Electric Rays Prospect Given Lofty Baserunning Goal For This Season
The Tampa Bay Rays are at an interesting point with their Major League roster, but the funnest player to watch in the organization is still waiting in the minors.
MiLB prospect analysts Jonathan Mayo, Jim Callis and Sam Dykstra came up with a prediction for a prospect with each organization. For the Rays, it had to do with Triple-A outfielder Chandler Simpson's electric speed.
The prediction for Simpson was that he was going to steal 100 bases for the second straight season, with at least 40 of them at the MLB level.
The 24-year-old was a second round pick back in 2022 and has recently become one of the most popular players in the league.
From a pure entertainment standpoint, it is hard to argue that anyone else is going to be more fun to watch this season.
Just a few days ago, against the Sugar Land Space Cowboys he had one of the most electric singles of all time. Simpson was able to use his speed to beat out an infield single that was hit to the first baseman.
He's a freak. He's the fastest kid alive.
— Durham Bulls (@DurhamBulls) April 5, 2025
Y'all, Chandler Simpson just beat out a ground ball TO THE FIRST BASEMAN pic.twitter.com/JuPKqYlPDU
Earlier in that same game, he stole second base before they could even get a throw off. Making it even more impressive, it happened on a pitch out.
They tried to pitch out and didn’t even get a throw off on Chandler Simpson 😭😭😭
— Jake (@TBRaysCentral) April 4, 2025
pic.twitter.com/0Z253o0v0J
If he were to try and reach that century mark again while also getting 40 in the Majors, he will have to make the jump somewhere around the trade deadline.
That would give him a little over 50 games to steal 40 bases, which is a doable pace for Simpson. If he could keep the same rate that he did at Double-A last year, he would need 44 games to get 40.
Through six games this season, he is on pace for 108. His 80-grade speed will carry him to the number, he just needs to make it to the show in time.
He has had a solid start to the year, which could be good enough production if he keeps it up.
There should not be any surprise that he doesn't have home run power, but gets on base. He had more walks drawn than strikeouts last year and is even so far in 2025.
He has a .321/.355/.393 slash line through six games, which is close to where he has been throughout his entire career.
Defensively, Simpson's ceiling speaks for itself. He has just a serviceable arm, but should be able to cover among the most ground in the sport.
The Georgia native could end up being a spark plug as they try to build out another competitive roster.
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Dylan Sanders graduated from Louisiana State University with a degree from the Manship School of Mass Communication in 2023. He was born in raised in Baton Rouge, LA but has also lived in Buffalo, NY. Though he is a recent graduate, he has been writing about sports since he was in high school, covering different sports from baseball to football. While in college, he wrote for the school paper The Reveille and for 247Sports. He was able cover championships in football, baseball and women's basketball during his time at LSU. He has also spent a few years covering the NFL draft and every day activities of the New Orleans Saints. He is a contributing writer across many Sports Illustrated 'On SI' sites. You can follow him on X or Instagram @dillysanders