PHILADELPHIA – It looks like the next time we’ll see Chandler Simpson will be in his postseason debut next weekend.
The Rays’ speedy left fielder was not in the starting lineup on Saturday night at Citizens Bank Park after fouling a ball hard off the top of his right foot in Friday’s 2-0 win against the Phillies. He remained in the game immediately after the injury, finishing his at-bat and playing another half-inning in the outfield, then exited due to lingering soreness.
Simpson said Saturday he was still “just a little sore,” so he likely won’t play the Rays’ final two games. He might risk making it worse by coming back too quickly, especially on a wet field, and Tampa Bay doesn’t have anything at stake this weekend.
“I think that's probably the smart thing,” manager Kevin Cash said. “He’s OK, but we'll be smart and not push it with him.”
Simpson said there is no doubt in his mind that he will be fully ready for Game 1 of the American League Division Series, which is set for Oct. 3 at Tropicana Field. The extra time to rest and get healthy is, of course, a key benefit of winning the American League East and bypassing the Wild Card Series.
“Don’t want to make it worse. Just make sure everything’s fine,” Simpson said. “Just blessed to have [those] days where I can heal and get treatment on it, and just look forward to Game 1.”
As much as Simpson would have liked to be on the field to finish the regular season, he can still look back proudly on what he accomplished during his first full season in the Majors.
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Simpson has hit .306 on the year, the Majors’ fourth-highest batting average entering Saturday night’s action, and he leads the AL with 46 stolen bases.
He has also taken significant strides as a defensive outfielder, going from minus-5 outs above average last season to 8 OAA this year.
“I'm definitely blessed that I was able to have a healthy and successful year, especially going through maybe some tough times early in the year,” Simpson said. “Just showing resilience and grit, perseverance, bouncing back from that and [being] able to overcome that and come a long way from that, I’m definitely blessed for that.”
After his first 70 games of the season, Simpson was batting just .259 with a .600 OPS and 14 steals. But in 81 games after June 20, the contact-hitting speedster hit .346 with a .763 OPS, 32 steals and only 18 strikeouts in 334 plate appearances.
Simpson’s skill set has made him a key part of the bottom half of Tampa Bay’s lineup, which has found success by putting the ball in play and applying constant pressure on opposing defenses.
“He’s had a heck of a season,” Cash said. “I mean, nothing can take away from the season he's put together. The way that he has continued to improve and adjust on the fly, it's just a credit to him and the work ethic that he has.
“He’s game-changing. Game-changing defensively, game-changing when he gets on base and game-changing when [there is a] contact situation.”
The next time Simpson takes the field, he should get to show it in front of a national audience in his first taste of postseason baseball.
“Definitely looking forward to the environment, situations, how everybody handles it, and just dealing with it all,” Simpson said. “It’ll be fun to take it all in.”