The one who plays outside Chandler Simpson is dealing with left hamstring strain in early camp, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. I Radiation will keep him out of the first few games of the show to give him some time off. “Right now, we’re going to play him a little bit, just put his legs under him,” said the manager Kevin Cash on Friday. Cash continued to stress the importance of Simpson’s speed and the importance of getting him back to 100% rather than risking further injury.
Indeed, Simpson is one of the fastest players in the game. His sprint speed of 29.6 MPH ranks in the 97th percentile according to Statcast. Meanwhile, his 44 stolen bases in 2025 tied with the Rangers’. Jose Ramirez second in the majors, and Simpson accomplished that feat in just 49 games. That said, while he has value as a speed and contact guy, he is also limited by base issues and defense. His outfield glove work was overshadowed by Defensive Runs Saved (-9) and Outs Above Average (-5) in 2025. Continued hamstring issues could hamper his defense even more, so it makes sense for the Rays to release him from game action.
A few more injury updates for this game:
- The guards midfielder Cody Freeman will be out 4-6 weeks with a lower back fracture, according to the manager Skip the Schumaker (link via Shawn McFarland of the Dallas Morning News). Freeman has been feeling unwell for the past few days which continued yesterday, which is when scans revealed the fracture. The 25-year-old made his big league debut last year, though his .228/.258/.342 line in 121 plate appearances was abysmal. He fared even better in Triple-A, striking out 31% better than average with a wRC+. Freeman was going to compete for an Opening Day roster spot but will now be out until the end of March. He will be reevaluated at that time and will obviously need time to ramp up, so he won’t be ready for Opening Day.
- Marlins the right hand Janson Junk rolled his ankle in team practice earlier this week. He was diagnosed with a Grade 1 sprain after testing, though he is now out of action and playing catch (video from MLB.com’s Christina De Nicola). For his part, Junk said Thursday that he doesn’t expect to miss many weeks. The 30-year-old impressed in the swing role last year, earning 2.5 fWAR in 110 innings thanks to his sweep (+8 run value according to Statcast) and a minuscule 2.9% walk rate. He has been building himself as a starter so far. Manager Clayton McCullough confirmed that is still the case and that the team will “just see how this distraction… affects him he may end up at the end of the camp” (link via De Nicola).
- White Sox foreign player Everson Pereira right now is day-to-day tight end, according to James Fegan of the Sox Machine. The 24-year-old was acquired in a four-player trade with the Rays in November that saw the team deal with the tight end. Steven Wilson. On that basis, the team was expected to manage without Pereira’s options in the lineup as a backup player. That is still possible as Pereira is day-to-day and has never been on the injured list. Luisangel Acuña he’s still there, though he’ll split time between the infield and outfield and shouldn’t affect Pereira’s roster spot if the latter is healthy by the end of camp.
Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images
