Rays' No. 1 prospect Honeywell injures throwing arm

Top prospect Brent Honeywell bolted off the mound in disgust Thursday after a brief workout with an apparent arm injury.

Honeywell, the No. 1 prospect in the Tampa Bay Rays' system and No. 12 in Major League Baseball according to MLBPipeline.com, threw 10 pitches before cutting the session short when he felt discomfort in his right forearm. The right-handed starting pitcher is ranked 14th in a Baseball America ranking of prospects.

"We'll let the doctors and trainers get a look at him," said manager Kevin Cash, who was hitting ground balls on another field. "I wasn't there, but I heard he was very frustrated, and rightfully so. He worked hard this offseason. Other than that we don't know anything. We'll wait until some feedback comes."

Catcher Jesus Sucre was an eyewitness during the Honeywell-Wilson Ramos workout.

"He was throwing pretty good, he was throwing perfect," Sucre said. "He threw a changeup first pitch to Wilson. Next pitch (was a fastball and) he was screaming."

Honeywell, whose fastball has been clocked in the mid-90s, turns 22 next month. He pitched last season at Class AAA and went 12-8 with a 3.64 ERA.

There was speculation this week Honeywell might join the Rays sometime in April after Jake Odorizzi was traded to the Minnesota Twins. But Cash said the Rays plan to employ a four-man rotation to start the season.

--Field Level Media