The Rays announced Friday that they’ve placed outfielder Randy Arozarena on the Covid-19-related injured list and recalled fellow right-handed-hitting outfielder Jordan Luplow from Triple-A Durham. The league’s 2021 health-and-safety protocols stipulate a seven-day absence for close contacts.
Arozarena, 26, has been on a tear over his past 14 games, hitting at a .404/.443/.842 clip with six homers, five doubles and a triple in 61 trips to the plate. The 2020 postseason sensation has had a strong year all-around at the plate, turning in a .268/.344/.458 batting line that’s about 25 percent better than league average when weighted for his home park and league, by measure of wRC+.
With Arozarena away from the team for the immediate future, the Rays will turn to the recently acquired Luplow, who came over from Cleveland alongside righty reliever DJ Johnson in a trade that sent pitching prospect Peyton Battenfield back to the Indians. Luplow, 27, will be making his team debut the first time he steps into a game setting for Tampa Bay.
But while this’ll be Luplow’s first action with the Rays, it’s hardly his first exposure to the big leagues. He comes to the organization with more than three years of MLB service time, spread across parts of five seasons between Pittsburgh and Cleveland. Luplow is a lifetime .222/.327/.452 hitter in the Majors but offers a skill set the Rays have often maximized: platoon excellence and generally strong defensive ratings in the outfield corners (with the ability to play center in a pinch). Patrick Kinas of NBC Sports tweets that Luplow has been getting some workouts in at first base, as well.
Luplow has had some uncharacteristic struggles against left-handed pitching in a small sample of 65 plate appearances so far in 2021, but over the course of his career, he’s quietly been one of baseball’s most powerful hitters against southpaws. That’s not hyperbole, either. Despite this year’s struggles, Luplow is a career .251/.371/.556 hitter when holding the platoon advantage. Focusing in only on his 2017-20 production, Luplow is a .275/.379/.603 hitter against lefties (154 wRC+).
The average isn’t especially high, and his OBP against lefties is strong but not elite, but Luplow’s .328 ISO (slugging minus batting average) in that stretch ranked fourth among 282 hitters with at least 250 plate appearances against lefties. The only names ahead of him are J.D. Martinez, Giancarlo Stanton and Nolan Arenado — impressive company for a player who has been a largely anonymous part-time outfielder.
The Rays can control Luplow for three more seasons after the 2021 campaign, so if he’s able to rediscover that form against lefties and right the ship in the season’s final months, he could be a long-term bench option for the Rays. He’d be a cost-effective one, at that, as Luplow’s part-time role suppresses his counting stats and will limit his earning power in arbitration. This offseason will mark his first time going through that arbitration process.
Thoughts and prayers to his family
And to him of course…
Chicken and rice and push ups baby
Wonder if he is asymptomatic again?
Here comes another 10 homerun postseason
Give Luplow a chance. Here we go loop-de-loop
Luplow and Austin Meadows together again. Don’t think Rays will be dumb like Pirate’s Clint Hurdle and often play Luplow and have Meadows sit. Could never figure that one out.
Finally the rest of the East has to also lose players to Covid. Not wishing sickness. Only equity.
Equity? Dude Tampa plays with a payroll that doesn’t compare to the other teams in the division. And 100 to 1 you are a fan of one of those teams.
And has 10 of their best pitchers injured
The owner has plenty of money. He just chooses not to spend it. There’s nothing heroic about their record, especially since they were terrible for so many years and so got high draft picks.
Makes zero difference how rich an owner is. Baseball teams are separate businesses and their owners don’t subsidize them from other revenue streams except in a few rare cases (Mike Illich comes to mind). The only thing that matters is how much revenue a team brings in and how much of THAT an owner chooses to spend. Anyway from the owner’s POV, the economic value of owning a team is the capital gains, not the annual profit.
Rays have very weak revenue streams. They might be able to spend a bit more, but the revenue is not there to compete financially with the rest of the East.
” bad for so many years” f ing moron do you even watch baseball? One of the 5 best records in baseball for the past 13 years. Research before you post so you dont look so stupid
This coming from a Yanks or Red Sox fan is so deliciously ironic. Lmao.
Everyone that knows baseball or doesn’t, knows the Rays need to move out of Tampa Bay. If they don’t move they will continue to have “0” championships. My guess is they will stay and never win. So much for analytics.
You fall into a separate category:
Don’t know ish about Rays baseball except calling them daddy.
I think they should spend less. Generally their highest paid guys always under perform. You don’t think they could easily replace KK?
Between KK, Archer and Wacha, thats %25 of our payroll
And they would love to dump KK. Phillips and Margot are the exact same player blah offense great defense at a fraction of price. And next year Jlowe will be in center, but noone wants KJ
Right the Pendant winners should kick the Yankees out of Tampa since the Rays own them
Didn’t he have Covid last year? I recall hearing how he had to do push-ups, sit-ups, etc in his hotel room while being quarantined.
Yes, that’s why he started the season late and missed most of spring training.
I wonder if Arozarena’s case arose at an arena.
If you look closely at Mercedes Benz Stadium then you will see that Atlanta also has a rose arena.
Well, that’s quite a drop-off.
Chicken and rice and push ups baby
Wonder if he is asymptomatic again?
Here comes another 10 homerun postseason