Tampa Bay Rays: 3 players with a chance to shine in 2020

Tampa Bay Rays: 60 games in 66 days on short notice will provide ample opportunities for overshadowed players to shine. Here are three players who could grab the bull by the horns in 2020.

Tampa Bay Rays: While the Rays are stacked with talent from the farm system to the big leagues, we take a look at just three of the many players that could make a big splash given the extra or unique opportunities that may be afforded to them in a wacky 2020 season.

Tampa Bay Rays – Ronaldo Hernandez

Ronaldo Hernandez is the top catching prospect in the Rays system and is currently ranked 11th overall by MLB.com.

In 2018 he got everyone excited as a defensively capable catcher who brought some serious lumber. He smashed 20 doubles, one triple, and 21 homers in just 109 games with Bowling Green. That season he slashed .284/.339/.494 and looked like he could be the catcher of the future in Tampa Bay.

While he struggled with stiffer competition in High-A Charlotte last season, he still managed to hit .265 with 31 extra-base hits. Hernandez possesses a 70-grade throwing arm with good pop time behind the plate and has thrown out an incredible 46% of base runners in his five minor league seasons.

Hernandez will be a part of the 60-man player pool in 2020, making him eligible to play for the big-league club should they call upon him. Perhaps the weakest position on the major league roster is at catcher. Mike Zunino’s .165 average last season was unfortunately not far off his career average and Michael Perez is still relatively unproven at the major-league level.

The Rays signed veterans Kevan Smith and Chris Herrmann, but with an increased sense of urgency to win every game, there may be a short leash at the catcher position.

While he’s never played above Class-A Bowling Green, a cramped schedule, a potential injury, or lack of production from somebody could give Hernandez an opportunity to get some major league plate appearances.

Tampa Bay Rays – Ryan Yarbrough

We recently profiled Ryan Yarbrough as a sleeper fantasy option in 2020 due to his previous experience as a “bulk” guy. You can read about that here.  Pitchers will begin the season on short notice and will likely be pitching a lot of three-inning outings to begin the season. That is, unless it’s Max Scherzer, taking him out after three innings could result in physical harm to the manager and the pitching coach.

We don’t know exactly how Rays manager Kevin Cash will shuffle their pitchers around this season in order to maximize efficiency, but we do know that Yarbrough is a trusted option as a mid-game innings eater. I don’t mean that negatively, either.

Yarbrough is coming off of a season in which he set the Rays single-season WHIP record as a starter with a 0.995 and posted a 3.55 WHIP.

He led all Rays’ starters with a minuscule 3.2% walk rate and finished at in the 99th percentile in preventing hard-hit balls. Should the Rays continue their tradition of being untraditional, Ryan Yarbrough stands to make his star shine much brighter this season. It’s not crazy to think he could end up leading the team in wins without starting a game.

I have no idea if the Rays will utilize him as a relief pitcher or as a traditional starter, but Yarbrough is a trusted arm for manager Kevin Cash and has the ability to excel in any role. In a season of uncertainty, teams will need turn to consistent performers.