Having missed the playoffs just once in the last six seasons, the Tampa Bay Rays have discovered how to achieve a level of success that belies their salary liabilities. Adam Cockerill offers five players you should watch out for during the 2025 season.
The most obvious pick, Junior Caminero has been poised to break out for the Rays in the last two seasons since he made his big league debut towards the end of the 2023 season.
The 21-year-old has proven all he can in the minor leagues, hitting .307, .548 slugging percentage, .921 OPS with 67 home runs in 282 games.
At the major league level, it has not quite translated, albeit with a very small sample size, and adjustment to the stiffer competition.
Caminero has hit .246/.412/.708 with seven home runs in 50 games across the two seasons.
However, with his heroics in the Dominican winter league and his iconic home run trot, he flashed some brilliance in his cup of coffee in the majors.
A maximum exit velocity of 116.3mph last year would rank in the top 2% in the majors, plus 77.2 mph average bat speed, which put him in the top 7% in bat speed with a minimum of 50 plate appearances.
His year-by-year changes have trended upwards too, with his average exit velocity up 4.3mph, launch angle by 7.3 degrees, and his launch angle sweet spot up by 9.8%.
Another player that has been on the radar of Rays fans for a number of years, Aranda made the Opening Day team for the first time, with now a clear path of game time and position.
Coming through as a second baseman in the Rays system for the last five years means being blocked at the major league level due to Brandon Lowe’s consistent production.
Aranda has nothing else to prove at the minor league level, posting a .870 OPS in 543 games, with an even more impressive .959 OPS at Triple-A in 231 games.
Aranda’s stumbling block has never been his bat, the Rays have always known it would produce, it has been his fielding and lack of defence, so pencilling him into the lineup past two seasons have been difficult due to his lack of versatility in the field, compared to other players, but also the Rays having other players taking their turns in DH as they rotate the lineup each day.
The starter-turned-reliever dazzled when he was called up to the majors last season, going under the radar as one of the best left-handed options in the bullpen.
The southpaw put up a 1.86 ERA with 17 strikeouts in 9 2/3 innings pitched.
Moving Montgomery into a reliever elevated his pitches, turning his 93-94mph fastball as a starter into 97-99mph and even 100mph fastballs that just blew past batters.
The 2021 sixth-round pick flew up the minor leagues, even picking up 2022 minor league pitcher of the year in the organisation; however, when in Triple-A in 2024, his numbers were not as impressive.
He put up a 6.26 ERA; however, he showed strikeout potential with 105 strikeouts in 87 2/3 innings pitched.
The 24-year-old relies on a fastball slider combo with his heater thrown 67% of the time and was in the 93rd percentile of fastball velocities in the majors last year.
The Texas Tech alumni will be one of the premier left-handed bullpen arms this year with Garrett Cleavinger.
Although starting the season in Triple-A, Eric Orze will no doubt be up in the majors this season, and play a big role in the bullpen.
Acquired in the trade that sent defensive wizard Jose Siri to the Mets, it was initially seen as a light return for ‘El Rayo’.
However, his unique delivery and nasty pitches, plus his ability to throw multiple innings in the bullpen, will provide value to the Rays’ pitching staff.
In 150 minor league games to his career, the 27-year-old has thrown 222 2/3 innings.
He had a poor start in his brief major league career with the Mets, throwing a miniscule 1 2/3 IP, but with a 21.60 ERA.
However, he looked impressive in the spring, with a 1.42 ERA in 6 1/3 innings pitched, and striking out 10 batters.
Orze throws a fastball, changeup and slider, with the first two being the primary, with 43% and 48%, respectively.
The slider is a nice third pitch with it having 2600 revolutions per minute (RPM), typically 100 RPM more than the average MLB slider.
Similar to Orze, Joe Boyle will start the season in Triple-A, but after his impressive spring training performance, he will be summoned to the big league team in no time.
Another trade acquisition done in the offseason saw Jeffrey Springs and his $21 million dollar contract for Boyle, which was seen as a project similar to when the Rays acquired Tyler Glasnow in 2018.
His last season numbers with the then-named Oakland Athletics were abysmal. There is no hiding from it, but the Rays have one of the best pitching labs in the majors and have seemed to work already so far through spring training.
Boyle possesses a 100mph fastball with a devastating slider but has lacked the command to hone in on the skills, leading to a high walk percentage since turning professional.
Boyle had a 6.42 ERA in 47 2/3 innings pitched, with an astonishing 40 walks in that time frame. However, the 6-foot-7 right-hander’s expected ERA (xERA) was a whole two runs lower than shown and showed a high whiff percentage in the 84th percentile and a barrel percentage in the 95th percentile.
Featured image photo of Junior Caminero by Mark Taylor/Getty Images
Article by Adam Cockerill. Look out for more Rays content from Adam during the season. Find him on social media @Adam_Cockerill.
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