Duffy stresses health in first workout at Trop

ST. PETERSBURG — Matt Duffy worked out at Tropicana Field on Wednesday, two days after the Rays acquired him in the trade that sent Matt Moore to the Giants.

Duffy, who is on the disabled list with a left Achilles strain, hit and fielded ground balls at shortstop, the position he will play for the Rays.

“It was really good to meet him,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “We’ve heard a ton of good things about him. We’re excited to get him back and playing for us here soon.”

Duffy arrived to the Tampa Bay area on Tuesday night. The plan for him is to continue his rehab at Class A Charlotte, where he’ll play before returning over the weekend to be re-evaluated. Cash said they don’t want to put a timetable on when he might join the team, but he speculated that within the week would be fair.

From watching him workout on Wednesday, Cash observed the following: “Real short, compact swing. Professional approach. He’s not up there looking to yank balls. He’s up there hitting line drives all over the ballpark.”

Cash noted that Duffy has a “line-drive, flat swing, puts the ball in play.”

“Does a lot of things offensively that help you win games,” Cash said. “He can steal a base, he can bunt, and obviously, he can drive the ball also.”

One of the …

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