PORT CHARLOTTE — For the Rays, it’s a problem they need to figure out. For Randy Arozarena, it’s a chance to revisit his early days in the major leagues.
The loss of Josh Lowe for the first few weeks of the season to an oblique strain has the Rays looking for someone who can back up Jose Siri in centerfield.
Arozarena on Monday was excited to get the chance to show he could do it.
“It’s not an imposition for me at all. I’ve played centerfield,” Arozarena said through team translator Manny Navarro. “I actually debuted in centerfield with the Cardinals.”
It’s been more than four years since Arozarena first entered the big leagues as a centerfielder with St. Louis in August 2019, but he showed Monday he still has the instincts for the position. In the third inning of the Rays’ 7-3 win over the Braves at Charlotte Sports Park, he fully laid out for a diving catch, stealing a base hit from Travis d’Arnaud.
“That was a heck of a play,” said Rays manager Kevin Cash. “I knew he was excited to get out there. [Richie] Palacios got out there. Randy will play center again. I just want to see what kind of coverage we have.”
The Rays obviously prefer to have Arozarena play leftfield. That is where he is most comfortable, and it allows him to focus primarily on his hitting. Still, having recently lost Lowe and starting pitcher Taj Bradley to injuries, there is a necessity to be prepared.
After watching Arozarena play six innings in center, Cash said that if the Rays need to give Siri a day off or are in a bind, they would be comfortable with Arozarena there.
It’s not like they have a lot of choices.
Right now, their options to back up Siri are limited to Arozarena and Palacios, a converted infielder who for the time being is expected to platoon with Amed Rosario in rightfield.
Palacios, acquired from St. Louis for Andrew Kittredge, has played center this spring and said he is comfortable in the spot. Rosario (14 starts) actually has more big-league experience in centerfield than Palacios (seven), but with Rosario learning rightfield and playing second base, Cash said the Rays are not going to work him in center as well.
Mostly, the team has to hope Siri can stay healthy and get it through the first few series while Lowe tries to rehab his strained oblique.
“Siri is going to play out there as much as possible, but we’ve got to make sure that if he needs a day or something else goes sideways that we’ve got some coverage,” Cash said.
Arozarena has played eight games in centerfield in the major leagues, including four starts during his rookie season. He has made 339 starts in left.
Still, he does not think it will be a tough transition if he is asked to play centerfield again.
“It’s not terribly different,” Arozarena said. “In centerfield, you just have more room to run to the ball. You’ve got more space left to right. And, for example, in leftfield if you have a right-handed batter, you can have some top-spin and [the ball] will get to you a little bit quicker, or more on line.
“So I think if you just practice with that, it will help me be better out there.”
Arozarena made two solid plays in centerfield Monday. After Rosario lost track of Austin Riley’s first-inning fly high in the midday sky, Arozarena sprinted over to prevent an extra-base hit. Two innings later, he flat-out robbed d’Arnaud.
Arozarena shrugged it off as nothing more than a routine play.
“I had a good first step, and I was just trying to just get to it,” he said. “So, luckily I did.”
