The Rays announced that they had selected the Voltigeur contract Chandler Simpson. Outfall Richie Palacios Go back to the injured list with a sprain from the right knee. Right -handed Alex Faedo was transferred to the 60 -day ILA as a corresponding decision to bring Simpson to the 40 men. Faededo started the season on the 15 -day Il due to inflammation of the shoulders. Its current status is not clear, but it is now not eligible to return until the end of May at the earliest. Marc Topkin of Tampa Bay Times reported the moves before the official announcement.
Simpson, 24, is one of the most interesting perspectives in baseball because of its basic sense. The Rays drafted him with the 70th choice in total in 2022, a selection of the competitive balance B Round B. During his first complete professional season in 2023, he stole 81 bases in 93 attempts, appearing in just 91 games. Last year, he participated in 110 minor league games and slipped 104 bags in 121 attempts. He is 8 years old for 11 until now here in 2025.
His work on the plate was quite competent, in a helpless way. He has so far been 1,120 appearances in a minor league on different levels. It has only one circuit stroke, which was variety inside the park. But worked more than it withdrew, a success rate of 9.6% compared to a rate of 8.8% of punctuates. This helped him produce an obliquely oblique bar line of .324 / .389 / .371. This results in a 123 WRC +, indicating that it was 23% above the average of the league overall.
It is a very intriguing combination. Many recent speed specialists have made their production pass through the inability to put the bat on the ball and / or put themselves on the basis. Billy Hamilton spent many years as the fastest man in baseball, but he only struck .239 / .292 / .325 in his career in the big league. Although it was a good bet for more than 50 flights per year and some refoulement captures, the lack of offense made it difficult to list. The guys love Juan Pierre,, Rajai Davis And Dee Strange-Gordon were somewhat similar, dragging hundreds of bags but with a lower shot.
If Simpson can be put on the basis a little more than the guys in this group, it may be a little more a manufacturer of difference. Although even if it is not the case, a player at elite speed and can always be very precious on the basic paths and in the outside field.
Prospects assessors are slightly divided on the type of impact of the big league that Simpson can have. Fangraphs is a particularly optimistic point of sale because they classified it prospect n ° 72 throughout baseball before this season. They noted that his contact capacity is almost in the guys as Luis Arráez And Steven KwanAlthough a little madness below. However, they also warn that speed and defense players like Myles straw And Nick Madrigal Give a kind of remuneration for how things could go wrong for Simpson with little offensive impact.
The Fangraphs report also adds that defense is a work in progress. Simpson was a second base player in college and always gets used to the outside field. They note that its routes are not always great, but its speed gives it a lot of space for error. If he can continue to develop his routes, there is a formidable ceiling there.
ESPN gave Simpson Place N ° 91 before the season, but Simpson did not make the Top 100 with Baseball America, MLB Pipeline or Keith Law of the Athletic. Ba ranked it n ° 8 in the Ray system in the year, apparently with a little more concern about defense and lack of power.
Division screening reports mean that incentive to promote perspective is not at stake here. To be eligible PPI, a player must be on two lists of BA / ESPN / MLB pipelines and Simpson did only one. It is too late in the season now for Simpson to get a full year of service. Even if it is to be done for good, it will not be able to qualify for the free agency until after 2031, although it has a chance to reach arbitration after 2027 as a super player.
The Rays have three field players on the IL in Palacios, Jonny Deluca And Josh Lowe. Their exterior playing time was Kameron Misner,, Christopher Morel,, Jake Mangum And José Caballero lately. Simpson will place in this group and test his courage against the pitch of the Great League.
Photo graceful of Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn images
