McGee, Beckham sent back to minor league camp

Posted Mar 11, 2010 by Roger Mooney

Updated Mar 11, 2010 at 05:25 PM

By ROGER MOONEY

PORT CHARLOTTE Spring training will begin in earnest tomorrow for Rays prospects Tim Beckham and Jake McGee.

The two, along with catcher Nevin Ashley, were cut from big league camp after today’s 4-1 victory against the visiting Blue Jays.

Officially, Beckham and Ashley were reassigned to minor league camp. McGee, since he’s a member of the 40-man roster, was optioned.

“It’s all good,” Beckham, the shortstop taken first overall in the 2008 draft, said. “You got to look at it on the good side. I’ll get more at-bats, see more pitches in minor league camp. I’ll go about it the same way there.”

Beckham walked in two plate appearances against the Jays. He appeared in seven games and had two hits in seven at-bats.

The Rays haven’t said where Beckham will start this season, but he’s likely going to remain in Port Charlotte and play shortstop for the Charlotte Stone Crabs.

“I go down to minor league camp, keep getting better,” he said. “Hopefully I’ll be here, more than likely, pretty soon.”

McGee, who missed most of the past two seasons after having Tommy john surgery on his left elbow in July 2008, said he’s ready to get in the routine of getting ready for the season.

“It will be really nice to start the season healthy instead of rehabbing,” he said. “It will be good to be fully healthy to start the year knowing that I’ll have a fully healthy year and work on everything I need to.”

McGee finished his time in big league camp in style, working the final two innings of today’s win. He allowed two hits and struck out six in 4 1/3 innings over three appearances.

“I’ve been feeling good all spring,” McGee said. “All the work I’ve been putting in the last two years is paying off, finally. I’m throwing down in the zone. My curveball is getting a lot better, too. It’s been really good this spring.”

Like Beckham, McGee isn’t sure where he’ll start this year, but he knows wherever he lands – Double A or Triple A – he will begin the season as a starter.

“They said I’m going to start for a while, for me to keep the mindset I’m a starter,” he said. “I’m sure if they need me, they might put me in the bullpen. They’re just telling me to work as a starter and get all my pitches working.”