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Breaking down Rays infielder Jonathan Aranda's scorching start to the 2025 season

Jonathan Aranda was always mashing in the minors despite his short stature; the question was always where he'd play, as his glove was quite limited at 2nd. He's settled nicely into 1st, and is finally getting enough playing time to mash his way into a permanent fixture against right-handed pitching.
ByCarter Brantley|
Jonathan Aranda isn't exactly off to a surprisingly good start, as he ended 2024 on a high note, but it's still a very pleasant thing to see a player rewarded for his consistent play in the minors and capitalize on an opportunity.
Jonathan Aranda isn't exactly off to a surprisingly good start, as he ended 2024 on a high note, but it's still a very pleasant thing to see a player rewarded for his consistent play in the minors and capitalize on an opportunity. | Ron Jenkins/GettyImages

The Rays' 2025 season has been off to an interesting start, with the team playing in an outdoor stadium for the first time and all those dang home runs to that short porch in right field.

The starting pitching has been great, and the lineup and bullpen have been a bit inconsistent, but there's been a wonderful storyline within that lineup: Jonathan Aranda.

While Aranda's hot start might not come as a shock to those who have paid attention to his performances in the minors and his strong finish to 2024, it's still been a great thing to watch take shape as the season continues to progress.

Aranda came to the Rays almost a decade ago to start playing in their rookie-ball levels, slowly making his way through their system as an undersized infielder.

Jonathan Aranda
Jonathan Aranda came up as a hitter without much of a position or much upside if he couldn't hit; luckily he's doing just that at the major league level. | Mark Taylor/GettyImages

He had a breakthrough 2021 season in the lower levels, mashing his way to AA where he posted a 162 wRC+ over 79 games for the Biscuits.

Aranda continued that hot hitting in AAA the next season, as he put together a .400 wOBA and earned a cup of coffee at the majors at the age of 24.

After another tremendous season in AAA during the 2023 campaign where he posted a .449 OBP and slugged over .600, Aranda finally got more consistent playing time at the end of 2024.

In September and October of 2024 he put together a wonderful 2nd half with a .813 OPS and reducing his strikeout rate by almost 2 percentage points.

This season he's finally putting it all together, with 60% hard-hit rate and 96 MPH in average exit velocity, both in the high 90s in terms of percentile performance compared to others in the majors.

He hasn't been walking as much as he'd probably like, and his eye-popping .464 BABIP speaks to some regression eventually, but for now Aranda's 236 wRC+ is something to get excited about, especially with some of the more heavy hitters struggling to get off to good starts results-wise.

Jonathan Aranda
Aranda hasn't taken full advantage of the short porch in right field quite yet, with only a couple of long balls, but as his BABIP lowers a bit perhaps the lefty-swinging infielder will incorporate that more into his game. | Julio Aguilar/GettyImages

Aranda will likely continue to be able to play every day at first against right-handed pitching, with most of his production coming in those matchups, but it'll be interesting to see if the Rays decide to give him a few more chances against southpaws, especially if Aranda continues his scorching hot hitting ways.

Could there be an All-Star game appearance in his future? Only time will tell, but by golly he's off to that kind of start.

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