Tampa Bay Rays Grades: Assessing early season performance from position groups

The Tampa Bay Rays are about one month into the season and sit just below .500 at 14-16 on the season. Although it has not been the hot start to the season they way it was in 2023, there is a lot to evaluate with how the players have done so far. Here are grades for the position groups on the Rays in 2024.

Catchers Grade: C

The Tampa Bay Rays have routinely played two catchers this season following Christian Bethancourt leaving the team. Those two have been Rene Pinto, who is the main starter, as well as Ben Rortvedt, who was formerly with the New York Yankees and was picked up by the Rays in a trade back in March.

Rortvedt has been a big bright spot on the team this season when he has played. At the plate in 2024, he has batted .362 with an OBP up near .455 over the course of 47 at-bats. He currently leads the Rays in WAR at 0.9.

Pinto has been quieter at the plate, with a .214 average and an OBP under .300. He does have two long balls this season in 42 at-bats.

Both catchers defensively have been pretty decent with Pinto and Rortvedt both having solid pop times at the plate ranking in the top 15 among MLB catchers. Rortvedt's framing ranks in the 79th percentile, while Pinto's is down in the 49th, and he has struggled with blocking so far, as he sits in the 11th percentile.