Rays prospect Wander Franco has a sore shoulder and left his winter league team in the Dominican Republic to return to Tampa Bay for precautionary tests, the team confirmed Wednesday night.
The injury was not considered serious when Franco was scratched from the lineup over the weekend but did not get better after a few days of rest.
"He came up with a sore shoulder. He thought initially it was because of sleeping on it," Escogido manager Dave Jauss said in a postgame press conference earlier this week. "It might have been the last play he made two nights ago in the ninth inning. It's precautionary.
"It's a day-to-day type of situation. It's nothing serious. We've been in contact with the Tampa (Bay) Rays."
Franco, considered the No. 1 prospect in baseball, was among the Rays pool of players in Port Charlotte during the shortened 2020 season. Still just 19, he hit .336 with 20 home runs in his first two seasons in the minors in 2018-19 but has not yet played above Class A.
In other news, outfielders Hunter Renfroe and Brian O'Grady cleared waivers on Wednesday and are now free agents. Both players had been designated for assignment to clear space on Tampa Bay's 40-man roster. There had been speculation the Rays might try to trade Renfroe, but the fact he cleared waivers made it apparent no team was willing to risk going to salary arbitration with him.
