Lefty Fleming ready to help in multiple roles

ST. PETERSBURG — Josh Fleming just wants to lend a hand.

With the Rays announcing that righthander Matt Wisler will be the opener Tuesday against Seattle, the left-handed Fleming is slated to come out of the bullpen and handle the bulk of the innings.

“I just want to help this team win,” Fleming said Sunday. “Always been my goal to help this team, whether I’m starting, whatever it is. With us being down some guys, if they need me to go out there and eat six innings, I would love to do that. Whatever they ask, I’m going to do.”

Fleming has done pretty well at whatever he has been asked to handle over the last three seasons, putting together a 17-9 record and 4.60 ERA in assorted roles.

He is coming off a solid 3 ⅓-inning outing Tuesday against the Cubs, when he also worked behind Wisler, allowing a one-out single, an RBI double and a two-out two-run pinch-hit homer to Patrick Wisdom.

“All in all, it was the best my stuff was; the best I felt it was,” Fleming said.

Rough seas

No team gave the Rays more trouble last year than the Mariners, who won six of the seven games, five coming from behind and three on walkoffs during the four-game June series in Seattle. Put another way, the Rays were 1-6 against Seattle and 99-56 against all other teams.

The Rays will see plenty of those Mariners over the next two weeks, opening a three-game series at Tropicana Field on Tuesday, then heading to Seattle for four games May 5-8 as the middle leg of their West Coast trip.

Seattle has added to a core that includes J.P. Crawford and AL Player of the Week Ty France, bringing up top prospect outfielder Julio Rodriguez and bringing in 2021 AL Cy Young award winner Robbie Ray, outfielder Jesse Winker and infielders Adam Frazier and Eugenio Suarez.