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

Infielder Grade: C-

If one thing has remained consistent from 2023 with the Rays infield, it is that Isaac Parades still has his power from his 30-home run season last year. He has seven blasts, as the season is just entering the month of May, and has batted a smooth .283 on the season, making the case to be the best all-around bat Tampa Bay has had in 2024.

A big suprise to the team has been the lackluster play from Yandy Diaz who was the American League batting champion in 2023. He is only batting .214 and has not gotten on base as often as he normally does, sporting an OBP under .300.

Jose Caballero has made his base-stealing ability known, leading the team with nine but, like Diaz, he has not been able to get on base enough to show that, with an OBP of .283. He has hit the ball decently with an average at .263.

The remainder of the infield has played pedestrian and just okay. Harold Ramirez is batting .252 and is in double figures for RBI. Curtis Mead and Austin Shenton have had underwelming seasons with averages of .228 and .182 respectively. As for Brandon Lowe, he has posted just 27 at-bats this season, as injuries have been an issue. Overall, the infield from Tampa Bay has been pretty lackluster outside of Parades.