Given how spring started, Josh Fleming surprised to still be with Rays

ST. PETERSBURG — The way Josh Fleming’s spring started — yielding hits to the first six batters in the second inning of the exhibition opener and allowing all to score — he certainly didn’t expect to be the last man standing in the battle to replace injured Tyler Glasnow in the Rays’ rotation.

“After that first outing, I really didn’t know what to think,” Fleming said. “Honestly, if we’re really talking about what was going through my head, I was like, ‘Well, I might be one of the first ones cut.’ Seriously. It was like that based off the year I had last year and everything.”

Fleming made the opening-day roster in 2022 but went 2-5 with a 6.43 ERA in 10 games around being sent to the minors and brought back up four times as he battled inconsistency and injury.

The left-hander had the mindset to not let last season get him down. Talks with Justin Su’a, the Rays’ head of mental performance, played a huge role. Fleming — though 26 and headed into his fourth big-league season — finally grasped that pitchers can only control where they throw the ball, not what happens to it afterward, which allowed him to better move on from rough outings.

“He really helped me, kind of opened up my mind a little bit,” Fleming said.

When Fleming followed that rough outing at the start of spring with five good ones, allowing six hits over his next 13-2/3 innings, he earned another chance, which begins with a start April 4 in Washington.

Fleming also is eager to show off what he can do better, such as retire right-handed hitters, another problem in 2022. He is throwing his sweeping slider and changeups more often for strikes and throwing his sinker inside to right-handers more frequently.

“I talked with (the staff) towards the end of last year, (and) I think statistically I was the worst pitcher in baseball against right-handers (.386 average, 1.091 OPS allowed),”Fleming said. “So, obviously that was a focus going in this offseason as well.”

Though the real tests are ahead and the Rays will have Yonny Chirinos and Luis Patino at the ready, Fleming is pleased to be in this spot.

“It’s very rewarding and exciting and just really cool to think about that I won the job,” he said. “Especially with the year I had last year, it was really tough to come in and really think I even had a chance.”

Big-league Brady

Thursday’s opening day will be special for new third-base coach Brady Williams, who after 24 seasons in the game is spending his first in the majors.

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A 1999 draft pick by the Red Sox out of Pasco-Hernando Community College (now Pasco-Hernando State College), Williams, 43, played five seasons in the minors and three in independent leagues before joining the Rays as a minor-league coach in March 2006. He worked his way up, including 12 seasons as a manager, with time at each level.

To mark the occasion, Williams, 43, rented a suite for his family — including his dad, Jimy, who spent 12 years as a big-league manager with Toronto, Atlanta and Houston; and brother Shawn, a manager in the Phillies’ minor-league system — and friends from their north Pinellas roots.

“It’s a special moment,” Williams said. “I’m not quite sure how I’m gonna react to it, but to have family and friends there to support you, it’s even more special.”

Miscellany

Though the Rays have announced only Shane McClanahan as the starter for Thursday’s opener and Zach Eflin for Saturday, the rest of the rotation should line up like this: Jeffrey Springs Sunday, Drew Rasmussen Monday, then Fleming. … Reliever Jose Lopez, taken by San Diego in the December Rule 5 draft, cleared waivers and was returned to the Rays, who will send him to Triple-A Durham. … The Rays took Tuesday off and will have an optional workout Wednesday (as will the Tigers) in advance of the sold-out opener. ... They have until noon Thursday to decide on the status of shortstop Wander Franco, who is receiving treatment for right quad soreness.

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