Rays Add Minor League Pitcher, Another Olympic Connection

ST. PETERSBURG, FL —The Tampa Bays Rays already have Olympic connections in current Team USA baseball pitchers Shane Baz (Tampa minor leaguer), Scott Kazmir and Edwin Jackson (both former Rays). Now, the Rays have added one more Olympian to the family.

On Sunday night, Tampa claimed right-handed submariner Jake Reed off waivers from the Dodgers. The 28-year-old rookie reliever was sent to Triple-A Durham. Reed did make five relief appearances and one start for the Dodgers this month, and had a solid 3.38 ERA, so he may be in the Rays' plans in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, Reed's wife Janie Reed is the starting left fielder for the Team USA softball team, which is scheduled to meet Japan in the gold medal game at 7 a.m. (Eastern time) on Tuesday.

Janie Reed was 1-for-3 in Sunday's 2-1 come-from-behind win over Japan in the last game of pool play. The win will mean Team USA is the home team in the gold medal game.

According to the Oklahoman newspaper Jake Reed and then-Janie Takeda met at the University of Oregon in 2011, when they arrived ahead of their freshman year. They were married in Nov. 2017.

Janie Reed, from Placentia, California, was a member of the U.S. roster for the 2016and 2018 Softball World Championships.

Jake Reed, who is from Tucson, Arizona, was a fifth-round draft pick of the Minnesota Twins in 2014. He has pitched in the minors for seven years, and actually began this season in Salt Lake City, the Angels' Triple-A team. The Angels released him June 2, but the Dodgers picked him up two days later, and he made his MLB debut on July 6.

Jake Reed told the Oklahoman that there are similarities between being a pro baseball pitcher and an Olympic softball outfielder, but there also are differences.

"The nice thing about us playing different positions is I think we both kind of know to stay in our lane for the most part," Jake Reed said. "There obviously are some things that cross over that we deal with a lot, just as far as the mental side of things, the ups and the downs of the sport. And there are times I think where we're just completely different athletes."