Latest news with #EricOrze
New York Times
16 hours ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Traded away, two former Mets find their way with the Rays
When Rays center fielder Jake Mangum and reliever Eric Orze saw that they'd soon be visiting Citi Field to play the Mets, excitement quickly washed over them. The pair was drafted by the Mets just a year apart and developed together in the minors. Before they could suit up together in the majors, Mangum was traded to the Miami Marlins in December 2022. Advertisement Orze was traded to the Rays two years later, reuniting with Mangum in 2023. Not only are the two back together, but they are also thriving on the field, showing off the potential that the Mets saw in them years ago. Friday's 7-5 Rays win represented Orze's first career win as he struck out two and allowed one hit in the bottom of the fifth inning. Mangum went 1-4 and brought in two runners in the sixth. His hit started a six-run turnaround for the Rays, giving them a lead they would not relinquish. Mangum was drafted by the Mets twice. Once during his junior year in 2018 at Mississippi State and again in his senior season. This series has extra meaning for him. 'When you get drafted by the Mets, you always dream about getting to Citi Field,' Mangum said before Friday's game. 'I made my dream [come true] with the Rays, and getting to take the field of Citi Field is another bucket list thing.' There's no animosity or hard feelings between Mangum and his former club. Coming into this series, he said he wasn't looking at this as a revenge tour. Maybe that's for good reason. Mangum got his shot to play in the majors with the Rays, and he hasn't squandered the opportunity. He is batting .304, which would be good for 14th in the league if he had enough plate appearances to qualify. 'Just a big thank you to the Rays,' Mangum said pregame. 'I always told everybody that when I was in Triple A, I always said, 'Just give me a shot, and I'll give you all I got.'' Mangum was excited about Orze joining the team in the offseason. The two were already close during their time with the Mets. For Orze, joining a team with a familiar face made all the difference in his transition. Having been in the Mets organization since he was drafted in the fifth round in 2020, Orze didn't quite know what he was walking into when it came to being in a different clubhouse with a new group of guys. But between Mangum and others whom he played with in the minors, such as Cole Sulser and Mike Vassil, Orze had a support system in place. Advertisement 'It's a cool part about baseball. It's a small community,' Orze said. 'There's a lot of good people over there that helped me throughout my career already up to this point. It's nice to come back and see everybody.' In 22 games with the Rays, Orze has a 1.32 ERA with 25 strikeouts. He's come a long way from his debut game with the Mets, where he gave up three earned runs without recording an out. After being down 5-1 in the fifth inning, the two former Mets played key roles in the Rays' comeback effort. The game was everything they expected when they first saw the matchup on the schedule. 'What I expected was a loud, crazy environment, and we got that,' Mangum said. 'To stick it out and win the game was really cool.' (Top photo of Mangum: Dustin Satloff / Getty Images)
Reuters
a day ago
- Sport
- Reuters
Rays storm back in 6-run 6th, halt Mets' win streak
June 14 - Danny Jansen's two-run homer capped a six-run sixth inning Friday night as the Tampa Bay Rays handed the New York Mets a rare home loss with a 7-5 decision in the opener of a three-game set. Jansen's sixth homer of the year scored Kameron Misner and made a winner of former New York pitcher Eric Orze (1-0), who earned his first MLB win with an inning of scoreless relief. Four other Rays relievers made it through the final four innings, with Pete Fairbanks pitching the ninth for his 13th save in 15 chances. Fairbanks stranded men at the corners, slipping a called third strike by Ronny Mauricio to end it. Max Kranick (3-2), making his first appearance for the Mets after being recalled from Triple-A Syracuse earlier Friday, was tagged with the loss. It was just New York's eighth defeat in 35 games at Citi Field this year and snapped its six-game winning streak. Singles by Brandon Lowe, Yandy Diaz and Jonathan Aranda off Paul Blackburn started the uprising in the sixth. After Junior Caminero popped up, Jake Mangum stroked a two-run single to center and Jose Caballero grounded out to score Aranda. Misner poked a game-tying single to left and stole second before Jansen's blast. Neither starter was involved in the decision. Tampa Bay's Taj Bradley lasted four-plus innings, yielding four hits and five unearned runs with four walks and five strikeouts. New York's Clay Holmes left with