| Are there other solutions for the Rays infield? |
| This is not the newsletter I thought I would be writing today. Or, maybe it’s more accurate to say, this is not the exact direction I thought it would go. At some point during the Yankees series it seemed appropriate to address the struggles of Taylor Walls and Vidal Brujan. It just felt like the time was right. The Rays were slowly moving into that gray area between A) you have to be patient with young players and B) this is costing you games. Going into the series finale on Sunday, Walls and Brujan had a combined .141 batting average with a .205 slugging percentage. That’s better than sending a pitcher up to hit, but not by much. And with Brandon Lowe on the injured list and Wander Franco needing to rest his sore legs, there have been a lot of days when Brujan and Walls were both in the lineup. All of which helps explain why the Rays are averaging 4.21 runs per game this season after a franchise-best 5.29 in 2021. So I was all prepared to shout about the Rays needing to send Brujan to Triple-A Durham for a reset while calling up Jonathan Aranda and, at the same time, cutting back on Walls’ plate appearances. And then, lo and behold, Walls had the game of his life on Sunday. He homered, walked and made a handful of defensive plays, any of which could have been the difference in Tampa Bay’s 4-2 victory against the Yankees. And then Brujan had a sacrifice fly, a walk and a hit against Texas on Monday, and Franco appeared to tweak a muscle late in the game. Does that mean I’ve changed my mind after two games? No, not really. I’m just not as adamant as I was 48 hours ago. The Rays need Walls on the roster because Franco’s health really is touch-and-go and no one else can play shortstop. And maybe his big day against the Yankees will be the confidence boost Walls needed. But with Isaac Paredes on the roster to fill in at second and third, maybe it would help to cherry-pick Walls’ at-bats. Even though he’s a switch-hitter, he’s been pretty awful (an .069 batting average) against left-handed pitching, so he probably shouldn’t be starting against a lefty such as Nestor Cortes. And while the Rays risk devaluing Brujan’s stock by sending him down, it’s hard to justify a career batting average of .117, no matter how versatile he is in the field. Aranda, 24, has never been as highly regarded as Brujan, but he’s got more pop in his bat and is actually a few months younger. Aranda hit .325 at Double-A last season, and is currently hitting .328 at Durham. He’s not nearly as skilled defensively as Brujan, but the Rays may not be able to afford the luxury of two glove-first infielders with Brujan and Walls. A month ago, the Rays sent Josh Lowe to Triple-A to help him rebuild his confidence at the plate. Because they had Manuel Margot, Brett Phillips and Harold Ramirez to rotate between rightfield and designated hitter, it was probably an easier decision than it appeared. Well, now the Rays are facing a similar situation in the infield. No, Paredes and Aranda are not proven commodities as big-league hitters. And they’re certainly not as skilled as Walls and Brujan in the field. But it might be time to give them a shot while letting Brujan rediscover his mojo in Triple-A and lessening some of the everyday pressure on Walls. |
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