Aranda hopes to put bow on special, yet injury-shortened campaign

TORONTO -- Jonathan Aranda wasn’t going to miss this.

Sure, the Rays have been out of the playoff race for the past week, leaving them little to play for as a team. And yes, Aranda did enough through the end of July to solidify his standing as a key part of Tampa Bay’s foundation moving forward. After missing eight weeks due to a fractured left hand, playing this weekend won’t really change the shape of his season.

But he’s fully healthy, having worked his way back from the ill-timed injury he sustained during a collision with Giancarlo Stanton on July 31 at Yankee Stadium. He likes hitting against the Blue Jays and enjoys playing at Rogers Centre. And finishing the season on the field should make for a more satisfying winter.

“It's going to put me at ease,” Aranda said Friday afternoon through interpreter Eddie Rodriguez. “I just wanted to finish healthy. I know I'm 100 percent healthy right now, so it's thinking about going into the offseason, knowing that I'm good and that I'm healthy, and just enjoying this weekend."

Aranda seemed to enjoy his return to the lineup in the Rays’ 4-2 loss to the Blue Jays on Friday, launching a home run in his first at-bat back from the 10-day injured list. The victory moved the Jays one step closer to securing the American League East championship and the AL’s top postseason spot.

While they’d rather be competing for the division title themselves, the Rays (77-83, their most losses since going 68-94 in 2016) will make an impact on the postseason race this weekend based on how tough they make life on the Blue Jays. They’ll also benefit from the experience of playing in a playoff-like atmosphere all weekend, as was the case with a sold-out crowd of 42,184 and the roof open on a beautiful night at Rogers Centre.

“We always play them good, and they're still looking forward to clinching the championship of the American League,” Aranda said. “So it's going to be fun."

Aranda and fellow All-Star Junior Caminero made their presence felt early Friday night. After Toronto scored in the first inning, Caminero tied it up with a solo shot that bounced off the top of the right-field wall, good for his 110th RBI.

The opposite-field shot was Caminero’s first homer since Sept. 14 and his 45th of the season, one shy of matching Carlos Peña’s single-season franchise record with two games remaining.

“I don't put pressure on myself,” Caminero said through Rodriguez. “It's God's will. If it doesn't happen this year, it's gonna happen eventually.”

Up came Aranda, who worked a full count then unleashed his sweet swing on a 93 mph fastball over the middle. The ball sailed a Statcast-projected 391 feet to right-center field for Aranda’s 13th home run of the year.

“It's a very nice feeling,” Aranda said.

It was also a good reminder of what Aranda did so consistently for the Rays for the first four months of the season, what he could have done with a full season’s worth of at-bats -- and how much their lineup missed him while he was sidelined.

“The ball leaves his bat and you just kind of sit there [thinking], 'What if?' How would it have played out had he been healthy for the rest of his season?” manager Kevin Cash said. “He's put together a really special season with the injury, but if he would have got to his 500 at-bats, what would it have looked like?”

“I think if he wouldn't have missed all those games, I think things would have been or could have been different,” Caminero added. “He's a great bat to have in the lineup, and we were missing him.”

Regardless of what else he does at the plate, simply getting back on the field should make this a feel-good finish to Aranda’s long-awaited breakout season.

This time last year, he was nearing the end of a productive month that he hoped to use as a springboard into an everyday role with the Rays. He earned that spot and never looked back, as he’s batting .316 (second in the Majors behind Aaron Judge among players with at least 400 plate appearances), an .880 OPS, plenty of job security heading into next season and a little more peace of mind after coming back to finish what he started.

“I think he's coming back here knowing that he's more established, more confident, and he doesn't have to live and die with every at-bat or every result of every game,” Cash said. “We've all thought Jonny was really good for a very long time, and I think once he got the opportunity to go out there and kind of perform consistently, he made the most of it.”