With Willie Aybar moved to the disabled list due to a hamstring injury, Evan Longoria earned his first big league promotion, set to fly to Tampa to join the Rays for Saturday’s game against the Orioles.

"I’m headed that way,” Longoria told TampaBay.com Friday. "I’m very excited, obviously. I hope I’m in there tomorrow."

Longoria, ranked second on Baseball America’s Top 100 Prospects list this spring, was just 3-for-22 with five strikeouts for Triple-A Durham heading into Friday’s games. He had been expected to make the major league club coming out of spring training and performed well in big league camp before being sent down to Durham, prompting speculation he was assigned to the minors merely to delay his major league service time (thus delaying his eventual eligibility for salary arbitration). However, Friday’s decision makes any of that talk moot now.

Longoria combined to hit .299 with 29 homers and 95 RBIs last season between Double-A Montgomery and Durham, after hitting 20 homers overall in his pro debut in 2006. The Rays drafted him in the first round (third overall) in ‘06 out of Long Beach State.