Finally healthy, Aranda hitting his stride in final stretch of '24

ST. PETERSBURG -- This was supposed to be the year for Jonathan Aranda.

With the way Aranda dominated Triple-A pitching in 2022 and '23, the Rays felt he had little left to prove in the Minors. They cleared a path to playing time for him in the offseason, only to see him sidelined late in Spring Training by a fractured right ring finger that kept him out until mid-May.

Sent back to Triple-A Durham in early June to find his timing with regular playing time, Aranda wound up sustaining an oblique strain that cost him another two months. He didn’t make it back to the big leagues until Aug. 30, with only a month left in what’s been a mostly lost season.

But the Rays were determined to give Aranda the time to prove himself, and he seems poised to do exactly that. The 26-year-old infielder swatted a solo homer off Blue Jays starter José Berríos in the sixth inning on Friday night at Tropicana Field, and that was all Tampa Bay needed in a 1-0 victory over Toronto.

“It's been a tough year for me … but now I'm back, and I'm given the opportunity to prove myself and go out there, given the opportunity to take more at-bats and play almost every day,” Aranda said, with communications director Elvis Martinez interpreting. “I'm taking advantage of it.”

Aranda has started 13 games this month, and he’s hit safely in 10 of his past 11 starts, batting .293 (12-for-41) with three homers and three doubles during that stretch. He was the only Ray to get to Berríos in Friday’s series opener, launching a 1-2 slurve a projected 411 feet out to right-center to break the scoreless tie.

Otherwise, Tampa Bay (76-78) had no answer for Berríos. The right-hander sailed through six innings, allowing six hits and a walk while striking out six, and the Rays finished 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position on the night.

They needed a big hit, and Aranda delivered.

“Aranda can hit,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “Quietly, he's a good hitter.”

Aranda is getting a chance to say it loud and clear this month. He spent some time in the Majors in each of the previous two seasons, but his playing time was inconsistent, and he hit just .212/.311/.346 in 190 plate appearances over 66 games.

But Aranda has answered every possible question in Triple-A. Despite posting middling numbers around his stints on the injured list this year, he’s hit .316/.413/.546 with 50 homers and 185 RBIs in 231 games for Durham over the past three seasons.

And he knows as well as anyone that he must prove that success will translate to the Majors.

“It's not guaranteed that I'm gonna be here next year, but I'm here right now,” Aranda said. “With these games remaining, I'm gonna do everything in my power to demonstrate to the coach, coaching staff, the manager and the organization what I'm capable of.”

Aranda said the freedom that comes along with guaranteed playing time has been beneficial. He’s getting everyday at-bats and regular work in the field, not having to worry about how long he’ll be here.

“I feel like he's playing comfortable,” manager Kevin Cash said. “I don't think there's a thought that there's an opportunity to get sent down or an injured guy coming back, and I think for the most part, he's played just about every day. So I give him a lot of credit.

“It was probably just a matter of time. Maybe it takes a little longer for some than others, and probably longer than what you desire, but I give him credit for sticking through it. And I'm happy that that confidence is coming through, and he's getting big hits.”

One big hit was enough support for the Rays' streaking pitching staff. The group has worked 19 consecutive scoreless innings and allowed only three earned runs over the past 34 frames. Rays pitchers have permitted only 15 hits over their last four games combined.

Left-hander Tyler Alexander pitched 4 1/3 innings with six strikeouts to start Friday’s game. Reliever Kevin Kelly worked out of a two-on, one-out jam in the fifth then handled the sixth, extending his scoreless streak to 22 innings, the eighth-longest run in franchise history.

“He's just become such a valuable relief pitcher,” Cash said. “And now, he's dominant.”

Manuel Rodríguez, Edwin Uceta, Colin Poche and Hunter Bigge took care of the rest, with Bigge picking up his first Major League save to finish Tampa Bay’s 12th shutout victory of the season.

“Once I got out there, I was just pitching,” Bigge said. “Definitely when it's the ninth inning, save situation, I get a lot more adrenaline, and I'm a little more juiced up. I love that.”