SEATTLE -- At this point, it really doesn’t matter where Chandler Simpson bats in the lineup. The production will remain for the Rays speedster.
In a rare move in the Rays' 4-1 win over the Mariners to complete the series sweep and win their sixth straight game, Simpson was moved up to the No. 3 spot. Facing Seattle’s Emerson Hancock, who’s been successful with right-on-right matchups, manager Kevin Cash wanted to sandwich two lefties (Simpson and Jonathan Aranda) between righties Yandy Díaz and Junior Caminero.
Simpson, who’s already batted in seven spots in the order this season, was nearly perfect. He went 4-for-5 with three singles, a double and a run scored. Three of his hits didn’t escape the infield, but arguably the fastest player in MLB had no problem hustling out those soft grounders.
Oddly enough, Simpson actually considers himself someone who moves slowly.
“I just walk, do everything really slow,” Simpson said Friday. “And then when it's on the field, I just turn [my slowness] off.”
Indeed, as the Rays' recent recipient of the 2026 Heart and Hustle Award brings constant chaos on the basepaths. He’s tied with Bobby Witt Jr. for first in the AL after getting his 31st swipe during his two-hit performance Saturday.
“We've seen it all season long, what he puts on the defense," Cash said. "But he's swinging the bat really, really well.”
There’s definitely respect for the 25-year-old’s swiftness on the basepaths. In the fifth inning Sunday, Simpson raced to steal second, but Caminero skied it in the air toward first baseman Josh Naylor, forcing Simpson to race back to first. But Naylor let it drop to get the forceout at second. The bigger picture: Get Simpson out of the basepaths.
His second four-hit day this season improved his batting average to .304 to leapfrog Díaz (.298) and trail Houston’s Yordan Alvarez (.325) for the best average in the AL. Since June 19, Simpson has batted .379.
“I felt like they were great ABs,” Simpson said. "Just trying to put a bat on the ball.”
And he’s not concerned where he’s positioned in the lineup.
“Found out right before game time that I was hitting in the three hole, but just knew how to continue to play my game and know what my job still was,” Simpson said.
While he’d like to continue seeing “3” in front of his average, he's not particularly worried about those numbers, as he mentioned on Friday.
“Don't really pay attention to things like that,” Simpson said. “There's ebbs and flows to hitting, but I mean, I really just try to take it one game, one pitch at a time, and then just go from there. Trust my work.”
Bulk reliever/starter Ian Seymour provided a much-needed rest day for the bullpen after it deployed seven arms in Saturday’s 3-2 win because of Griffin Jax’s late scratch. It was quite a contrast to Seymour’s last start against Seattle on July 12, when he allowed six runs in 3 2/3 innings.
Sunday, the lefty allowed one run on five hits and struck out seven in six innings. He threw 98 pitches, the second most in his career. He ran into trouble in the first, surrendering a leadoff triple to Taylor Ward and then an RBI single to Cole Young as the Mariners grabbed the early lead.
“Especially after the first two innings going sort of the way they were, just throwing all those pitches, to be able to ride the ship or limit the bullpen usage today was pretty big for us,” Seymour said.
Over the series against Seattle, Tampa Bay limited Seattle to just four runs. The AL’s best team (71-46) gained more ground with both the Yankees and Red Sox losing to lead by 5 1/2 games in the East.
Díaz had a four-hit day, including a two-out single to tie the game at 1 in the fourth. Liam Hicks, acquired from the Marlins at the Trade Deadline, put the Rays up 4-1 with a two-run double into left field.