ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Injured Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Evan Longoria will have his status updated Thursday.
Longoria was out of the lineup for the sixth straight game Wednesday night because of a strained left quadriceps. He took batting practice and increased his agility workout before Tampa Bay's regular-season home finale against the Baltimore Orioles.
Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon says he doesn't expect Longoria to play in Thursday night's game at Kansas City but plans to see how the infielder is feeling.
"Longo looked good," Maddon said. "He's doing pretty good. He felt good at the plate, too."
Longoria, hitting .294 with 22 homers and 104 RBIs in 151 games this season, was hurt making a defensive play in game against the New York Yankees last Thursday.
"We're overly cautious with this," Maddon said.
The Rays clinched their second ever playoff berth Tuesday night.
Maddon is not ready to officially announce his starting pitcher for Game 1 of the ALDS next week, but the expected choice is 19-game winner David Price, who will not make his final scheduled regular-season start Sunday.
Tampa Bay plans to use four starting pitchers in the opening postseason round.
"We'll do that all at the same time," Maddon said about announcing his rotation. "We have the potential to play two different teams, and both teams [the Texas Rangers or Minnesota Twins] are different. When we know what's exactly going on, then we'll reveal exactly what we want to do."
Price might have a short appearance out of the bullpen before the playoffs.
"There's a chance," Maddon said. "He may need to get back out there."
Throwing live batting practice is another option for Price this weekend.