Posted by Jason Pafundi on Thursday, June 11, 2009 at 10:34 pm

The Tampa Bay Rays have activated designated hitter Pat Burrell from the disabled list, and he will return to action on Friday against the Washington Nationals.

To make room on the roster, outfielder Matt Joyce was optioned to Triple-A Durham.

The Rays have a couple of other injured players expected back soon, namely shortstop Jason Bartlett and starting pitcher Scott Kazmir. Bartlett is starting a rehab assignment this weekend, and Kazmir is expected to begin his rehab assignment sometime next week.

Ben Zobrist and Willy Aybar have been getting the majority of the playing time at second base (for injured Akinori Iwamura), while Reid Brignac was called up from Durham and has been manning shortstop in Bartlett’s absence (though Zobrist has played some at short too).

When Bartlett returns, Brignac will almost certainly be returned to Durham, so does Zobrist and Aybar split time at second? Does Zobrist play in right field against lefties? Is there any room on the roster for Gabe Kapler?

The Rays have plenty of questions to answer in the coming weeks, so stay tuned.