This story was excerpted from Adam Berry’s Rays Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
ST. PETERSBURG -- There are times when Rays manager Kevin Cash has the perfect angle from the dugout to watch his shortstop and left fielder react to a ball being hit in their direction. Taylor Walls will immediately break one way in the dirt, and from Cash’s view, he can see Chandler Simpson move right along with him on the grass.
“It’s pretty cool,” Cash said recently. “They’re kind of in line.”
Nobody moves quite like Walls, but just making the comparison says plenty about one of the Rays’ under-the-radar areas of improvement this season. Their outfield defense, a huge weakness last year, has again become a strength.
Tampa Bay’s outfielders entered Friday’s series opener against the Angels with 10 Outs Above Average, according to Statcast, third-most in the Majors behind the Red Sox and Cubs. They are also third in Fielding Run Value, behind the Cubs and Red Sox. Last season, Rays outfielders ranked 21st in the Majors in OAA and 26th in FRV.
“I give credit to all the guys for doing their part in terms of continuing to improve,” center fielder Cedric Mullins said.
And the outfielders all give credit to first-base/outfield coach Corey Dickerson, a new addition to the staff this season whose defensive work drew rave reviews right away.
From the jump, it’s been about … well, jumps. They’ve improved their reactions and first steps across the board, leading to better jumps and rangier defense.
Simpson has taken the biggest strides in that department, as MLB.com’s Mike Petriello covered three weeks ago. He’s gone from getting essentially average jumps last season to now ranking eighth among qualified outfielders, at 3.1 feet above average.
“Just anticipation, that's what me and [Dickerson] have been preaching. Just playing offense on defense, being aggressive,” Simpson said. “Reading the ball, reading swings, reading situations.”
Mullins told a similar story. He wasn’t happy with his defensive performance last season, but admitted he didn’t fully grasp what needed to change or how to go about doing it. After one conversation with Dickerson, he did.
“I know that's not me as a defensive player. I wanted to definitely improve upon that as quickly as I could,” Mullins said. “He came in with a true plan for us, and it's been working really well.”
Now, the veteran has gone from posting below-average reaction times throughout his career to having one of the quickest first steps in baseball this season. He’s noticed the difference on plays that used to require “all-out effort” but now feel more routine.
Jonny DeLuca, currently working his way back from a hamstring injury, was also getting below-average jumps last season despite his strong defensive reputation. When healthy this year, he’s been as good as anyone besides Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong, pairing all the same athleticism with quicker reactions.
You’ll notice Tampa Bay’s outfielders leaving their feet as part of their pre-pitch movement, trying to time their hops as the ball enters the hitting zone to create momentum toward a better first step. Infielders do it all the time, but DeLuca said he’d never tried it in the outfield until Dickerson suggested it this spring.
“Having some of the data come out and be like, 'Oh yeah, I'm getting good jumps,' it's encouraging,” DeLuca said. “He's played a major role in that.”
The common thread? Dickerson, once a below-average defensive outfielder who willed and worked his way into becoming a Gold Glove-winning left fielder for the Pirates in 2018.
“He's just been there and done it, and having a guy like that who has done it very well and has had success, it's easy to listen to a guy like that,” DeLuca said. “He's been a great listener, too, getting the feedback from us on what helps and the individuality of each and every player.”
Dickerson, in turn, credited the players and their willingness to work -- "the quality of athletes we have, but also how much they care to prepare,” as he put it.
“Physically, you can get somebody quicker by making them do certain things,” Dickerson added. “But it's the mental side that makes a drastic change, that makes the biggest jumps. … The consistency of the drill work we've been doing has really paid off, and the guys are willing.”
Watching the Rays’ infield take hard-hit ground balls is always a pregame highlight, but their outfielders have been equally consistent -- and often creative -- in their early drills dating back to Spring Training.
Look down the right-field line at Tropicana Field a few hours before first pitch, for instance, and you’ll find Dickerson tossing small, bouncy balls to bare-handed outfielders. It challenges their reaction time, hand-eye coordination and maybe even their competitive nature. Nobody likes dropping the ball.
Dickerson picked up some of their drills from other sports, including tennis, looking for athletes who rely on split-second reactions to excel. Incorporating work like that, he said, is “part of just me and my obsessiveness in wanting to get better.”
So far, so good.
“He knows the mentality that you have to have to make that jump,” Simpson said, “and he's on us every day about it.”