NEW YORK -- The swing of the season for these juggernaut Rays came off the bat of Victor Mesa Jr., a rookie outfielder acquired by the organization just in time for Spring Training.
Mesa climbed into the box for his third at-bat against Yankees left-hander Max Fried in the sixth inning, with Game 3 of the American League Division Series tied, 2-2. Fried tried to surprise Mesa with a first-pitch sweeper. Mesa responded with a sweet, vicious left-handed swing. He did not even bother to look as the ball sailed deep into the Bronx night, landing in the right-field seats.
“It’s the best feeling in baseball,” Mesa, his grey T-shirt soaked in champagne, said postgame. “Besides winning.”
Mesa accomplished both on Wednesday night. His two-run blast proved to be the difference in another clinical Tampa Bay victory. This one -- a 4-3 win inside a fiery Yankee Stadium -- vaulted the Rays to the American League Championship Series. Game 1 looms on Monday night at Tropicana Field.
“That was probably the biggest home run he’s ever hit in his life,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said.
His swing met the moment. On his home run, Mesa had a bat speed of 85.9 mph, his second-fastest tracked swing of the season. The ball jumped off his bat at 107.3 mph and landed a Statcast-projected 401 feet away. He watched his teammates roar inside the third-base dugout.
“When he gets one,” said outfielder Ryan Vilade, “he gets one.”
This is all so improbable. In a fairytale season for Tampa Bay, Mesa may very well be the organization’s greatest story. He was DFA’d by the Marlins in February, the same organization that signed him and his brother, Victor Victor, as international free agents out of Cuba in 2018.
“Young people, when you sign, you think that you’re going to be forever on the team,” said Mesa, who made his MLB debut with Miami in 2025. “But just believe in God’s plan. I feel that I’m at home right now.”
The Rays acquired Mesa in a trade for Minor League infielder Angel Brachi a week before Spring Training. Mesa battled through early struggles and a strained hamstring in Triple-A Durham. In late May, amid a slew of injuries, Tampa Bay summoned him to the Majors.
All these months later, on the sort of chilly October night made for postseason baseball, it is difficult to imagine Mesa anywhere else.
“I don’t know where we’d be without him,” said Rays president of baseball operations Erik Neander.
“He’s amazing,” said second baseman Richie Palacios.
Added Vilade: “He’s built for the moment.”
Is he ever.
Cash penciled Mesa into the cleanup spot against Fried, a stingy left-hander, because of Mesa’s ability to hit left-handed pitching. In the regular season, he hit .333 with an .868 OPS against southpaws.
That success stems from Mesa’s desire to be an elite all-around player. He grew up idolizing Francisco Lindor, Javier Báez and Fernando Tatis Jr. -- a smattering of the game’s most electric, complete five-tool talents. Mesa wanted to be that guy. To get there, he knew that he would have to hit lefties.
He knew that he’d have to hit breaking balls, too. The Yankees fed Mesa a steady diet of breaking pitches through the first two games of the series: 14 of the 30 pitches that Mesa saw were sliders, sweepers or curveballs. That seemed sound, given that Mesa hit .215 with a .431 SLG against breaking balls in the regular season.
He figured that Fried would stay the course.
“I knew it was a good moment to throw one, you know what I mean? I’m an aggressive hitter,” Mesa said.
When he stepped in against Fried, those within the Rays’ organization could feel a big moment coming. Left-hander Cam Booser predicted a home run to closer Bryan Baker in the bullpen. Neander and the rest of the front-office brass had the same thought, if less declarative.
“We sat there, and it’s like, ‘Let’s go, pop one in right here,’” Neander said. “And he did. Might have lost my mind. Hope there wasn’t a camera on me. But that was pretty sick.”
Mesa grew up in a baseball family. His dad, Victor Mesa, was a longtime figurehead of Cuba’s national baseball team. The elder Mesa always reminded his son that his time would come, too.
If it hadn't already, it’s here now.