Colby Rasmus ‘To Step Away From Baseball’ For Undisclosed Reasons

The Tampa Bay Rays are without the services of OF Colby Rasmus for the remainder of the season after he decided to take a respite from baseball for undisclosed reasons.

The franchise took to Twitter to make the announcement this afternoon, saying that the veteran outfielder has been placed on the restricted list.

Rasmus found himself on the club’s disabled list on July 3 due to an apparently nagging hip injury. The veteran of nine seasons spent much of this one battling back from offseason surgery to the hip and additional offseason repairs for a sports hernia. An attack of tendinitis to the afflicted hip landed him on the DL at the season’s start, with a flare-up of the same placing him on the 10-day DL on June 23.

Though no official reason for the move has yet been given, mounting frustration with the apparent lack of progress in rehabbing his hip may have prompted Rasmus to call it a season. When approached by local press on Thursday for news on Rasmus’ progress, Rays manager Kevin Cash responded by advising reporters that Rasmus was still rehabbing and had no further information to relay.

The #Rays have placed OF Colby Rasmus on the restricted list. pic.twitter.com/Z28sYZ5SfI

— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) July 13, 2017

Rasmus, who turns 31 next month, inked a one-year, $5-million deal with the Rays on January 30. As players do not receive pay while on the restricted list, Rasmus’ departure from the sport means giving up about $2.2 million. Despite the nagging hip injury, Rasmus posted respectable numbers while healthy, batting .281 with nine homers and 23 RBIs.

A native of Columbus, Georgia, Rasmus was a first-round pick of the St. Louis Cardinals in 2005. He made his pro debut in April 2009 with the club and went on to place eighth in voting for that season’s Rookie of the Year, buoyed by turning in 16 home runs and batting in 52 runs over 147 games.

Rasmus’ baseball resume also includes a four-season stop in Toronto, where he was awarded the American League’s Defensive Player of the Year in 2013. He was a member of the Houston Astros for the two years prior to 2017, playing an integral part in that club’s deep playoff run in 2015 and finishing the season leading in almost every offensive category.

[Featured Image by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images]