PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- Chandler Simpson: fastest man in baseball and … home run hitter?
OK, maybe not, but the Rays speedster can now say that he has hit a home run in a Major League uniform.
In the seventh inning of the Rays’ 3-2 win over the Twins on Saturday afternoon at Charlotte Sports Park, Simpson pulled a first-pitch slider from reliever Dan Altavilla just over the right-field fence, and bounced it off the boardwalk for a go-ahead, two-run homer.
“That was pretty cool,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said, grinning. “Dugout erupted.”
For most players, a Spring Training home run might not be a big deal. Simpson is not most players.
You see, Simpson only hit one home run in college. It was a grand slam against Gardner-Webb on Feb. 25, 2022, during his junior season at Georgia Tech, but there is a catch -- or, rather, there wasn’t one. The ball deflected off the Gardner-Webb right fielder’s glove and bounced over the fence.
And while Simpson was racking up absurd stolen-base totals in the Minors, he only hit one home run during his four seasons in Tampa Bay’s system. It came for Double-A Montgomery on June 7, 2024 -- and it was an inside-the-park homer.
So, yes, there was reason to celebrate Simpson’s incredibly rare display of over-the-fence power. That’s why the players and coaches inside the Rays’ dugout -- including Junior Caminero, who knows a thing or two about going deep -- were adamant that the hit should be ruled a homer when it was initially called a double.
“I knew it cleared. I saw it hit the wood, but I stopped at second just to make sure,” Simpson said afterward. “So when they waved their finger around, I'm like, 'Oh, yeah, I gotta jog, hit the Cami celebration and enjoy it.'”
Indeed, after rounding third base, Simpson jumped to celebrate with third-base coach Brady Williams, then hopped and clapped his hands like Caminero does after each of his home runs. Caminero greeted Simpson in front of the dugout with high fives and a slap to the helmet, then Simpson ran through a high-five line with his teammates.
When he reached the end of the line, all he could do was shrug and smile.
“Everybody was happy,” Simpson said. “They were shocked, as I was.”
As a prospect, the scouting joke with Simpson was that he had “90-grade speed and 10-grade power” on the traditional 20-80 scouting scale. His skill-set makes him one of the most unique players in baseball, someone who can make contact with just about any pitch and steal 100 bases in the Minors but hardly clear the fence in batting practice, much less in games.
But he did that on Saturday, temporarily ditching his plan to bunt more often this spring and lofting an inside slider down the right-field line at 99.1 mph with a 22-degree launch angle. Just enough to bang it off the boardwalk.
Simpson got the ball back and had it in his back pocket as he walked off the field. He plans to keep it, and he figured he had some phone calls to make after clearing the fence.
So, can we expect more of this? Chandler Simpson, power hitter?
“Hell nah. Nah, nah, nah, nah,” Simpson said, laughing. “I was really just trying to hit the ball to shortstop still, and then it just so happened I hit that.”