The Tampa Bay Rays made a series of moves yesterday, including the release of right-handed pitcher Jay Buente from the organization, writes Marc Topkin of Tampabay.com. The move was made in order to make room on the 40-man roster for called up designated hitter/first baseman Dan Johnson from Class Triple-A Durham.
Jay Buente was acquired in May off waivers from the Florida Marlins. He threw a grand total of two innings for the Rays, in which he allowed four of the ten batters he faced to reach base. Interestingly enough, Buente allowed nearly twice as many batters to reach base in the International League than the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.
Johnson, 32, started the year as the everyday first baseman, but lost the job in May to first baseman Casey Kotchman. Johnson hit an abysmal .115/.179/.167 in 84 plate appearances before being demoted. Triple-A Durham has been good to Johnson, where he hit .273/.382/.459 with 13 homers in 395 plate appearances this season.
The Rays also recalled left-handed pitcher Alex Torres, giving Tampa another bullpen arm.