Basabe was removed from Friday's loss to the Blue Jays with left shoulder soreness, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
Basabe fell hard on his shoulder while diving for a ball at third base, and it's unclear what his availability might be for the Rays' final two regular-season games. The 23-year-old was 0-for-3 with two strikeouts prior to his early exit.
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Rays' Osleivis Basabe: Short-term opportunity
Rotowire
Basabe is starting at shortstop and hitting eighth Saturday against the Orioles, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
Taylor Walls (personal) will be away from the team for the next couple of games, leaving Basabe as the most likely candidate to stand in at shortstop. Across his first 74 plate appearances in the majors, Basabe has maintained a .221/.284/.324 line with one home run, 10 RBI and 11 runs scored.
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Rays' Osleivis Basabe: Losing work to Taylor Walls
Rotowire
Basabe is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Guardians, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
Basabe is on the bench for a second straight game and appears to have lost hold of the everyday role at shortstop after Taylor Walls was reinstated from the 10-day injured list Friday. Though Basabe manned shortstop in Friday's 3-2 loss, Walls will pick up a second consecutive start Sunday in place of the rookie. Since he was called up from Triple-A Durham on Aug. 12 to replace Wander Franco (personal) as the Rays' primary option at shortstop, Basabe has slashed .250/.316/.365 with one home run and nine RBI across his first 57 big-league plate appearances.
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Rays' Osleivis Basabe: Gets Wednesday off
Rotowire
Basabe is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Rockies, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
Basabe will head to the bench for the first time since being called up from Triple-A Durham and taking over as the Rays' everyday shortstop after Wander Franco was placed on the restricted list. The 22-year-old is off to a hot start to his big-league career, going 10-for-33 (.303 average) with a home run, three doubles, eight RBI and eight runs through his first eight games. Though Isaac Paredes will pick up a start at shortstop, Basabe should have a clear path to a regular spot in the lineup while Franco remains away from the team for the foreseeable future.
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Rays' Osleivis Basabe: Cranks first big-league homer
Rotowire
Basabe went 2-for-5 with a grand slam and an additional run scored in Tuesday's 12-4 blowout victory over Colorado.
Basabe capped off an eight-run, eighth-inning rally with his first major-league home run, a grand slam to left. The 22-year-old shortstop has hit safely in six of his first eight career games, with three doubles, one homer, eight RBI and eight runs scored across 33 at-bats since getting promoted from Triple-A on Aug. 12.
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Rays' Osleivis Basabe: Will 'get opportunity to play'
Rotowire
Basabe will be Tampa Bay's primary shortstop during their six-game road trip that ends Sunday, Tricia Whitaker of Bally Sports Sun reports.
Fellow shortstop Wander Franco was placed on the restricted list Monday, and Basabe will "get an opportunity to play" in the days ahead, per general manager Erik Neander. Basabe is one of Tampa Bay's top prospects, and before going 1-for-3 with a double and a run in his big-league debut Sunday, he hit .294 and posted a .769 OPS over 94 games with Triple-A Durham.
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Rangers' Osleivis Basabe: Hitting at every stop
Rotowire
Basabe batted a combined .323/.352/.398 over 37 games between the AZL Rangers and short-season Spokane in 2019.
Basabe, who batted .344/.414/.474 and finished third as a 17-year-old in the Dominican Summer League in 2018, continued to hit in the lower levels of the minors since signing out of Venezuela in 2017. The only downside of the move to the States was a drop in walk rate, but the 19-year-old didn't strike out much while hitting more line drives and flyballs. Defensively, the organization introduced the young shortstop to second and third base, potentially giving him more paths to the majors.
