Rays win arbitration cases against Colin Poche, Ryan Thompson

The Rays have won their arbitration cases against Colin Poche and Ryan Thompson, according to Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. Poche will be paid $1.175M rather than the $1.3M he filed for, while Thompson will take home $1M in 2023 instead of $1.2M.

Poche, 29, put up a 3.99 ERA in 58 2/3 innings for Tampa Bay last season, his first major league action since the 2019 campaign. It’s worth noting here that his ERA was sitting a lot better at 3.39 prior to a four earned run in a third of an inning outing for the Rays toward the backend of the season, when he suffered an oblique strain that ended his season. The left-hander’s 26.1% strikeout rate in 2022 was well down from the 34.8% mark he posted in 2019.

This is Poche’s first trip through arbitration, so the Rays will also control him through the 2024-25 seasons as well.

Thompson, 30, wound up with a 3.80 ERA over 42 2/3 frames of work for the Rays last year. That was a bit of a step back from the 2.80 ERA mark he posted in 2021, and Thompson saw his strikeout rate dip by six percentage points between 2021-22. In any case, he’s established himself as a dependable member of the Rays bullpen after being taken from the Astros in the Rule 5 Draft back in 2018.

He dealt with triceps inflammation in August last year and wound up on the injured list for the remainder of the season. This is also Thompson’s first trip through arbitration, so he’ll reach free agency in advance of the 2026 season.

Both Poche and Thompson figure to again be valuable members of the Rays’ bullpen in 2023. Poche gives them a third left-handed option alongside Jalen Beeks and Garrett Cleavinger, while Thompson’s drawn an increasing amount of high-leverage work in recent seasons and will again give them a dependable option late in games.