PORT CHARLOTTE (620 WDAE) -- For the first time this spring, the weather prevented Rays players from getting on the practice fields at Charlotte Sports Park for a full-squad workout. However, manager Kevin Cash didn't have a problem with
"Actually, if it was going to rain, it was the perfect day to rain," Cash remarked. "[It was] a good day to kind of back off a little bit."
Cash said the pitchers who were scheduled to throw live batting practice Wednesday instead just threw bullpen sessions, with position players getting the option of whether they wanted to hit extra afterward
LONGORIA BACK WITH TEAM: After missing a couple of days being under the weather, third baseman Evan Longoria was back with the team Wednesday. Longoria took batting practice after the bullpen sessions, and the missed time does not affect his spring progress.
Hear from the Rays skipper!
CLARK MEETS WITH PLAYERS, SAYS CONVERSATIONS CONTINUE: Making his yearly trip to Rays spring training, Major League Baseball Players Association president Tony Clark met with Tampa Bay's players Wednesday for almost two hours to go over the latest dialogue between the union and league along with some of the changes that are going into effect for the 2017 season.
Clark said the conversations between the league and the union continue about ways to help speed up the pace of play without altering the spirit of the game.
"Conversations are ongoing," Clark said Wednesday. "The health and the well-being of our game is not a finite conversation sanctioned off during the offseason, It is always a conversation that everyone who loves and has a vested interest in our game is going to be willing to have dialogue on."
Clark said that the union has agreed to changes like no making a pitcher throw four times outside the strike zone for an intentional walk as well as adjustments to instant replay that limit reviews to two minutes in length.
The union president also addressed the comments made by Cardinals outfielder Dexter Fowler, as well as the pointed remarks directed at him by MLB commissioner Rob Manfred.
Click below to listen to the entire conversation with Tony Clark!