After Chandler Simpson’s Demotion, Defense Remains Biggest Question For Rays Outfielder

Image credit: Chandler Simpson (Photo by Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images)

Coming into the season, there was little doubt that Chandler Simpson would run wild on the base paths. And anyone who has watched him closely in recent years could expect him to hit, as well.

But the big remaining concern was how well Simpson would play defensively. He was an infielder throughout his amateur career, and his outfield defense has been a long-term project with the Rays.

The Rays demoted Simpson back to Triple-A Durham on May 30, even though he had hit .285/.315/.317 with 19 steals in just 22 attempts over 35 games. Simpson has four more steals than anyone else since he arrived in the majors. His 17 runs scored over that time is third best on the Rays over that time span, and his batting average was second best.

At the plate and on the base paths, Simpson was exactly as expected. He has no power, but he is a plus hitter thanks to his exceptional ability to make contact. Simpson only swung and missed 29 times against 428 pitches in the majors (13%), and he whiffed only six times on fastballs, including a 2% swing-and-miss rate on four-seam fastballs.

Ideally, Simpson will walk a bit more once he settles into the big leagues. He won’t hit for any power, but if he hits .285 like he was doing at the time of his demotion, he’s a useful offensive player.

But that’s not what led to his demotion. For Simpson to reach his potential, he’s going to have to get a lot better defensively. His time in the majors did little to offer any reassurances.

Right now, Simpson is a below-average defender in the outfield, and the Rays are a team that tries to have a plus or plus-plus defender in center field at all times. They usually have above-average defenders in the corners, as well.

The ingredients are there for Simpson to be an impact defender in center or left field. He is one of the fastest players in baseball, after all. But he rarely fully deploys that speed in the field because he struggles with his initial read on fly balls and line drives, and he takes suboptimal routes.

Simpson has made all the routine plays, but when it gets to the marginal play, his slow reactions and poor routes are keeping him from making an impact.

There are plenty of examples (click the links to watch courtesy of Baseball Savant):

• This may be the most costly one, as Simpson turned an out into a double for Kyle Stowers. He got to the spot in time but couldn’t make the catch. The ball is in the left field corner, but Simpson is not touching either wall. He just overran the ball.

• This was a ball that should have been caught, but Simpson pulled up and deferred to center fielder Kameron Misner, even though Misner wasn’t close enough to catch it. That led to a double for Nick Castellanos.

• This one was tougher, but also more costly. Aaron Judge stung a ball to center field that was always going to be a difficult play. But Simpson didn’t start moving back on a ball hit over his head until the ball had passed second base. The ball hit his glove but kicked away for a triple.

• And this play shows where Simpson’s lack of comfort in the outfield is apparent. Anthony Volpe’s line drive landed just 33 feet from where Simpson was standing when the ball was hit. But, once again, Simpson didn’t start moving until the ball was already in the air over second base. With such a late jump, he decided to pull up and make sure the ball didn’t get past him, turning what should have been an out into a single.

• Here’s one more: Vinnie Pasquantino’s line drive to left center saw Simpson make a slow read again. He also never got faster than 27.7 feet/second during his sprint to get to the ball. He ended up roughly a foot short on a ball that hit the warning track for a double. 

There’s one other issue that will likely be less fixable.

Simpson moved to the outfield in part because of below-average arm strength. The scouting report on Simpson is clearly to challenge him, as this recent sac fly shows. Simpson caught this ball 233 feet from home plate. He does everything well, as he gets rid of the ball in a reasonable time and makes an accurate throw. But the ball bounces on its way to the plate, providing just enough time for Trevor Larnach to score.

Simpson has yet to throw a ball 200+ feet in the air, and only one of his throws has covered more than 190 feet. In comparison, other Rays outfielders have 18 such throws of 200+ feet this year, and there have been 326 throws with 225+ feet of carry from the outfield in 2025 overall. Simpson is relatively accurate, but he just doesn’t have the arm strength to carry a throw to the catcher without a bounce.

So, in sum, Simpson has blazing speed, but for now he has a slow reaction time, poor routes and a below-average arm. According to Baseball Savant data, Simpson’s reaction time ranks 67th among the 102 MLB outfielders with 10 or more plays this year. His routes rank 84th among those same 102 outfielders. His burst (or his speed once underway and tracking the ball) ranks 38th.

Add it all up and he’s a below-average defender right now. And he’s doing that in an outfield where Kameron Misner ranks in the top 10 in the majors, while Jake Mangum ranks well above-average.

All of this should be correctable in the long term. Simpson may never be a Gold Glove outfielder, but if he can improve his reads and routes, he has the speed and athleticism to be much better than this. But it is a useful reminder of why he could use more time to develop defensively.