Jonathan

Aranda

Aranda has added some much needed thump to the Rays’ lineup of late. This was his third straight game with a homer as he’s been elevated to the everyday first baseman and cleanup hitter in Tampa Bay. He’s a very interesting power bat to keep in mind during draft prep this winter.

Aranda had a big day at the plate on Saturday against the Blue Jays. He drew a walk to lead off the bottom of the second and scored the game’s first run on a single by Ben Rortvedt. He then extended the Tampa Bay lead with a two-run blast off Yariel Rodriguez. Aranda reached once again with a base hit in the sixth. The 26-year-old is slashing .248/.316/.448 with five homers, 19 runs scored, and 11 RBI across 117 plate appearances.

Aranda’s blast was the only run scored in this pitchers’ duel. It came on a two-strike slurve from José Berríos that didn’t have enough bite down and in the strike zone. Aranda has pushed his OPS up to .762 over his last 30 games as he vies for a regular role in this Rays’ lineup next season.

Finally with consistent playing time we’re beginning to get a taste of Aranda’s potential as a hitter. He turned on a changeup outside and on the black from Tanner Bibee for his home run in an impressive display of barrel control. That long ball gave him two in three games, an RBI in three straight, and pushed his hitting streak to six. If nothing else, Aranda can certainly hit.

Aranda’s home run was his second of the year. He hit a solo shot off Zack Wheeler in the sixth inning. Aranda has played only sparingly until September and hasn’t produced enough to be fantasy relevant yet. He’s hitting .224 with a .688 OPS and six RBI on the year.

It sounds like it’s something that’s been bothering Lowe for a little while and that he’s going to have to manage the rest of the way. If you picked him up during his surge in July and the first half of August, it’s time to drop him now. Jonathan Aranda should get some extra playing time with Lowe occasionally sitting.

Díaz missed a game over the weekend to address left knee patellar tendinitis, so it’s not surprising to see him getting some extra time off with expanded rosters. The 33-year-old first baseman holds a .734 OPS with 12 homers in 126 contests this season on the heels of last year’s career year. It’ll be Jonathan Aranda at the cold corner and Brandon Lowe at designated hitter on Tuesday evening.

Aranda’s struggles this season leave him off the fantasy radar. He’s hit .213 with one home run and three RBI for the Rays and hasn’t done much better at Triple-A where he’s hit .237 with seven home runs and 19 RBI.

With Josh Lowe (oblique) returning from the injured list, the Rays needed to free up a spot on their active roster and unfortunately Aranda was the odd-man out this time around. The 26-year-old hit .213/.288/.319 with one homer and three RBI in 52 plate appearances with the big league club.

Aranda blistered a solo homer off Brady Singer for his first roundtripper of the season. The double was the second. Aranda missed six weeks with a broken right finger, and his slash of .242/.324/.394 is likely to see a bump as he sees more regular playing time over the summer. That doesn’t necessarily make him a strong fantasy addition, however.