Not a great way to start the season if you are the Tampa Bay Rays. Not only are they 0-2 out of the gate (as of Sunday), but now they will be without Evan Longoria indefinitely with a sore left oblique.

Hard to get that offense going without your best player in the lineup. The only good news as far as Baseball Betting and even NBA Betting pundits are concerned is that it does not seem serious and of course it is very early in the season.

Longoria left Saturday’s night game against the Baltimore Orioles with a sore oblique muscle in his left side and the defending AL East champions are not sure how long the their best player might remain out of the lineup.

Longoria himself said he expects to be gone no more than a week. Manager Joe Maddon is being a little more cautious and has not ruled out putting him on the 15-day disabled list.

Regardless, the Rays are now without their best player and one of, if not their best, offensive hitter. On opening night against the Orioles, Tampa’s Nos. 2, 3 and 4 hitters, Johnny Damon, Longoria and Manny Ramirez were a combined 0-for-12. Sure it is only one game but it did not look anything like the Rays of last season. They are one of the favourites in the AL East and can’t be without Longoria for any length of time.

But with it being an oblique muscle, that is the kind of thing that needs to fully heal or it could be a nagging injury all season long.

Longoria led the Rays with 104 RBIs last year while batting .294 and hitting 22 home runs. That will be hard to replace as they try to keep pace in the division. Both the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees are off to 2-0 starts and it is only a matter of time before the Boston Red Sox start winning as well. A few losses in April may not seem like much now, but they could be the difference to winning the division in September.

Longoria needs to be patient and stop taking batting practice all together. He needs to get those muscles heal and rest before coming back 100%. As eager as he is to get back and to stay on top of his game, the best thing he can do for the team is just rest and let him teammates carry the load for the time being.

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