NEW YORK -- A year ago, Ryan Vilade was sleeping on a Walmart bed while playing for Triple-A Memphis -- the affiliate of the Cardinals -- still searching for a place to call home in the Major Leagues.
On Wednesday, he was rounding the bases at Yankee Stadium after hitting his first postseason homer in his first appearance, helping the Rays complete a sweep of the Yankees with a 4-3 victory in Game 3 of the American League Division Series.
“It was amazing. I think I blacked out. I was sprinting,” Vilade said. “You dream about this as a kid, and then to be able to live it? It was incredible.
“Especially for this team. This team is so special. We play for one another. We love each other, and we're not done. We don't want it to end. We want to keep going, you know? Gosh, man, I'm so happy.”
The road to that moment was anything but straightforward.
Vilade spent three seasons in the Minors before earning his first Major League callup in 2021 with the Rockies, which lasted just three games. He went on to make brief appearances in the Majors with the Tigers, Cardinals and Reds before Cincinnati traded him on Nov. 3, 2025, to the Rays for cash considerations.
“That's the grind. That's fun, too,” Vilade said. “This year I'm here and get to go to the ALCS and compete with my guys. That's just the Lord's plan, and I'm grateful for it.”
Through all the uncertainty, quitting was never an option.
“I don't quit. That's just not who I am,” Vilade said. “But times were tough, bouncing around orgs and just trying to find a home. And when I got traded here, I was super excited for the opportunity and just blessed and thankful to be here and have that opportunity.”
That mindset led him to the plate at Yankee Stadium, facing a chorus of boos with a 2-1 count in the top of the fourth inning with the game tied 1-1.
Yankees starter Max Fried challenged Vilade with a 95.5 mph four-seamer over the middle-away portion of the strike zone. Vilade got the barrel to it and sent the pitch 97.1 mph off the bat to tie the game 2-2. The ball traveled a Statcast-projected 340 feet toward right field, where Spencer Jones stood near the wall and leaped in an unsuccessful attempt to track it down.
“Definitely didn't expect anything, like [a] homer being your first postseason hit,” Vilade said. “You dream about it, and then to do it was really special. The moment of the game was super cool, as well. But yeah, just blessed.”
The homer came with some irony, considering Vilade had already come close to slugging another in his first at-bat. In the second inning, he sent a 79.2 mph sweeper 356 feet out to left field that would have been a home run in six Major League parks, but it stayed inside the wall. His second at-bat had the opposite result: a solo shot that would only be a homer at Yankee Stadium.
“Going into my second at-bat, I knew that he probably wanted to go fastball,” Vilade said. “My plan was [to] stay on his heater, and he threw me three or four, and then the fourth one was the homer.
“What helped me a lot was my first at-bat, just knowing and going back and forth with him. Those are the type[s] of chances you gotta take sometimes.”
For their Game 3 matchup, the Rays moved Victor Mesa Jr. into the No. 4 spot of the lineup and Vilade into the No. 5 spot to face the left-handed Fried. Among Tampa Bay hitters, only Junior Caminero (.916) had a higher OPS against left-handed pitching this season than Mesa (.868) and Vilade (.818).
The decision paid off for both hitters.
After the Yankees got a run back in the bottom of the fourth inning, Mesa delivered a two-run go-ahead homer in the sixth for his first career postseason home run to put Tampa Bay up 4-2.
For manager Kevin Cash, the contributions of Vilade and Mesa go beyond the swings they delivered Wednesday. It’s also about the way they’ve embraced their roles and become part of the team.
“It means a lot because they're key parts to our clubhouse,” Cash said. “[Vilade has] been right in the thick of things when we're facing left-handed pitching. And maybe on the other teams, he's playing more, but he's accepted his role of doing everything he can to contribute when his number is called in such a big way.”