a 5-1 lead after allowing three hits and a run in five innings, walking two and whiffing three. Holmes coughed up a solo homer to Aranda, his eighth of the year, to start the fourth. But the Mets quickly wiped out the lead thanks to some clutch hitting from Starling Marte and some shaky Rays defense. Bradley's error set the stage for a two-run New York fourth that featured Marte lashing an RBI infield single off Bradley's leg to tie it. Tyrone Taylor reached on a fielder's choice to score the tiebreaking run. Two walks sandwiched around Aranda's error at first teed up the Mets in the fifth. Juan Soto drew a bases-filled walk to knock in a run, followed by Marte's two-out, two-run single to left-center. --Field Level Media
Forbes
13-05-2025
- Health
- Forbes
Tampa Bay Rays' Eric Orze ‘Blessed' For How Cancer Changed Him
Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Eric Orze high-fives teammates during a game against the Kansas City Royals, ... More Wednesday, April 30, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Jason Behnken) Eric Orze stood in front of his locker in the Tampa Bay Rays' clubhouse at Steinbrenner Field discussing how fortunate and blessed he is for having to endure what likely would have kept most other young adults from achieving their career goals. The righthanded pitcher was with the University of New Orleans in 2018 when he learned the reason why what was tolerable discomfort grew into something unbearable as the season moved along. He had testicular cancer. At age 20. 'It was never anything bad enough to be concerned about,' he recalled. 'Then one morning I woke up in excruciating pain. I was like, 'I don't know what's going on, but I need something to kill this pain.' It was that uncomfortable.' Not that the Illinois native could have possibly imagined he had a tumor-ravaged testicle. 'I didn't think about what was potentially wrong, it was more of, 'What can we do to get rid of this pain because it's unbearable,'" said Orze, who also had surgery to remove swollen lymph nodes and dealt with fluid in his lungs. "Of course, I obviously got the diagnosis.' It would not be the only one Orze would receive. A few months later, after having turned 21, physicians noticed a mole on his back that proved to be melanoma. It was a double whammy of misfortune for a young man wanting to enjoy his time as a college baseball player while working toward potentially getting drafted and embarking on a professional career. Instead of being enveloped by feelings of fear, despair and conveniently adopting a 'Why me?' mindset, Orze held his head high and fought like the dickens to not just get back to where he left off, but with a heightened level of appreciation for life and those within it. 'It's part of my journey to this point,' he said. 'I am blessed that I had to go through it. It gave me a lot a life perspective, though it wasn't something I was expecting at 21 years old. It was crazy at the time, but it was a blessing in disguise and probably one of best things that could have ever happened to me.' Orze spent two seasons at Northwest Florida State College, a junior college in the panhandle town of Niceville, prior to transferring to New Orleans ahead of the 2018 season. He pitched in nine games before he was sidelined and did not take the mound again for the Privateers until 2020. The 6-foot-4 and 205-pound Orze – pronounced OAR-zee – credits the folks in New Orleans, those with university, the professionals that tended to his medical care and every day good people, for rebounding. While parents Rick and Lynn, sister Stephanie and his girlfriend were with him every step of the way, if not literally then certain figuratively, Orze otherwise felt well cared for, which put him at ease. 'I had many people, genuinely good human beings, care for me," said Orze, who had the testicular cancer surgery performed in New Orleans and the melanoma procedure close to home in Illinois. "When I look back, it means the world to me to have been able to be comfortable during that time. It made me feel like, 'Hey, I am loved and comfortable here and we are going to get through this and we are going to get back into baseball.' I had so much love and support that it made it so much easier to progress through it all. Because of that, New Orleans will always have a place in my heart.' Back on the mound, Orze was 3-0 with a 2.75 ERA when the pandemic shut down the season and virtually everything else. So, here he was, five months from turning 23 and with all of 13 appearances and 36 innings at the NCAA level. 'That part of it was like, 'OK, maybe I am not supposed to play pro ball or something,'' he said, laughing about what was a bizarre time. 