TAMPA -- What Jonathan Aranda has done to start the season is impressive. The Rays' first baseman finished Monday’s rout of the Red Sox with a .395/.460/.698 slash line, good for a 1.158 OPS that ranked second among all qualified hitters at the end of the night. The only hitter ahead of him? Reigning American League MVP Aaron Judge. Aranda’s seven doubles lead the AL, and his nine extra-base hits were third behind Judge and Spencer Torkelson. But what Aranda has done to start the season is not surprising. “It's what you were waiting for,” second baseman Brandon Lowe said. “I feel like everyone saw what he was doing in Triple-A, everyone saw what he was doing in Spring Training and all this other stuff. And you're just like, 'All right, man. It's going to happen. He's going to figure it out.’” Indeed, this is what the Rays have expected out of Aranda -- and what the 26-year-old has expected of himself. The left-handed slugger has hit everywhere he’s been … except the Majors. Over parts of the past three seasons, he hit just .222/.309/.382 in 333 plate appearances. |
|
|
His playing time with the Rays came in fits and starts, but his production never matched the video-game numbers he put up in Triple-A -- a .316/.413/.546 slash line with 50 homers, 50 doubles and 185 RBIs in 231 games from 2022-24. Now, he’s getting regular work (at least against right-handed pitchers) as the Rays’ first baseman, and he’s making the most of it. “It's been more of the chances that I've been given and the opportunities,” Aranda said through interpreter Eddie Rodriguez. “I've been putting in the work for the past [few] years, and now just having the opportunity, it's great and it's showing.” Aranda’s breakout might have come last year, if not for a fractured finger that landed him on the injured list and an oblique injury that further stalled his progress. But he showed some promise in September, when he hit .253/.329/.507 with five homers and 10 RBIs in 24 games, and manager Kevin Cash was particularly encouraged by the more aggressive approach he displayed. |
Wanting to address what he acknowledged was likely his weakness, Aranda spent all winter working on his defense while playing winter ball for Yaquis de Obregon in his native Mexico. But he said what he’s doing at the plate started last September, as he’s carried his focus and on-the-attack mentality at the plate into this year. “He's a really good hitter, and he's been that way,” Cash said. “I think having confidence has allowed how talented he is to come out a little bit more.” Aranda had one of his best games in a Rays uniform on Saturday, going 3-for-3 with a 379-foot home run, three RBIs and two walks, and followed that up with a key pinch-hit RBI single on Sunday. Both Saturday’s homer (108.7 mph) and Sunday’s single (111.4 mph) were smoked, in line with what he’s done throughout his first 13 games. |
Aranda’s Baseball Savant page is glowing red, representing a hitter who began the week in the 94th percentile or better in average exit velocity, barrel rate, hard-hit rate and several “expected” metrics (xwOBA, expected average, expected slugging percentage) that indicate what he’s doing is for real. “We saw it all in Triple-A, too. Like, as soon as he gets comfortable and gets his ABs, he goes on a run, and it's amazing to see,” starter Taj Bradley said recently. “When he sees enough pitches, like, you can't get him out, you can't strike him out, so you better just more than likely just let him hit the ball and hopefully get himself out.” That hasn’t happened much lately. This is what Aranda has done, always does and expects to keep doing. He hits. “He's turned out to be exactly who we thought he was going to be, right? And it's just so great,” starter Drew Rasmussen said recently. “He's a great person, first and foremost, but then on top of it, the talent is off the charts. So to see what he's done here in the early going is pretty cool.” |
MLB MORNING LINEUP PODCAST |
• After an electric spot start, the Rays sent Joe Boyle back to Triple-A. Read more >> • MLB.com’s Brian Murphy covered Boyle’s outstanding outing and what it did for Tampa Bay’s rotation. Read more >> • Cash thought Danny Jansen was due for a big game. Hours later, he had one. Read more >> • The Rays’ best promotional item this season? How about the GMS bobblehead series? Read more >> |
|
|
After starting the season with series against opponents from the National League West and Central, the American League West and the NL Central, the Rays finally got into their AL East slate with Monday’s series opener against the Red Sox. And there’s more where that came from. The Rays will play two more against the Red Sox before hosting the Yankees for four games at George M. Steinbrenner Field, New York’s Spring Training ballpark. Tickets are available here. |
On Friday night, Taj Bradley finished the first inning by catching Jarred Kelenic looking at a curveball for a called third strike. He hopped off the mound and, as catcher Danny Jansen threw the ball down to Aranda at first base, waved his glove to get back that baseball. “As soon as I got that one, I was getting antsy, like, 'Give it to me!'” Bradley said. “It went from Jansen to Aranda, and luckily Aranda heard me before he threw it into the stands.” Why did he want it? It was the 300th strikeout of Bradley’s young career. His mother tipped him off before his last start in Texas that he was 10 away. He wanted to get it then, but he only picked up seven strikeouts. But when he struck out Michael Harris II, Bryan De La Cruz and Kelenic in the first inning on Friday, he knew. For now, Bradley said, his mom gets to keep that ball. She’s also in possession of the baseballs from his first strikeout, 100th strikeout and 200th strikeout. Whenever he settles into a place of his own, he hopes to display them -- and many more. “Just the round numbers,” he said. “I mean, it’s hard to stay in this game this long -- or just long in general. So, you get to 300, just keep a little memento.” |
|
|
FORWARDED FROM A FRIEND? SUBSCRIBE NOW |
|
|
To subscribe to Rays Beat, visit this page and mark "Rays Beat" from our newsletter list. Make sure you're following the Rays or that they're checked as your favorite team. |
|
|
|
