saturday as Christian Bethancourt starts behind the plate and bats eighth.
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Rays' Rene Pinto: Receives Wednesday off
Rotowire
Pinto is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Angels.
Pinto has operated as Tampa Bay's primary backstop over the past couple weeks and has an .846 OPS over 39 at-bats in September, but he'll head to the bench for Wednesday's contest. Christian Bethancourt will take over behind the plate and bat ninth.
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Rays' Rene Pinto: Out of lineup Sunday
Rotowire
Pinto is absent from the lineup Sunday at Baltimore.
Pinto started behind the plate Friday and Saturday and went a combined 1-for-7 with a strikeout and a run scored. Christian Bethancourt will handle the catching for the Rays in Sunday's series finale.
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Rays' Rene Pinto: Takes seat Thursday
Rotowire
Pinto is not in the lineup Thursday against the Orioles.
Pinto has posted an impressive .818 OPS with five home runs in 26 games (71 plate appearances) since being called up from Triple-A Durham in late July, but it'll be Christian Bethancourt handling the catching duties for the Rays on Thursday in Baltimore.
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Rays' Rene Pinto: Clubs another homer
Rotowire
Pinto went 2-for-3 with a solo home run in Tuesday's loss to the Twins.
Pinto snapped out of a brief 0-for-9 slump with his multi-hit effort. PInto's enjoyed a hot start to September, batting .286 with four home runs and eight total RBI across nine games.
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Rays' Rene Pinto: Crushes fourth homer
Rotowire
Pinto went 1-for-4 with a two-run homer in Friday's 7-4 win over Seattle.
Pinto's 108.7-mph home run in the seventh inning tied things up and chased George Kirby from the game. The backstop has seen increased playing time since Francisco Mejia was outrighted to Triple-A Durham on Aug. 28. Pinto has started six games and hit three home runs since then. He should continue to split time behind the plate with Christian Bethancourt.
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Rays' Rene Pinto: Showing surprising pop
Rotowire
Pinto went 1-for-3 with a two-run home run Tuesday against the Red Sox.
Pinto has split the catcher role evenly across the last two weeks with Christian Bethancourt, and he's made the case to maintain that playing time by hitting .357 with three homers and nine RBI across 12 games. After his home run Tuesday, he's also gone deep into back-to-back games and has four extra-base knocks in his last six contests. Pinto has the profile of a backup catcher after progressing slowly through the Rays' minor-league system, though he did post 125 and 116 wRC+ marks with Triple-A Durham in 2021 and 2022, respectively.
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Rays' Rene Pinto: Moves into timeshare at catcher
Rotowire
Pinto will start at catcher and bat ninth in Sunday's game against the Guardians, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
Pinto seems to have moved into a timeshare at catcher with Christian Bethancourt, as the two backstops have now alternated turns behind the plate over the past 12 games. Since his call-up from Triple-A Durham on July 21, Pinto is hitting .295 but hasn't offered much production in other categories (one home run, no stolen bases, five RBI and two runs over 46 plate appearances).
