Tampa Bay

Rays

Santana is a phenomenal defender, and also possesses top-notch speed, which gives him a chance to make it to the big leagues down the road. The 17-year-old shortstop is a switch-hitter with gap-to-gap power at the moment, and figures to grow into some additional power over the next few years. He’s a long ways off from making any sort of fantasy impact, but he’s definitely going to stick at shortstop long-term.

Taylor launched 23 round-trippers this past season for the Horned Frogs and has been cited by The Athletic’s Keith Law as compiling some of the best batted-ball data in the draft. The 21-year-old third baseman isn’t exceptionally fast, but is still active on the bases, eclipsing 10-plus steals in each of his three collegiate seasons. He’s also displayed excellent plate discipline, drawing a ton of walks. He’s considered likely to stick at third base, but has the ability to move around the infield down the road. He doesn’t exactly have a stand-out tool, but projects as a do-it-all type in the majors, who could be carried by his advanced eye at the plate. Taylor was frequently mentioned as a potential top-10 pick prior to the season, so this is good value for the Rays.

Díaz was one of the few Rays hitting of late; he batted .348 during the seven-game skid. The homer was his 13th and gave him 43 RBI, which is pretty good for a leadoff man. He closes out the half as the AL leader in OBP at .408.

Eflin seemed like he should have been a top alternate for the AL All-Star roster, but he went unselected and it’s not like he’d be able to pitch Tuesday anyway. This makes three straight starts in which he’s allowed just two runs, and he still hasn’t given up more than four in a start this season. He’s 10-4 with a 3.25 ERA.

Lowe will start Sunday’s game on the bench. The 29-year-old is hitting .273/.429/.455 with one stolen base and two RBI since he was activated from the injured list on July 4. Taylor Walls will bat seventh and play second base in his absence.

Rasmussen hoped he could avoid surgery, but that was not the case. He will undergo an internal brace procedure, and it will be the third major surgery on his elbow. The procedure will end his season prematurely, and he will also miss the start of the following year as well. The talented 27-year-old had a 2.62 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, and 47/11 K/BB ratio across 44 2/3 innings this season.

As a team, the Rays were only able to muster one run on four total hits in the ballgame — with Díaz accounting for half of them on his own. Both of his hits in the ballgame were singles, while he struck out in each of his other two plate appearances. The 31-year-old All-Star has been outstanding for the Rays this season — slashing .318/.405/.500 with 12 homers and 39 RBI in 77 games.

The rookie right-hander punched out four batters on the night while issuing a pair of free passes. All of the damage done against him came in the fourth inning, as Matt Olson smacked an RBI single and Sean Murphy clubbed a three-run homer. Bradley got just eight swings and misses on 93 pitches in the ballgame, registering a CSW of 23 percent. The 22-year-old hurler finishes the first half with a 5-5 record, 5.43 ERA, 1.39 WHIP and an 80/19 K/BB ratio across 61 1/3 innings in his 13 starts.

Aranda gets the call back to the majors for the first time this season with Josh Lowe landing on the family medical emergency list ahead of Saturday’s game against the Braves. The 25-year-old infielder, who got into 32 games last year for Tampa Bay, has hit .342/.455/.589 with 16 homers and 56 RBI through 71 games this season for Triple-A Durham.

We’re all hoping for the best here as Lowe will almost certainly wind up missing the Rays’ final two contests prior to the All-Star break. It’s unclear at this juncture whether he’ll wind up missing any additional time coming out of the break.