It's a bird, it's a plane, it's Chandler Simpson! The Tampa Bay Rays' exciting rookie outfielder is quietly taking the AL East by storm. Tampa Bay may play in a spring training facility with a roster of a bunch of anonymous guys, but we would be foolish to overlook the rookie out of Georgia Tech any longer. Simpson is batting .285 in 35 games with the Rays, while stealing a team-high 19 bases on the year.
Simpson is still trying to see the ball a little better by drawing a few more walks, but he is helping the small-market Rays with some good, old-fashioned small ball. Yes, it may be easier to steal bases than ever before in MLB, but that is not the point. The point is we love to see action anyway we can have it on the diamond. The day and age of home run, strikeout or walk needs to go away already. Small ball!
What I like about Simpson's game is he is a unique chess piece that long-time skipper Kevin Cash can deploy in a multitude of ways. Tampa Bay is probably never going to be a big spender in free agency or in the manner of extensions, so the Rays need to strike while the iron is hot with top prospects. For the last 20 years or so, Tampa Bay has found a way to be competitive, despite financial constraints.
If you want to know what The Chandler Simpson Experience is all about, check out this tweet from X.
Tampa Bay enters play on Friday with a 29-27 record on the year, but 6.5 games back of New York.
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Chandler Simpson has us paying attention to the Tampa Bay rays
One of the things I admire about the Rays organization from afar is their refusal to lose in the midst of challenging circumstances. There are other cash-strapped organizations in MLB. Not everyone can spend like a major-market enterprise. Yet, the Rays still find a way to compete. They have become the true owners of Moneyball in the wake of the Athletics becoming only John Fisher's holding company.
In short, I like teams who can win in multiple ways. Living and dying by the long ball is too much of a roller coaster for me. I grew up on the Team of the '90s era of Atlanta Braves baseball, where good pitching and timely hitting reigned supreme. Tampa Bay seems to be built in that vein, albeit without the big pockets of one Ted Turner. Simpson, in a way, kind of reminds of guys I grew up watching play.
His ability to get on base and wreak havoc reminds of what I saw out of Otis Nixon and Deion Sanders in my youth. Neither were going to pack that much power at the plate, but timely hitting, great defense and all-out hustle made them such popular players in their heyday. Tampa Bay may not be built to retain stars, but the Rays sure are great at finding talent and then building them into ones.
We cannot wait to see what becomes of Simpson, as he is still only a rookie for this AL East team.