TAMPA -- The fastest man in baseball is coming to George M. Steinbrenner Field. With Richie Palacios going on the injured list due to a right knee sprain, the Rays promoted outfielder Chandler Simpson, their No. 7 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, from Triple-A Durham before Friday night’s game against the Yankees. Simpson was not in Tampa Bay’s starting lineup on Friday night, but he should be a sight to see whenever he makes his Major League debut in a No. 14 Rays uniform.
Dubbed “Little Tony Gwynn” by longtime big league outfielder Marquis Grissom, Simpson possesses a unique skill-set featuring game-changing speed and elite contact-hitting ability. “There's some real hitting ability that pairs with the foot speed. That's where the uniqueness, I think, really comes into play,” president of baseball operations Erik Neander said. “The over-the-fence power isn't there; that's not his game. But you don't see many people that are that fast, that control the zone as well as he does and can make contact the way he does.”
His track record backs that up. Simpson, 24, stole 104 bases while leading the Minor Leagues with a .355 batting average in 110 games last season. After spending Spring Training with the Rays, Simpson broke camp with Triple-A Durham and hit .301/.325/.329 with eight stolen bases in 17 games. Earlier this month, he turned a routine one-hopper to first base into an infield single. It’s an old-school skill-set based on speed and putting the ball in play, with extremely limited power, but the Rays have let Simpson be himself throughout his rise to the Majors.
“I think, in theory, that he adds an element to any lineup with how fast he is, his contact ability,” Cash said Friday afternoon. “I think he's going to get an opportunity here, a little bit of a runway. We'll see. I don't know if it'll be a short stint, long stint.”
Simpson’s call-up came out of necessity, as the Rays are beat up in the outfield. They lost right fielder Josh Lowe (right oblique strain) on Opening Day. Center fielder Jonny DeLuca (right shoulder strain) went down last week. And now Palacios, who came off the IL on Thursday and made an instant impact in his season debut, is back on the shelf with a right PCL injury. It’s tough news for Palacios, who missed the start of the season due to a fractured right ring finger. Cash said he wasn’t sure how Palacios sustained the injury, noting that he left Steinbrenner Field on Thursday night “feeling fine,” but woke up Friday morning “not feeling too good.” The injury is believed to be similar to the one that sidelined Palacios from Aug. 1-Sept. 23 last year.
The Rays have received major contributions from outfielders Kameron Misner and Jake Mangum, who were thrust into more prominent roles after the injuries to Palacios, Lowe and DeLuca. They’re hoping for more of the same from Simpson. “Is he ready? Is he not? Look, there's a need right now,” Neander said. “And I think Chandler's game is unique enough where we're never really going to know, but we're in a spot where there's opportunity. Feel like he's the best option, and it's worth getting that feedback here in the big leagues.”
A second-round pick in the 2022 Draft, Simpson was a college infielder who moved to the outfield in the Minors. He is expected to get most of his work in center field, the only position he has played for Durham so far this season. Mangum got the start in center field on Friday night. He and Misner can play all three outfield spots, while Christopher Morel has spent all his time in left this year. José Caballero can also work his way into the mix in right field.
It’s unclear how long Simpson’s first stint in the Majors will last. Lowe is expected to resume swinging a bat on Saturday, while DeLuca’s initial recovery timetable offered an estimated return between late April and early May. “We're in a spot where it's like, look, we felt he was the best option, and we'll just see where it takes us,” Neander said. “We just know there's opportunity, and we'll let the feedback from that opportunity decide where it goes from here.”
The Tampa Bay Rays selected outfielder Chandler Simpson from Triple-A Durham on Friday, April 18, 2025. Simpson, 24, has 214 stolen bases in the minors, including eight this season in 17 games for Triple-A Durham, where he hit .301/.325/.329. With Kameron Misner (0.9 fWAR) and Jake Mangum (0.6 fWAR) both manning center field and playing well this season, why would the Rays promote Simpson now?
“I’m assuming it’s for defense and just the value of his legs,” said The Athletic’s Keith Law. “If he gets on base, his speed is so disruptive that maybe he can make up for the complete lack of power. Both Misner and Mangum are hitting way above their previous levels, so it’s not likely Simpson is going to dislodge either of them just yet.”
Simpson’s speed and contact skills are undeniable; he took part in the 2024 Futures Game and stole 104 bases in 110 minor-league games last season. Yet, he is a polarizing prospect. “He also has grade 20 power, with one homer in the last two years total, and an isolated power (SLG – AVG) in his minor-league career of .049,” Law wrote when he ranked Simpson as the Rays’ No. 12 prospect. “He will play in the majors and maybe do so for a long time. He might be Billy Hamilton, who played in 11 seasons in the majors and whose production was worth 10 WAR, although even Hamilton had more power than Simpson, with 14 homers in 572 minor-league games. I get the excitement, and if I played fantasy baseball, I’d want him on my team, but in real major-league terms, I find it hard to see him as more than a 0.5 WAR/year player. He's a freak. He's the fastest kid alive.”
Despite Simpson only collecting 38 extra-base hits in 250 minor-league games, he has some believers within the organization due to his ability to turn a single into a double or perhaps even more. “At every level, people have scratched their heads: ‘Is this going to work? Is this going to play?’ ” Rays manager Kevin Cash told The Athletic a month ago. “It plays, and then some.”
“I would buy a ticket to watch him play,” Rays outfield and baserunning coordinator Jared Sandberg said. “I just wouldn’t miss the first four pitches because he might already be in the dugout with a run on the scoreboard.”
