Rays Grades: Issac Paredes elevated his offense

It was year two in St. Pete for Issac Paredes. The Tampa Bay Rays third baseman had come off of a 2022 season that showed slight power but also inconsistency at the plate with a .205 average. 

This season, we saw similar power in Paredes' at-bats. He ended the year with 31 home runs which was the most out of any Rays' player. This power he had stemmed from the ability to pull the ball as every home run he had this season was pulled into left field. 

The home run ability Paredes had helped his RBI total in 2023. He had 98 RBI on the year which was the most out of any Tampa Bay player. He also racked up a lot of runs himself with 71 on the year and he was top five on the Rays in that category.

An underrated aspect of Paredes's game was his strike zone recognition. He never let balls fall right through the zone without getting a swing off. He had a good whiff rate and a decent K rate that sat in the 88th and 74th percentiles respectively. In 492 at-bats, he struck out in just a tad over 100 of them. 

All of that leads to the idea that Paredes got a lot of swings off throughout the 2023 season. But, he also managed to put together a good walk rate that sat in the 72nd percentile in major league baseball. During the season, Paredes totaled 58 walks which was third on the Rays.

Parades became a big-time weapon for them on offense. He drew a lot of walks, both brought runners home and scored runs himself and became one of the best power hitters on the Rays if not the best. He will be a figurehead for Tampa Bay going forward and someone they will look to get a lot of offense out of.

Issac Paredes 2023 Player Grade: A-

More grades from the 2023 Rays season