The Rays announced that they have selected the contract of outfielder Chandler Simpson. Outfielder Richie Palacios is heading back to the injured list with a right knee sprain. Right-hander Alex Faedo has been transferred to the 60-day IL as the corresponding move to get Simpson onto the 40-man. Faedo started the season on the 15-day IL due to shoulder inflammation. His current status is unclear but he’s now ineligible to return until late May at the earliest. Marc Topkin of The Tampa Bay Times reported the moves prior to the official announcement.
Simpson, 24, is one of the most interesting prospects in baseball on account of his base-stealing acumen. The Rays drafted him with the 70th overall pick in 2022, a Competitive Balance Round B selection. In his first full professional season in 2023, he stole 81 bases in 93 attempts, appearing in just 91 games. Last year, he got into 110 minor league games and swiped 104 bags in 121 attempts. He is 8 for 11 so far here in 2025.
His work at the plate has been competent enough, in a powerless sort of way. He has 1,120 minor league plate appearances thus far across various levels. He has just one home run, which was of the inside-the-park variety. But has walked more than he has struck out, a 9.6% rate of free passes compared to an 8.8% rate of punchouts. That has helped him produce a bizarrely level slash line of .324/.389/.371. That translates to a 123 wRC+, indicating he’s been 23% above league average overall.
It’s a very intriguing combination. Many recent speed specialists have had their production undercut by an inability to put the bat on the ball and/or get on base. Billy Hamilton spent many years as baseball’s fastest man but he hit just .239/.292/.325 in his big league career. While he was a good bet for 50-plus steals annually and some highlight-reel catches, the lack of offense made him difficult to roster. Guys like Juan Pierre, Rajai Davis and Dee Strange-Gordon were somewhat similar, swiping hundreds of bags but with subpar hitting.
If Simpson can get on base a bit more than guys in that group, perhaps he can be a bit more of a difference maker. Though even if not, a player with elite speed and can still be plenty valuable on the basepaths and in the outfield.
Prospect evaluators are a bit split on what kind of big league impact Simpson can make. FanGraphs is one outlet that is especially bullish, as they ranked him the #72 prospect in all of baseball heading into this season. They noted that his contact ability is almost at the level of guys like Luis Arráez and Steven Kwan, though a smidge below. However, they also caution that speed-and-defense players like Myles Straw and Nick Madrigal offer a sort of cautionary tale of how things could go wrong for Simpson with little offensive impact.
The report from FanGraphs also adds that the defense is a work in progress. Simpson was a second baseman in college and is still getting used to the outfield. They note that his routes aren’t always great but his speed gives him a lot of room for error. If he can continue to develop his routes, there’s a tremendous ceiling there.
ESPN gave Simpson the #91 spot heading into the season but Simpson didn’t crack the top 100 with Baseball America, MLB Pipeline or Keith Law of The Athletic. BA ranked him #8 in the Rays’ system coming into the year, seemingly with a bit more concern about the defense and lack of power.
The divisive scouting reports mean that the prospect promotion incentive is not at play here. To be PPI eligible, a player must be on two of the BA/ESPN/MLB Pipeline lists and Simpson only cracked one. It’s too late in the season now for Simpson to get a full year of service time. Even if he’s up for good, he won’t be able to qualify for free agency until after 2031, though he has a chance to reach arbitration after 2027 as a Super Two player.
The Rays have three outfielders on the IL in Palacios, Jonny DeLuca and Josh Lowe. Their outfield playing time has been going to Kameron Misner, Christopher Morel, Jake Mangum and José Caballero lately. Simpson will slot into that group and test his mettle against big league pitching.
Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images
Simpson ?! DOH !!
A perfectly cromulent selection.
Yassss! The Rays and Mariners are the quirkiest franchises in professional sports. This Simpson guy is perfect for South Florida. I hope he is the first guy to get more steals than hits.
Bita must burn for his sins
Joel – all of your profiles were spawned in Hell.
Whatever loser
So sorry Austin wells
“….in a powerless sort of way.” Accurate, but still worth a laugh.
OJ’s great nephew.
Just a reminder: Juan Pierre was a career .295 hitter. No tolerance for JPierre disrespect haha One of my favorite leadoff hitters of his generation.
86 wRC+ due to lack of power and 5.6% walk rate.
But that is not what you wrote. Subpar power and subpar walk rate is not the same as subpar hitting.
I would put Dee Gordon, who won a batting title by the way, in the same category.
To the first point, I consider drawing walks and hitting for power a part of hitting. Batting average doesn’t tell you whether a guy is a good hitter or not, in my opinion. These are semantic points and you can disagree if you like.
