Mead picks up first hit one pitch after callup

DETROIT -- The Rays on Friday called up infielder Curtis Mead, their No. 3 prospect per MLB Pipeline, before their three-game series in Detroit on Friday night.

Mead took the roster spot that opened once Tampa Bay placed ace Shane McClanahan on the 15-day injured list with left forearm tightness on Thursday. Wearing No. 25, Mead entered an 8-0 win over the Tigers as a defensive replacement in the seventh, then grounded a single to right on the first pitch he saw in the eighth for his first MLB hit.

Mead, the No. 31 prospect in baseball per MLB Pipeline, missed nearly two months earlier this season due to a fractured left wrist, but he has been ripping up Triple-A pitching since making his comeback on June 22. He has slashed .333/.433/.505 through his previous 28 games, which includes nearly twice as many walks (19) than strikeouts (10).

“I take a lot of pride in not striking out a whole lot," he said last month. "Striking out is probably the thing that frustrates me the most. I really just try and stay to the big part of the field, trying to hit balls gap to gap.”

An Australian Baseball League standout as a teenager, Mead signed with the Phillies in 2018 before the Rays acquired him the following year for pitcher Cristopher Sánchez. Mead has done nothing but hit since arriving in America, posting a .302/.374/.503 line over five Minor League seasons.

Mead’s brief struggles at the plate to start the season ended when he was hit by the pitch that fractured his wrist on April 29, an event that he said “was a bit of a blessing and a curse.”

“I came back and it felt like a new season,” he said on Friday in Detroit. “I felt really comfortable with where I was at, and felt good about how the rehab games went. I was able to get back and kind of hit the ground running. I'm just excited.”

Mead’s breakout year came in 2021, when he produced a .911 OPS and 55 extra-base hits in 104 games across three levels of the Minors. He possesses a 65-grade hit tool, per MLB Pipeline. His refined plate approach and increasing strength should enable him to get the most out of his 55-grade power.

He has handled third base for the majority of his Minor League career and has made double-digit starts at first base and second base as well. The Rays plan to use Mead primarily against lefties, with the option of playing him vs. righties should a regular starter need a break.

Rays manager Kevin Cash said Mead will get the majority of his defensive reps at third base.

“I think our plan is right now, we're playing good,” Cash said. “We’ve kind of turned the corner of playing good baseball, and he can help us.”