NEW YORK (AP) — Chandler Simpson is so fast he can score from second base on an infield hit.
“He can change a game with one play like that,” New York Yankees star Aaron Judge said after the Tampa Bay rookie sparked the Rays to a 7-5 win Sunday. “Definitely going to get excited when I see him come up to the plate or on the bases.”
A day after his first multi-steal game in the major leagues, the 24-year-old Simpson sped home from second on Yandy Díaz’s two-hopper to shortstop Oswald Peraza for a 5-0 lead in the fourth inning. He beat out a single on a routine grounder in the fifth and stole his sixth base in 14 games since his debut on April 19. He reached on a bunt single in the seventh.
When Simpson arrives at first base, he hears the same question over and over.
“It’s like, ‘Damn, dude, how’s it feel to be that fast?’” he recalled. “But the real common one is: ‘What pitch you going? first or second?’ I’m like: I’m not letting you know. I’m not telling you that.”
Average sprint speed in the major leagues on competitive plays is 27 feet per second, according to Statcast, and elite speed is 30 feet per second or higher. Simpson reached a speed of 31.1 when he dashed home as Peraza gloved Díaz’s grounder at the back of the dirt behind second, rolled over onto the outfield grass and allowed the ball to pop out of his glove.
Peraza grabbed it and popped to his feet, then made an off-balance throw that bounced off the mound. Simpson slid headfirst and slapped his left hand on the plate.
“It’s like the first step he’s maxed out full speed. That’s pretty impressive,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said.
Simpson was signaled to hold up by third base coach Brady Williams.
“I looked back and I saw the shortstop on the ground, saw the ball on the ground, as well, and saw a little daylight,” Simpson said. “So I went ahead.”
An inning later, he beat Peraza’s throw on a routine grounder.
“He’s as fast as it gets,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “Peraza did everything he probably could do, got to it quickly, got rid of it with something on it. He’s still able to beat it.”
A friend of Rays pitcher Taj Bradley since youth ball in Georgia, Simpson first realized his speed during races at elementary school and his neighborhood. He didn’t run track at St. Pius X Catholic High School in Atlanta because it had the same season at baseball.
Simpson says he is tied at between 3.3 and 3.4 seconds going to home to first.
“Just a God-given ability and all the work that I put in on my speed and recovery and making sure I’m ready to go,” he said.
Simpson played at UAB in 2020 and ’21, then transferred to Georgia Tech for 2022. Selected 70th overall by the Rays in the 2022 amateur draft, he signed for a $747,500 bonus.
He stole 94 bases at rookie league and two levels of Class A in 2023, 104 at High-A and Double-A last year and eight in 17 games at Triple-A Durham while hitting .301 this season before the call-up. With the Rays, Simpson is hitting .296 with four RBIs in 54 at-bats.
“He’s seeing the best pitching that he’s ever seen in his life and he’s doing more than holding his own,” Cash said. “It feels like he’s got an approach, he knows who he is as a hitter, and he’s able to go up there and repeat it multiple times.”
Simpson arrived in professional baseball in the first season after bases were increased to 18-inch squares from 15, cutting the distance between bases by 4 1/2 inches.
“I was ecstatic,” he said. “It’s played a big part in my success so far.”
Bradley has been his mentor with the Rays. He jokes he can beat Simpson in a sprint.
“We can test it,” he said, laughing. “I’m not looking and the camera’s not running.”
Simpson wasn’t having any of that.
“I think I can have that one,” he said, chuckling.
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