PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. — In his last big league appearance, Cody Reed had little control and no answers.
Eight of his final nine pitches were out of the strike zone against the Orioles on May 19, 2021, and the numbness in his left hand that had plagued him for more than a year was getting worse.
“I was talking to (Dr. Koco Eaton) when I got my physical the other day, and his initial thought (last year) was I had ALS. He was like, ‘I thought that could have been (it),’” Reed said Wednesday. “I mean, it was just kind of a freak thing. I couldn’t hold on to the ball.
“How traumatizing is that? As a guy that has a ball in his hand every time he’s out there, to barely being able to hold on to it.”
It turned out, Reed had thoracic outlet syndrome and had surgery in early June to remove a piece of his top rib to lessen the pressure on a nerve.
Reed, 28, remarkably made it back by the end of the season and pitched briefly for Triple-A Durham. When the Rays needed roster space in the offseason, he was put on waivers and became a free agent. The Rays, who originally acquired the reliever in a trade with Cincinnati in 2018, signed him to a new deal Wednesday.
“I think the surgery worked wonders and now I’m just trying to get back and prove myself again,” Reed said.
Zunino grateful for the feedback
Having made adjustments to his mechanics last offseason that helped lead to a career-high 33 homers, catcher Mike Zunino said he was able to simply review and tweak instead of overhaul his swing this past winter.
The one problem was he could not use hitting coach Chad Mottola as a sounding board because players were not allowed to contact the coaching staff during the lockout. That made this week’s reunion in spring training a little more special.
“It did get difficult because usually you lean on Motor, you lean on hitting coaches to send some film,” Zunino said. “He’s only in Orlando, so he’s not that far away. The year before we met up a couple of times. But it was nice to get here, just to sort of see him and show him what I was working on, and then just really hit the ground running with it.”
Miscellany
It appears MLB spring games will be regulation length and innings cannot be shortened due to a high pitch count. Managers will, however, have the option of removing a pitcher if he has thrown too many pitches in one inning, then bring him back the next inning … Kevin Kiermaier took part in some outfield drills Wednesday but will probably be held out of the first few spring games with minor back and neck stiffness ... With his wife, daughter and brother Raiko in Tampa Bay, leftfielder Randy Arozarena said he is hopeful of getting his mother and other brother to join him soon. They have left Cuba and are now in Mexico.