'Obviously, it worked out.' Even having missed essentially two full seasons due to cancer and the pandemic, Orze had enough of a track record at the collegiate level. He also had a very effective splitter, something he adopted as a young teen. While his ERA hovered around 5.00 in his two seasons of JUCO, he struck out 120 and walked only 24 in 123 innings. In 36 innings at UNO, it was 42/16. That's 162/40 for an impressive 4-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. It was good enough for the Mets to select Orze in the fifth round, 150th overall, in the 2020 draft. 'This is a kid who will not quit,' Mets VP of amateur scouting, Tommy Tanous, said at the time. Not that Orze had given that any thought. On the contrary, he never lost sight of his professional goal even when everything seemed to conspire against him. 'A really cool moment that I have a ton of appreciation for was hearing my name called,' said Orze, of the draft. 'All I ever asked for was to get my foot in the door and put on a professional uniform. I am beyond grateful to the Mets for giving me that opportunity. I learned so much in that organization and the friends I made and the people I got close to, coordinators, the front office, players, coaches. It is all a huge part of me and who I am today.' The Rays acquired the now-27-year-old pitcher from New York last November for center fielder Jose Siri. 'He was very forthcoming with his experiences,' said manager Kevin Cash, of a spring training meeting with Orze. 'Any player who has been through a lot on the field or off the field, you can really grow to appreciate really quickly." Orze, who made his MLB debut with the Mets last season and made two appearances, was called up from Triple-A Durham in mid-April. He recorded his first career save in the Rays' 11-inning win at Arizona on April 3 and picked up another save against the visiting Brewers on May 9. Through May 11, Orze allowed only two earned runs in 14 1/3 innings in his first month with Tampa Bay. 'What he has done up here is give us some really good work,' said Cash. "He has handled every challenge like he has been there before, and has been on a very good run for us.' Catcher Ben Rortvedt admires the many intangibles Orze brings to ballpark each day. 'I really appreciate the journey that he has been on and appreciate how strong of human being he is,' he said. 'He always comes into the clubhouse looking forward to the day and always prepares the right way.' Orze rattles off the names of an impressive bullpen that also includes closer Pete Fairbanks, Manuel Rodriguez, Edwin Uceta and Garrett Cleavinger, among others. Orze has been there to answer the bell when most of his bullpen buddies need a breather. 'If there is any way that I can cover some outs and keep these guys fresher, make sure they have an extra day (of rest), that's really the goal,' he said. 'If it's three outs, it's three outs. If it's 12 outs, it's 12 outs. That's how I am going about it.' PITTSBURGH: Eric Orze of the New York Mets makes his major league debut in the sixth inning during ... More the game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park on July 8, 2024 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by) Orze has had several people reach out to him on social media platforms and other means to express how they are inspired not only by how he overcame so much to realize his dream of pitching in the majors, but the class with which he did. 'To know the way you are living your life allows other people to feel like they can achieve, or at least understand that any (set of circumstances) in front of them is possible to overcome, is a really humbling feeling,' he said. 'It's like, 'Me? I am someone that you are looking up to?' When I was away from home (during the initial cancer procedure and recovery), I looked up to those around me and never thought of anyone potentially learning something from me. So, when I hear that someone reached out and was like, 'Hey, I really appreciate how you did this, or you gave me this perspective, it's like, whoa.' It means that much more to know that someone is seeing what I am doing and appreciating it.' If something is not going well on the mound? Big deal. Keep the head up of and learn from it. After all, in the much larger picture, that is exactly what Orze did during what could have been very, very dark days in a New Orleans hospital. Hence, to those who find themselves in a difficult situation regardless of setting, his message is rather simple. 'The better perspective you can have the better chance you are going to give yourself, whether it is recovering from something health related, sports, your career, or whatever it may be,' he said. 'I am a firm believer that the more you are in the mindset of learning, growing and getting better and you apply it to whatever it is that you are going up against, you are going to give yourself the best chance possible. That is all we can do.'
