7:53 pm: While the Rays are not prepared to say that Walls will be ready for Opening Day, his manager is “optimistic” he could be back for the start of the 2024 season, per Kristie Ackert of the Tampa Bay Times.
“If he’s running before he comes into spring training, that would be a very good sign,” said Kevin Cash. Still, the skipper cautioned that it’s too soon to know for sure: “I think we’ll know more in a month.”
2:51 pm: The Rays announced this afternoon (as relayed by Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times) that shortstop Taylor Walls underwent a surgical procedure on his right hip today. The procedure aimed to relieve discomfort due to an impingement and repair a tear in the labrum of the hip. Per the Rays, Walls is expected to be ready for baseball activities in February, though his readiness for Opening Day won’t be clear until he returns to baseball activities and a timeline can be established.
It’s an incredibly unfortunate development for the Rays. Walls, 27, emerged as the club’s primary shortstop down the stretch in 2023 following the placement of star shortstop Wander Franco on administrative leave while the league investigated allegations against Franco of inappropriate relationships with multiple minors. While Walls hit well early in the season, slashing .244/.349/.481 in his first 152 trips to the plate, he struggled the rest of the way, slashing just .169/.270/.221 with a 27.9% strikeout rate over his final 197 plate appearances.
Despite that downturn in offensive production, Walls still looked to be in line for the lion’s share of time at shortstop entering next year, pending a decision on Franco’s situation. Walls, a finalist of the utility Gold Glove award in the AL, saw his glove work around the infield praised by Defensive Runs Saved (+10 DRS) but panned by Outs Above Average (-6).
The Rays have a few other options at shortstop in the event that the everyday job remains vacant headed into Opening Day. Youngsters Junior Caminero, Osleivis Basabe, and Vidal Brujan are all already on the 40-man roster, though none of the group have found success in the major leagues to this point in their careers. Caminero’s .235/.278/.353 slash line in a brief 36-PA cup of coffee was the best major-league performance among that trio by measure of wRC+. Given that reality, the club may be best served looking for an external shortstop option to provide depth at the position via free agency.
Such an addition may be easier said than done, however. After all, the Rays are already due to stretch the club’s budget in 2024, with RosterResource projecting the club for a $120MM payroll that exceeds their 2023 figure by more than $50MM. The club may have already been poised to shed salary by moving on from the likes of Harold Ramirez, Manuel Margot, and perhaps even Tyler Glasnow, but such a move seems all the more likely if the Rays are forced to commit additional resources to shortstop in 2024. Quality shortstop options are few and far between in free agency this offseason, with the likes of Amed Rosario, Paul DeJong, and Gio Urshela representing some of the best options available.
“Incredibly unfortunate”? A bit of hyperbole. Walls is a utility guy who cannot hit. The Rays have several FA options, as well as in house options. Sure, another bad break for them, but they’ll do what they do. Restock, reload, and contend.
In roughly 1,000 PA’s, he’s hit .187. So yes, I would agree @always
Walls’ under the hood numbers on the hitting side are pretty brutal. He can get on base at a decent clip despite the Mendoza Line average and can run, but most of his other metrics are bottom 10% of the league kind of stuff.. He’s certainly a decent UTIL option, but the Rays are going to be in trouble next year if that’s their plan for SS.
They’d be better off seeing if Caminero can handle it for a year or so until Carson Williams or another option emerges.
If you want to make it uglier, he is worse left-handed (he switch “hits”). Oof….
I gotta admit, I was skimming this and thought it said “…underwent a magical procedure…”, and figured that explained a lot about the Rays.
Cool screen name! Eddie was the only man to play for the Boston Braves, Milwaukee Braves and the Atlanta Braves.
Boyhood hero. Braves left Milwaukee when I was 13….scarred me for life.
Not to nitpick on choice of words (which means I’m about to!), but this is not an “incredibly unfortunate development.” The offseason hasn’t even started as the World Series is ongoing. It’s October. He’s projected to be back for baseball activities in February. They have other options. Let’s save the “incredibly unfortunate” language if they have another starting pitcher who needs TJS and will miss the 2024 season. That would be incredibly unfortunate.
I feel better getting this off my chest, Nick. : -)
I was going to say the same thing as you and Always…
” Walls is expected to be ready for baseball activities in February, though his readiness for Opening Day won’t be clear until he returns to baseball activities and a timeline can be established.”
A guy with a 2.0 bWAR might or might not be ready for opening day will look like a walk in the park for most teams, come opening day.
Not unlike Ron Washington saying the same thing about 1st base in Moneyball. Exaggeration?
Can’t wait till he’s back to 100% and raking again.
Walls: “Doc, will I be able to hit after this surgery ?”
Doctor: “Sure you will. Probably better than ever !”
Walls: “That’s great new Doc, because I wasn’t hitting much before”
Twins would listen on Farmer. Not a cheap salary, but he’s a good veteran to hold the fort for awhile. MN is in the market for CF backfill. May be a match.