On Dee, the math is similar. 88 wRC+ in his career thanks to 4% walk rate and lack of power.
I don’t see how drawing walks could ever be considered a part of hitting. It is literally the lack of hitting anything. Walks are more a product of a pitcher being unable to do his job and you just not helping.
Walks are definitely an important part of the game, but not hitting.
hiflew;
Depends what a person is looking for…..
Those that watch baseball games to see which team wins have a different outlook on the game than those that watch to see how the individual players are acquiring statistics that fit into the algorithm of their rotisserie league team.
For instance, say young Mr. Simpson hits a single, then steals 2nd base. In fact he’s moved 2 bases, the same as a player hitting a double (if he also steals 3rd base he’s accomplished what another player did hitting a triple). But he’s not being credited the same, and can be said to be : “competent enough, in a powerless sort of way”.
This is why teams develop proprietary statistics. The Rays have proven to be masters at using their statistics in a way that allows them to deploy their players in a way which results in more wins than most public sites project them for each year.
I think that deciding which pitches to swing at and which ones not to swing at is a skill, and an important part of hitting. But I guess we’ll just have to disagree on this one.
Reasonable people are allowed to disagree on subjects. You are not wrong and neither am I, We just see things differently.
My only issue with walks is that you can go up to the plate without a bat and draw a walk or get hit by a pitch. You cannot go up to the plate without a bat and get a single. Walks are more a product of a pitcher being unable to get you out than you really doing anything well. Yes I know that fouling off good pitches matters, but for the most part walks don’t happen if pitchers do their job correctly.
A walk can happen by a pitcher missing his spots sometimes, sure. But a hitter can also get a fluke hit by hitting rolling the ball 30 feet down the third-base line.
This is why large sample sizes are important.
Mike Trout has a 14.7% walk rate in his career, thousands of plate appearances. Pierre had a 5.6% walk rate in thousands of plate appearances.
Is that because Trout faced a lot of bad pitchers and Pierre did not? Or is it because Trout is a better hitter than Pierre?
Neither. It is because Trout has a better eye. A different skill than hitting.
In my opinion, having a good eye at the plate is a part of hitting. Recognizing pitches that are in the zone, out of the zone, which ones are good to hit/bad to hit, etc. is all a part of hitting.
Drawing walks is absolutely a part of hitting, as hitters either do or do not draw walks. Weird take.
ya think? lol
Juan Pierre was a lifetime .295 hitter across 14 big league seasons. To label him as a guy “wiping hundreds of bags but with subpar hitting” is wild to me. Need better out of you, Darragh.
86 wRC+ due to lack of power and 5.6% walk rate.
Yup and while he did steal bases it was at about 75% success rate, which basically was a net 0. Though I’m sure other things like 1st to third boosted his value.
It’s Dock Spider day! How many ex Fond du Lac Dock Spiders get to make an MLB debut today? 2 and counting. Durbin and now Simpson.
King of Joel owes his sister over 25,000 that she lent him over the years for clinic visits and past due rent.
Let’s go Simpson!!!
Madrigal wasn’t that fast lol
And arraez has literally no legs he’s basically just a not as fat old Tony Gwynn at this point
Comparing Simpson to arraez would be like comparing mookie to judge
I was looking forward to seeing him in person in Durham this weekend. The other game I went to earlier in the season, he had the night off.
Simpson, Misner and Josh Lowe if he ever gets healthy.
Caminero and Aranda are having good starts, B Lowe and Yandy Diaz. Could get Eloy Jimenez at some point to DH. The Rays offense has potential, and they are deep in the rotation.
300 hitter at every level of the minors with 100 steals and more walks than strikeouts but I’m sure someone has some stat that starts with a lower case “x” and a couple slash marks that will tell me about how the dude “sucks” and batting average is overrated.
If he hits like Pierre he’ll be a problem in today’s game. Florida Marlins Juan Pierre was a real problem.
Speed is usually the first trait that leaves so hopefully he can learn to hit
Must see TV circa 97
Glad I got him for my roto fantasy team (I was struggling in SBs).
More seriously, I think he will be exciting to watch and a solid Major League player given his speed and contact skills.
Guessing his middle name is either Kramer, Stewie or “The Toolman”.
Simpson is one of those players you want to see do good because of how electric some of his tools are. Who doesn’t want to see a guy with 80-grade speed get on base just enough to show it off? But guys with only one or two carrying tools are always a high-risk. Any prospect with a 20-grade tool is suspect. But even if he can put up a .300-.310 OBP, he’ll get playing time.
He’s essentially hitting as I expected. Another all speed and limited bat in the Majors. Looks good but he’s not panning out long-term.