Former Yankee Rortvedt shines with the Rays

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Ben Rortvedt saw the writing on the wall towards the end of spring training that his time would soon be up with the Yankees.

As long as Jose Trevino and Austin Wells stayed healthy, they were going to be the catchers the Yankees brought north, and with Rortvedt out of minor league options, he expected to be moved.

But Rortvedt has taken his new opportunity and run with it, at least in the early going.

After being traded to the Rays as part of a three-way deal that landed the Yankees Jon Berti on the eve of Opening Day, Rortvedt has gotten off to a strong start. Through Saturday’s 7-2 win over the Yankees, in which he drew a pair of walks as a pinch-hitter, he is now batting .333 with a .828 OPS in 27 games as part of a catching tandem.

“I think there’s a lot of components,” Rortvedt said after catching up with many of his former teammates on Friday. “I think it’s just me going through the struggles that I have, learning about myself as a player, failing, learning what player I want to be, what player I think I can be, and just trying to show up and be the same player every day, not chasing results. Really showing up and trying to contribute to the team.”

Rortvedt’s biggest impact as a Yankee was catching Gerrit Cole down the stretch last season on the way to the AL Cy Young award, with Jose Trevino injured. Beyond that, Rortvedt struggled to carve out a role for himself because of injuries and then struggling to hit when he was healthy.

“He was tough for us to lose — and we didn’t necessarily want to lose him to the Rays,” manager Aaron Boone said. “He can really catch and throw. He’s gifted back there physically, the receiving part of things, obviously a great arm. I think he’s worked really hard at his hitting, too.

“Excited that at least he’s getting a real opportunity and he’s healthy for the most part. That was a little bit of a struggle when he was in Minnesota and then even the first couple years with us, he was pretty banged up with different things. But he’s talented.”

➤ DJ LeMahieu (non-displaced foot fracture) faced live pitching Saturday for the first time since his rehab assignment lasted just one inning on April 23. The veteran infielder took at-bats against rehabbing right-hander JT Brubaker at the Yankees’ player development complex in Tampa and “had a good day of work,” according to Boone.

The plan is for LeMahieu to take live batting practice again on Tuesday in Tampa, after which he could be ready to try a rehab assignment again.

➤ Tommy Kahnle (shoulder) made his second rehab appearance on Saturday with Single-A Tampa, throwing a scoreless inning with one strikeout on 15 pitches. He then threw another 10 pitches in the bullpen, Boone said, adding that “it went well.”