CINCINNATI -- Tampa Bay left-hander Matt Moore plans to play catch in a few days to see how his left elbow is feeling and decide whether he can try to recover from his latest problem without surgery.
Moore went on the 15-day disabled list Tuesday and had an MRI. The Rays are waiting for a team doctor to return from a trip over the weekend and compare the latest scans to earlier ones.
Moore also experienced elbow soreness last year while going 17-4 with a 3.29 ERA for the Rays. Moore said on Friday before the opening game of a series against the Reds that the elbow felt better than it did a year ago, when he spent the month of August on the disabled list.
"The way it feels compared to last time, I feel a whole lot better," he said. "I feel I'm in a lot better place.
"I think in the next three to five days, we should have a decent idea which direction this is going."
Left-hander Cesar Ramos, who competed for the final spot in the rotation during spring training, will take Moore's place on Sunday for the final game of the series. Ramos has made four relief appearances totaling four innings.
"It's based on the spring training he had, a lot of the conversation we had with him and the other pitchers as we broke spring training," manager Joe Maddon said. "We're trying to stay true to our word.
"We thought it was the right thing to do now, to give him that opportunity."
Maddon estimated that Ramos could throw as many as 75 pitches on Sunday.
The Rays could make a move to bolster their bullpen for Sundays' game, depending upon whether they need to use their relievers a lot in the first two games of the series.
Before Friday's game, the Rays recalled outfielder Kevin Kiermaier from Triple-A Durham. He took the roster spot opened when the Rays optioned left-hander Jeff Beliveau to Durham on Wednesday.
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