TAMPA -- Jake Mangum looked into the camera positioned in front of his locker in the visitors' clubhouse at Camden Yards on Saturday, thinking about the 467-foot blast he’d just seen Jonathan Aranda send into orbit, and made a simple plea. “Can we get him to Atlanta, please?” Mangum asked. “Like, please?” Aranda didn’t get enough votes to advance to Phase 2 of the All-Star balloting process, but he is still a deserving candidate to crack the American League All-Star team when the full rosters are revealed on Sunday. There is no doubt among Aranda’s teammates that the breakout slugger should be at Truist Park in Atlanta on July 15. • Watch the All-Star Game presented by Mastercard on FOX
“He's one of the best, and there's no question about it,” José Caballero said. “The voting is kind of, like, weird. He deserves to be there. Hopefully he will be there. That's all I can say.” Aranda is the Rays’ most obvious All-Star candidate. He entered Monday night leading the team with 3.2 WAR. He is hitting .327 with a .407 on-base percentage, both the third-highest marks in the Majors. His .903 OPS ranks 11th among all qualified players. He has been Tampa Bay’s most consistent hitter, and the balanced nature of his success is evident in his .327/.407/.496 slash line. But he is not the only Ray who should be in the All-Star conversation as the players and MLB round out the rosters next weekend. “I think not enough people are talking about our group and the consideration for our group as a whole, because I feel like we have a bunch of All-Star candidates,” manager Kevin Cash said Monday afternoon. “Just hopeful that they continue to get consideration and are recognized, because there's a bunch of them that are putting together some special first halves between.” Let’s look at the other All-Star candidates that Cash mentioned in addition to Aranda. |
SP Drew Rasmussen: Besides Aranda, Rasmussen probably has the strongest case on the team. He entered Monday night's start with a 2.45 ERA, which was the eighth-lowest mark among qualified pitchers this season, and his 0.96 WHIP also ranked eighth before he gave up four runs in a shortened three-inning outing against the A's. He doesn’t have the gaudy strikeout numbers of some of his peers, and his innings have been limited by design, but in terms of pure run prevention, few have been better than Rasmussen. Plus, he has an inspiring story as someone who’s overcome three major elbow surgeries to perform at the highest level. |
SP Ryan Pepiot: Cash has gone out of his way to mention Pepiot’s worthiness. His surface-level numbers may not look as strong, especially after a rough outing in Baltimore, but he’s done a lot of things well as he’s put together a 3.36 ERA and 1.15 WHIP with 92 strikeouts and 30 walks in 96 1/3 innings over 17 starts. The Rays are only 7-10 when he pitches, yet he has 10 quality starts and has allowed more than three runs only twice. |
DH Yandy Díaz: This one happened fast, didn’t it? The veteran’s numbers were nothing to write home about at the end of May -- he was slashing just .241/.286/.405 despite consistently hitting the ball hard, as usual -- yet he boasts the AL’s 13th-best batting average (.291). He was simply that good in June (.400), joining Fred McGriff (.422 in July 1999) and Matt Joyce (.414 in May 2011) as the only Rays players to hit .400 or better in a calendar month. Will it be enough to earn his second All-Star nod? |
2B Brandon Lowe: The only second baseman in MLB with more home runs since 2020 is Marcus Semien. The only second basemen with a higher wRC+ this decade are Jose Altuve and Ketel Marte. Yet Lowe has not made an All-Star team since doing so as a rookie in 2019. He’s made a strong case for himself lately, bouncing back from a relatively slow start with a .275/.327/.490 slash line, 18 homers and 49 RBIs. |
3B Junior Caminero: This is a pretty simple argument: Do you want to see Caminero in the T-Mobile Home Run Derby? Yes, you do. And since that’s the case, he might as well be in Atlanta for the Midsummer Classic, too. Caminero has hit 21 homers, becoming the fifth player since at least 1901 to have that many before July at age 21 or younger, along with a team-high 53 RBIs and a .259/.303/.518 slash line. Set to turn 22 this weekend, Caminero is clearly a rising star and someone who shines in the spotlight. What better stage could there be than the All-Star Game? |
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MLB MORNING LINEUP PODCAST |
• Some good news on the injury front, with Shane McClanahan set for a full-intensity bullpen session and Hunter Bigge recovering well. Read more>> • The Rays checked in at No. 7 in MLB.com’s latest Power Rankings. Read more>> • Three takeaways from Sunday’s series finale in Baltimore, including a rough start for Taj Bradley. Read more>> |
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NOW PITCHING … JOSÉ CABALLERO? |
When the Rays fell into an eight-run hole against the Orioles on June 18, Cash asked the ultra-versatile Caballero if he could pitch. Specifically, he asked if Caballero could throw enough strikes to do so. It wound up being a non-issue that night, because the Rays stormed back to beat the O’s, 12-8. But Caballero’s willingness to take the mound came into play Friday, when he gave up six runs on five hits (including two homers) while recording three outs in Tampa Bay’s 22-8 loss to Baltimore. “The situation called for it. Just trying to help the bullpen,” Caballero said. “It's early in the series, and it was a hard game for us, starting up 6-nothing and then falling behind so far. We didn't want to waste any pitchers at the end of the game.” Caballero didn’t have much experience on the mound and wasn’t exactly looking forward to pitching, but he threw a few fastballs in the upper 80s and topped out at 88.8 mph. Plus, it checked another box for the super-utility man, who has lined up at every position but catcher and first base. “Looking forward to those two,” Caballero said, smiling. “We’ll see.” |
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