Kameron

Misner

Misner heads to Kansas City after being jettisoned from Tampa Bay’s 40-man roster earlier this week. The 27-year-old outfielder hit .213/.273/.345 with five homers, 22 RBI, and eight steals over 217 plate appearances in 71 games last season. He’ll provide the Royals with additional outfield depth behind Kyle Isbel, John Rave and Jac Caglianone heading into spring training.

There simply isn’t any room for Misner and Seymour with Tampa Bay’s crowded positional mix moving forward, but they should generate some interest on waivers in the coming days. Misner offers some appeal as a righty-mashing platoon specialist while Seymour makes sense as a bench bat.

Since hitting .373/.409/.678 in his first 20 games this season, Misner had come in at .145/.213/.203 in 51 games. That’s more like his minor league track record said he’d hit, though those early exit velocity numbers were really impressive. Chandler Simpson is coming back up as his replacement and figures to get all of Misner’s playing time and probably a little more.

Misner opened the scoring in the second inning and he pummeled an 0-2 fastball that was above the zone for a 328-foot (88.9 mph EV) solo shot. He went hitless in his next three at-bats, including a pair of strikeouts. The 27-year-old outfielder is slashing a troublesome .225/.292/.381 with five homers, 18 RBI and seven stolen bases in 178 plate appearances on the season.

Mangum is now 6-for-15 in his four games at Triple-A with three RBI and a 3/3 K/BB ratio. He has not attempted a single stolen base after stealing eight bases with the Rays earlier this season. Considering he’s on the IL for a strained groin, we need to see him start running if we can have any confidence that he could return to a similar level of production. With Kameron Misner hitting just .139 in May, Mangum could take his spot on the roster when he’s ready.

Misner tagged Blue Jays’ right-hander Kevin Gausman for a 417-foot (109.7 mph EV) in the fourth inning, increasing the Rays’ advantage to 4-2. That would be his only hit in four at-bats on the afternoon. For the season, the 27-year-old outfielder is now slashing .256/.305/.436 with four homers, 13 RBI and three stolen bases in 128 plate appearances on the season.

Aranda and Misner are back in their usual lineup spots, hitting fourth and sixth, respectively, after opening Friday’s contest on the bench with lefty José Quintana taking the ball for Milwaukee. It’s a bit surprising Tampa Bay isn’t giving Aranda more opportunities against left-handed pitching, but they’re strictly playing the numbers from a platoon standpoint for now.

It’s a different look for the Rays with lefty Ryan Yarbrough drawing the start in place of righty Clarke Schmidt, who was scratched a couple hours prior to first pitch with side soreness. Fantasy managers should anticipate Simpson to get into Saturday’s matinee affair at some point since it’ll be a pure bullpen game for New York. However, the rookie speedster is going to open on the bench with Kameron Misner taking some cuts against the soft-tossing veteran southpaw. He hasn’t exactly set the fantasy landscape ablaze, but he’s been excellent since arriving in the majors, hitting .318 (14-for-44) with three steals through 11 games.

No surprise to see Simpson take a seat with tough lefty Eduardo Rodriguez on the mound for Arizona. The 24-year-old speed demon is batting .333 (4-for-12) with one RBI and two stolen bases in three games since getting the call last week to the majors. It’ll be veteran Yandy Díaz in the leadoff spot with Kameron Misner patrolling center field.

Rays manager Kevin Cash has opted to stack his lineup with right-handed bats against Red Sox lefty Sean Newcomb. It’s probably time for Aranda to get some opportunities against non-elite southpaws since he’s hitting .413 (19-for-46) with three homers through 15 contests, but he’ll continue taking a seat against lefties for now.