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Longoria gets his shot at the bigs
ST. PETERSBURG -- Following Friday's game, the Rays placed Willy Aybar on the 15-day disabled list and called up top prospect Evan Longoria from Triple-A Durham to fill the roster spot.
"Obviously we've been decimated by injuries a bit, and it's not necessarily the ideal way we wanted to call him up," Rays executive vice president Andrew Friedman said. "But we're confident in his ability to adjust at the plate, and what he brings to us defensively is something that we felt was very important with where we are going."
Longoria was the front-runner to be the Rays' starting third baseman on Opening Day but was sent down to Durham following a spring in which he hit .262 with three home runs and 10 RBIs.
At the time the 22-year-old was clearly disappointed, but he remained poised.
"It's never really easy to accept it," he said. "I came in and felt like I did what I needed to do ... but it's not really my spot to go back on it."
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I would be, perhaps, a bit hasty if I stated that he would be this year's version of Ryan Braun - however, I cannot see Longoria heading back down to the minors these season; at least, not due to a lack of production on his behalf.
Longoria Called Up
Longoria Called Up
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