Baseball season will officially be back in swing in two weeks, which leaves fans anxious on who will shine this season. Everyone on each team is starting off with a clean slate, so it really is anyone’s game on who makes this season their own. Here is a few predictions on who the stand out position players will be for the Tampa Bay Rays this season.
Curt Casali- We saw Casali for only 38 games last season, and we’ve only seen the surface on what this catcher can do. Not only did he prove he could field (.996 fielding percentage), he also proved he could hit the ball. For the past few season, the Rays have been lacking a catcher than can produce runs. With Casali, he proved he could be a dominant force offensively with .238 batting average, which is a higher batting average than the majority of catchers who have previously started on opening day for the Rays. Since John Jaso is now with the Pittsburgh Pirates, its truly Casali’s time to step up and prove he can be a main catcher for the Rays.
Logan Morrison- A new member of the Rays this season, Morrison has a fielding percentage of .996 with only 4 errors for the Seattle Mariners. Although he produced 17 home runs last season, he had a batting average of only .225. Hopefully a change in setting and being back in Florida will cause Morrison to bring his average back up to the numbers he had in previous seasons.
Mikie Mahtook- Mahtook is another rookie who has potential to make a mark on the Rays. He only played 41 games, but he had a huge impact on the team as he produced 19 RBI’s with a batting average of .295. If he continues to hit as well as he did last season, he may end up hitting lead off or protecting Evan Longoria by batting clean up which in return will give the Rays more runs on the board.
Will these players have a stand out season? We will just have to wait and see. But if last season is any prediction, they will be key components to the Tampa Bay Rays.
