Tampa Bay Rays' Offense Led By Surprising Player

Jonathan Aranda has been on a tear this season, and it is not one that anyone expected. Now in his fourth Major League campaign, this has been the first that has seen him get consistent playing time. 

Aranda entered 2025 with a career .222/.309/.382 line with 10 home runs, 33 RBI, and a 97 OPS+ across 333 plate appearances in 110 games. This year, the first baseman has powered his way to a .315/.404/.523 line with six home runs, 20 RBI, and a 165 OPS+ across 151 plate appearances in 40 games.

"It’s been a rough season for the Rays’ offense -- six of the 10 Tampa Bay players with at least 90 plate appearances are below league average (100 wRC+), and only one has a wRC+ higher than 111. That would be Aranda," writes Thomas Harrigan in a recent article for MLB.com, "who is in the midst of an impressive breakout campaign. The 26-year-old ranks fifth among qualifiers with a 177 wRC+ and has the underlying metrics to back it up, including a 58.7% hard-hit rate (98th percentile), a .310 expected batting average (93rd percentile) and a .420 expected wOBA (96th percentile)."

It has been a fantastic, albeit unexpected, performance from the first baseman. If he can keep this up the rest of the way, it will be a major boon to Tampa Bay's playoff chances in the unexpectedly weak American League East.