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Have you seen Chandler Simpson run yet?
If not, here’s a tip: Don’t blink.
The Rays outfielder, who made his MLB debut on Saturday, is one of the sport’s most unique players. But any conversation about Simpson has to begin with his speed, because you can already posit that he is the fastest man in baseball.
Simpson has racked up 206 stolen bases in the Minors since the start of the 2023 season, including 104 last year. That made him the first Major or Minor League player since 2012 to reach the century mark in steals.
He’s got 80-grade speed only because the 20-to-80 scouting scale doesn’t go to 90. He can turn a simple ground ball to first base into a must-see highlight.
Take what happened during Sunday’s game against the Yankees as an example. In the bottom of the sixth inning, Yanks starter Max Fried had yet to allow a hit when Simpson hit a grounder toward first. Simpson bolted down the line at 30.7 feet per second — 30.0 feet per second is considered elite — and made it safely as first baseman Paul Goldschmidt couldn’t handle the ball.
The play was initially ruled an error, but before the bottom of the eighth inning — and with Fried’s shot at a no-hitter still alive — the official scorer changed the play to a hit because it was clear that Simpson was going to beat Fried to the base even if Goldschmidt fielded the ball cleanly.
“I knew I was going to be safe,” Simpson said about the play. “… I kind of looked at [Fried], knew I had some space, so I knew I was going to be [safe].”
Simply, Simpson knows he isn’t going to lose many foot races on the diamond. Opposing managers know it, too.
“Look, we’re not going to beat [Simpson] to the bag,” said Yankees manager Aaron Boone, who agreed with the scoring change.
But it would be unfair to view Simpson as only a threat on the bases. He posted a .324 average through 250 games in the Minors, with more walks (107) than strikeouts (98). His natural feel for hitting and plus bat control led 17-year MLB veteran Marquis Grissom to label Simpson as “Little Tony Gwynn.”
Just don’t expect him to hit many homers. Simpson left the yard just once as a Minor Leaguer, and he has 20-grade power on that aforementioned 20-to-80 scale.
Simpson recorded his first stolen base in the big leagues on Sunday and said afterward that “hopefully there are more to come.” There are manystolen bases ahead for the 24-year-old. And don’t be surprised if he becomes the first MLB player to steal 100 bases in a season since Vince Coleman in 1987.
“I want to prove to everybody that my game plays,” Simpson said last week. “I know there’s some doubts, but I mean, I’ve proved it at every level. What’s one more?”
— Brian Murphy
