By Terry Boehmker
NKy Tribune sports reporter
Luke Maile was looking forward to spending a few days off with his wife this week, but a phone call he received Tuesday night changed all that.
The manager of the Durham Bulls minor league baseball team called to tell Maile that he was being moved up to the major leagues. He’ll be a catcher on the Tampa Bay Rays roster when the season resumes Friday after a four-day break for the All-Star Game.
This is the second time that Tampa Bay has added the 25-year-old former Covington Catholic High School and University of Kentucky standout to its big league roster. Maile was called up near the end of last season and played in 15 games for the Rays.
“The first time it happened was pretty memorable. I don’t think I’ll ever forget that one,” Maile said. “But this (time) is kind of cool just from the aspect that last year I went up in September when they had expanded rosters. To a certain degree, I almost feel like this is my first time in the big leagues because it’s in the middle of the season and it’s just 25 men on each roster. So it definitely has a special aspect to it in that regard.”
Maile, who was selected by the Rays in the eighth round of the 2012 player draft, started this season as a catcher for the Durham Bulls, the club’s Triple-A minor league team in North Carolina.
He got off to a shaky start in April and May due to a hamstring injury, but he played so well in June and July that he earned a spot on the big league roster. According to the Durham Bulls website, he batted .319 over the last 30 days to lift his overall season average to .242 (47 of 194). His totals in 58 minor league games include 13 doubles, two home runs, 13 runs scored and 12 RBI.
“What happened was I just got a little bit of momentum going,” Maile said of his improved hitting. “A couple of bloopers fell in for me and then I started driving the baseball. I just felt like a more confident guy at the plate. I had a lot of momentum and just felt more comfortable.”
Tampa Bay went into the All-Star break with a 34-54 record. The team is in last place in the Eastern Division of the American League, 17½ games behind the division leading Baltimore Orioles. The Rays will resume their season with a three game home stand against Baltimore that begins on Friday.
Both of the catchers on the Rays’ roster were batting less than .200 at the break. The team moved backup catcher Hank Conger to Durham to open up a roster spot for Maile, who played in 15 major league games last season, going 6-for-35 at the plate with three doubles and two RBI.
“Basically, I was just going about my business every day (at Durham),” Maile said. “I was trying to improve my swing. I had a little bit of a hot streak the last month or so and I was just trying to keep it going. When I got the call (to join the Rays) I was genuinely surprised, I really was.”
Minor league teams also take a break during the week of the All-Star Game. Maile was in Boston with his wife, Paige, on Tuesday night when he got the call from Durham Bulls manager Jared Sandberg telling him to report to the Tampa Bay Rays.
Maile booked a flight to Durham on Wednesday morning. A few hours after he arrived, he had his car packed and ready for the long drive to the Tampa Bay area located on the west coast of Florida.
Maile and his wife recently bought a house in the Tampa Bay area, but he has been too busy with baseball to see it. That’s one of the reasons he was anxious to get to Florida on Wednesday.
“I’m just trying to get down there to see my house for the first time, to be honest with you,” Maile said. “But seeing the guys on the team doesn’t hurt at all either. I’m not sure of the (practice) schedule yet. They’re supposed to call me later on with that. But I’m sure there will be something going on at the field (Thursday) that I’d like to be a part if I can.”
Maile said he’s familiar with the pitchers on the Tampa Bay staff. He was behind the plate for most of them during spring training. But he plans to talk with as many of the pitchers as he can before the season resumes on Friday.
“To me, that’s the ultimate thing you can possess as a catcher, the ability to get a starter through six, seven or eight innings,” he said. “That’s the name of the game for me.”