Rays outfielder Richie Palacios was placed on the injured list due to what was termed a right knee sprain yesterday. It wasn’t immediately clear how long Palacios was expected to miss at the time, but manager Kevin Cash provided an update reporters (including Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times) this afternoon. Per Cash, the Rays are still “gathering information” about the specifics of Palacios’s injury, including whether surgery will ultimately be necessary. With that being said, Cash suggested that the Rays’ current expectation is that they’ll be without the outfielder for the next four to six weeks.
It’s the second IL stint of Palacios’s 2025 season. The outfielder missed Opening Day due to a late-spring fracture in his right ring finger and was activated from that injury on Thursday, but lasted just one day on the active roster before being sidelined with this knee issue. He went 3-for-4 with a stolen base in that one game on the roster, a performance that highlights just how much Palacios will be missed by the club while he’s out of action. The soon to be 28-year-old has hit a solid .238/.340/.377 with a 108 wRC+ in 125 games with the Cardinals and Rays dating back to 2023. In 422 trips to the plate during that time, Palacios has swiped 22 bases, swatted 11 homers, and walked at a 12.1% clip despite an 18.5% strikeout rate.
That all-around solid offensive performance is one the Rays could really use in their outfield mix. While the efforts of Christopher Morel, Jose Caballero, Jake Mangum, and Kameron Misner have shockingly led the Rays to the most productive outfield in baseball to this point in the 2025 season, there are plenty of indicators that this production isn’t sustainable. Morel is striking out at an eye-popping 43.8% clip this year, and Caballero’s strikeout rate is at 42.5%. Mangum and Misner, meanwhile, have managed to reach this level of success thanks to BABIPs of .373 and .405 respectively. Morel and Caballero can’t expect to stay productive while striking out in nearly half of their plate appearances, while Misner and Mangum should expect those sky-high BABIPs to come back down to Earth eventually.
A steady bat like that of Palacios would’ve gone a long way to stabilizing the club’s outfield production, but that hope will be put off for at least the next month. With no return in sight for Josh Lowe from his oblique strain and Jonny DeLuca expected to stay on the shelf until sometime next month due to a shoulder strain, that should give recently-promoted outfield prospect Chandler Simpson the opportunity to keep the good times rolling in Tampa’s outfield. Simpson was chosen to take Palacios’s place on the roster when he went on the IL yesterday, and the 24-year-old youngster made waves by stealing 104 bases in 121 attempts in the minors last year.
It’s a tall ask of Simpson, who only just reached Triple-A this year and had yet to hit much at the level across 17 games. The Rays have few remaining viable depth options available in their outfield at this point unless they’re willing to play non-roster DH Eloy Jimenez on the grass, so the speedy prospect figures to be a fixture of the club’s outfield for at least the next few weeks in light of Palacios’s potentially lengthy absence barring a surprise external acquisition that helps deepen the Rays’ outfield mix.
