Griffin Jax Could Give Rays a Dangerous New Weapon in the ALDS

The Tampa Bay Rays received some good news on Griffin Jax after a scary moment during Saturday's win over the Philadelphia Phillies.

Now Kevin Cash has an interesting decision to make.

Does Jax even need to start in the postseason? Does the team need four starting pitchers?

Jax was removed from Saturday's game after taking a 104 mph line drive off his lower back. He was diagnosed with a lower back contusion, but told MLB.com after the game that he expects to be fine.

"I'll be fine," Jax said after the final game of the season on Sunday. "I have no concerns or issues about how I'm going to feel tomorrow waking up." 

That's huge. Because if Jax is healthy, Tampa Bay might have found the perfect role for him in October. Something he has done before.

The Rays probably don't need more than three traditional starters during the American League Division Series, a best-of-5 contest between either the Boston Red Sox or New York Yankees begining Saturday.

Drew Rasmussen is the obvious choice for Game 1. Nick Martinez has been one of Tampa Bay's most consistent pitchers throughout the season and will likely follow.

Then there's Freddy Peralta, who has completely changed the conversation over the last month and has pitched himself into a position where I don't know how Tampa Bay can keep him out of the postseason rotation.

That doesn't mean Jax lost his spot.

It might actually make him more valuable.

Jax spent most of his career working out of the bullpen before Tampa Bay transitioned him into a starter. Now he's completely stretched out while still having experience entering games as a reliever.

That's a pretty interesting weapon for Cash. Ian Seymour could also fill this role if Jax was unable to go, but the former reliever-turned-starter in Seymour has struggled down the stretch at the end of the regular season.

Jax has also been pitching some of his best baseball at exactly the right time.

As for Jax, over his final three starts, he allowed just one earned run across 15 innings, giving up seven hits and three walks while striking out 14. He finished his regular season Saturday with three more scoreless innings before the line drive ended his night.

Now, there's a possibility you can piggyback that type of performance behind Peralta or Martinez.

It's a great insurance policy for a pitching rotation that has found plenty of success this season. It also gives the opportunity for another option for Kevin Cash to shorten a game and hopefully move on quickly to the American League Championship Series.

That's why I don't think this should be viewed as Jax getting pushed out of the rotation, because he really isn't if they decide to only go with a three-man staff.

Peralta's emergence gives Cash more freedom to use Jax wherever he's needed most, and we've seen plenty of times throughout the postseason when one unexpected pitching performance completely changes a series.