Tampa Bay Rays: Martinez and Renfroe the right-handed Bash Bros.

The Tampa Bay Rays entered the off-season in search of right-handed power. Let’s take a look at what they found.

Jose Martinez was acquired in a trade by the Tampa Bay Rays with the Cardinals on Thursday. Hunter Renfroe was a part of the Tommy Pham trade. Both players bring right-handed pop but in the platoon heavy world of Tampa Bay/St. Pete, how do these two players stack up against left-handed pitchers?

First, let’s take a look at the balance Erik Neander has provided the lefty-leaning Rays this off-season.

Outfield

LF: Hunter Renfroe (RH)
CF: Kevin Kiermaier (LH)
RF: Austin Meadows (LH)

Infield

1B: Ji-Man Choi (LH)
2B: Brandon Lowe (LH)
SS: Willy Adames (RH)
3B: Yandy Diaz (RH)
C: Mike Zunino (RH)

Reserves

Randy Arozarena (RH)
Michael Perez (LH)
Joey Wendle (LH)
Daniel Robertson (RH)
Mike Brosseau (RH)
Yoshi Tsutsugo (LH)
Jose Martinez (RH)

The lineup is looking balanced and stacked. Not to mention all the versatility and great defenders. Hunter Renfroe’s 33 homers are not the only statistic that bounces off the page at you. In 2019 he wrote his name down among the elite-defenders of the game.

Renfroe had 22 defensive runs saved, which was good enough to tie for second with Cody Bellinger, and there were only two behind the league leader, Victor Robles.

There’s a lot to be excited about, however, right-handed-hitting was of paramount importance to the Rays for a couple of reasons.

1. After losing Avisail Garcia and Travis d’Arnaud, they didn’t have much right-handed power.

2. Willy Adames and Mike Zunino – two of the three right-handed regulars left on the team – have hit .205 and .208, respectively, in their careers against lefties.

So let’s take a look at how the two new righties handle southpaw pitchers.

Jose Martinez – .331/.405/.570   // 160 wRC+

Hunter Renfroe – .269/.345/.579   //  139 wRC+

Add them to Yandy Diaz.

Yandy Diaz – .294/.387/.466   //   128 wRC+

The Rays are looking pretty scary against lefties all of a sudden. Renfroe and Martinez are both slugging over .570 against lefties in their careers.

If you want to have some fun in Daily Fantasy Sports this year, make sure these two are always in your lineups when the Rays face lefties.

Cheers to Erik Neander and the front office! Balance achieved!