Chandler Simpson has wheels, but he also has moves.
The Rays rookie outfielder boasts 99th percentile sprint speed and is tied for second in the American League with 32 stolen bases, despite only playing 67 games. So it's no wonder that pitchers pay special attention to him anytime he reaches first base. They're trying to keep him as close as they possibly can.
Sometimes that even means risking a potential balk by disengaging a third time, as Angels left-hander Tyler Anderson did in the first inning on Wednesday afternoon. He threw over once, and Simpson scampered back with ease. He threw over a second time, same result.
Now the count was 1-1 and Anderson had a bit of a conundrum on his hands. If he threw over a third time, it would have to result in an out, otherwise Simpson would be awarded second base on a balk, per the 2023 rule changes. Anderson is exactly average at holding runners on, according to Statcast's bases prevented vs. average leaderboard, but he decided to take his chances anyway, knowing how threatening Simpson can be on first base.
Simpson was off on first move, but Anderson threw over, and now it was the fleet-footed Rays rookie in a pickle. Knowing he'd been caught, Simpson had to think, uh, on his feet. Instead of going straight into second, he stopped midway between the bases, forcing the Angels into a rundown. And that was playing right into Simpson's hand.
He forced one throw from first baseman Nolan Schanuel to shortstop Zach Neto, then another back to Schanuel, who had closed the distance between them in the baseline. But when Schanuel tried to slap the tag down, Simpson contorted his body like Mr. Fantastic to avoid it. He then darted back to first base -- avoiding another tag by Anderson -- and initially slid past the bag but was still able to reach back and get a finger on it before being touched.
So in a Magellan-esque journey, Simpson ended up exactly where he started, and yet he was actually awarded second base on the disengagement violation.
"That's the greatest balk you'll ever see," the Rays booth said.