Rays infielder quietly off to impressive start to season

Infielder Jonathan Aranda is finally getting his chance with the Tampa Bay Rays. He is making the most of that opportunity thus far.

Aranda is off to an impressive start for the Rays. He has produced a stellar .413/.481/.761 batting line in his 54 plate appearances entering Wednesday, hitting three homers and seven doubles. Aranda leads the majors in batting average, slugging percentage and OPS (1.242). He is second in the majors in on-base percentage and is tied for the American League lead with seven doubles.

Batted ball metrics match Aranda's performance thus far. His Statcast page is a sea of red as Aranda ranks in the 96th percentile, or better, in average exit velocity (96.5 mph), barrel rate (21.6 percent) and hard-hit rate (62.2 percent). Although he is slightly outperforming his expected .351/.495/.759 batting line, Aranda has backed up his production with how well he is hitting the ball.

Ranked as the 96th best prospect by Baseball America ahead of the 2023 season, Aranda had a strong track record in the minors. He had produced a .316/.413/.546 batting line in 1,043 plate appearances over three seasons at Triple-A, hitting 50 homers and 50 doubles. There was nothing left for Aranda to prove in the minors.

That minor league performance had not translated to the majors. He battled injuries and inconsistency as he shuttled between the Rays and Triple-A from 2022 through 2024. Aranda had produced a .222/.309/.382 batting line in 333 plate appearances over those three seasons, hitting 10 homers and 15 doubles. The potential was there; Aranda just needed a chance to prove himself.

That opportunity has now come in 2025. Aranda has taken full advantage and appears to be in the midst of a breakout season.