Tampa Bay Rays: Way Too Early Roster Prediction

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NEW YORK, NY – JULY 08: Joey Wendle #18 of the Tampa Bay Rays hits a home run against the New York Mets during the eighth inning of a game at Citi Field on July 8, 2018 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. The Rays defeated the Mets 9-0. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) /

Second Base (2):

Joey Wendle, LHH, 28

Joey Wendle’s fantastic rookie season without a doubt, locked him in as the starting second baseman in 2019. A year in which he led all Rays position players with 4.3 WAR and .300 AVG, Joey Wenlde proved to the Rays, who took a chance on him, just how valuable he can be to a team.

Joey will be the opening day second baseman, but don’t rule out the possibility ion Brandon Lowe giving him a run for his money.

Brandon Lowe, LHH, 24

Brandon Lowe will enter as the 2019 Rays version of Ben Zobrist. He can play second, third, and both of the corner outfield positions. He got off to a very slow start in his big league career, but rebounded to finish 2018 with 6 bombs and 25 runs batted in. He finished with a .233 batting average, but he showed the production that he can provide when given the chance which is evident in his 112 OPS+.

Look for Lowe to give Wendle a run for his money and to likely take some at bats and playing time away from Guillermo Heredia.