The Rays are very pleased with how well Troy Percival has looked. But even if he looks better by opening day, manager Joe Maddon said the Rays will be cautious in how they use him.
"I don't want to just get him out there and start pushing him on a daily basis,'' he said. "If we were to get hot and then you've got 3-4 wins in a row that are close situations, that would be counterproductive to get him out there that many days in a row. If we were able to figure out how to get (Jason Isringhausen) within the mix, then of course you'd be able to bounce it back and forth, and obviously that's been in the back of my mind.
"I don't know if that's going to work or not. With Percy I still want to be somewhat cautious in the beginning and see if we can nurture it through the entire season. I don't want to have him get out good and all of a sudden be concerned about July, August, September."
Maddon said he would have the same plan if Isringhausen isn't on the team, using Dan Wheeler, Grant Balfour and others as he did last season.
St. Petersburg Times
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