By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
There’s a good chance that Luke Maile of Edgewood will be behind the plate for the Tampa Bay Rays during the major league baseball team’s weekend series with the Baltimore Orioles that begins Friday.
Maile was added to the Rays’ roster on Tuesday after the 25-year-old catcher batted .319 over the last 30 days for the Durham Bulls, the Triple-A minor league team for Tampa Bay.
Last season, the former Covington Catholic High School and University of Kentucky standout was called up in September when teams are permitted to expand their roster and played in 15 games for the Rays. He expects to get a lot more more playing time joining the team near the halfway point of the current season.
“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,” Maile said. “So it definitely has a special aspect to it in that regard.”
In an article posted on the Tampa Bay Rays website, manager Kevin Cash said the team wants to find out a little more about how Maile can perform on the major league level.
“He’s a guy that really is receptive to the game plan and pitch calling,” Cash said in the article. “Likes to work and communicate with our pitchers. He blocks the ball well. He gives us a chance to throw guys out. His defense, he’ll be fine. And we saw it last year — when he played up here, he did a nice job for us.”
Maile will split catching duties with Curt Casali, who has three years of major league experience. But Casali is currently batting .169 with six home runs and 18 RBI for the Rays, who are in last place in the American League Eastern Division.
Maile is familiar with the pitchers on the Tampa Bay staff. He was behind the plate for most of them during spring training. He’s looking forward to working with them again in major league games.
“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.”