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Taylor Walls draws bases-loaded walk in 8th to help Rays beat Brewers 4-3, end 7-game home skid
Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Eric Orze celebrates after the final out of a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers, Friday, May 9, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Jason Behnken) Milwaukee Brewers' Jackson Chourio, left, celebrates with Rhys Hoskins (12) after scoring on a single by William Contreras during the first inning of a baseball game against the Tampa Bay Rays, Friday, May 9, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Jason Behnken) Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Jose Quintana throws against the Tampa Bay Rays during the first inning of a baseball game Friday, May 9, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Jason Behnken) Tampa Bay Rays' Taylor Walls, left, hits a single during the third inning of a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers, Friday, May 9, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Jason Behnken) Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Eric Orze celebrates after the final out of a baseball game against thye Milwaukee Brewers, Friday, May 9, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Jason Behnken) Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Eric Orze celebrates after the final out of a baseball game against thye Milwaukee Brewers, Friday, May 9, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Jason Behnken) Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Eric Orze celebrates after the final out of a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers, Friday, May 9, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Jason Behnken) Milwaukee Brewers' Jackson Chourio, left, celebrates with Rhys Hoskins (12) after scoring on a single by William Contreras during the first inning of a baseball game against the Tampa Bay Rays, Friday, May 9, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Jason Behnken) Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Jose Quintana throws against the Tampa Bay Rays during the first inning of a baseball game Friday, May 9, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Jason Behnken) Tampa Bay Rays' Taylor Walls, left, hits a single during the third inning of a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers, Friday, May 9, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Jason Behnken) Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Eric Orze celebrates after the final out of a baseball game against thye Milwaukee Brewers, Friday, May 9, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Jason Behnken) TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Taylor Walls drew a bases-loaded walk in the eighth inning Friday night to help the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Milwaukee Brewers 4-3 and snap a seven-game home skid. Brandon Lowe, who went into the game hitting .077 against lefties this season, homered off left-hander Jose Quintana for the Rays. Tampa Bay had lost 11 of 12 at Steinbrenner Field, its temporary home. Advertisement Brewers manager Pat Murphy was ejected in the sixth after third baseman Caleb Durbin was called for obstruction, and Christopher Morel — who had been caught in a rundown between third base and the plate — was awarded home to give the Rays a 3-2 lead. Rhys Hoskins hit an RBI single against Cole Sulser (1-1) in the eighth to make it 3-3 before Jared Koenig (2-1 allowed two hits and two walks in the bottom half. Eric Orze pitched a scoreless ninth for his second save. William Contreras returned from a one-game absence and played through a fractured finger on his left (catching) hand. Brewers coaches Charlie Greene and Nestor Corredor modified the 27-year-old catcher's grips on his bats and the pocket of his mitt to expedite Contreras' return. He had a first-inning RBI single. Advertisement Key moment The Rays' José Caballero hit a single to center field that was misplayed by Jackson Chourio — the 21-year-old's first career error — and Walls scored from first to make it 1-1 in the third inning. Key stat Quintana pitched 5 1/3 innings to reach 2,003 2/3 for his career, joining Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, Clayton Kershaw, Charlie Morton and Chris Sale as the only active players with more than 2,000. Up next Brewers RHP Tobias Myers (1-0, 3.65 ERA) is scheduled start Saturday against Rays right-hander Taj Bradley (3-2, 4.43). ___ AP MLB:
