The Tampa Bay Rays designated right-hander Zack Burdi for assignment on Wednesday, one day after the former first-round pick was torched in relief during a 20-1 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays.
Burdi, 28, gave up six runs (five earned) and five hits in the fifth inning while recording three outs in Tuesday's setback. He struck out one and walked one while throwing 36 pitches.
Burdi has an 11.25 ERA in three relief appearances for the Rays this season. Overall, he is 0-1 with an 8.27 ERA in 18 career relief appearances with the Chicago White Sox (2020-21), Baltimore Orioles (2021) and Rays (2023).
Burdi was the 26th overall pick by the White Sox in the 2016 draft.
Tampa recalled right-hander Ben Heller from Triple-A Durham in a corresponding move. This marks Heller's first big-league stint since 2020 for the New York Yankees.
Heller, 31, went 2-0 with a 2.59 ERA in 31 appearances over four seasons (2016-17; 2019-20) for the Yankees.
At Durham, Heller is 2-2 with a 3.91 ERA in 16 appearances this season.
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