Wander racks up three doubles, looks poised for strong '22

BRADENTON, Fla. – With Opening Day less than a week away, Wander Franco looks ready for the regular season.

After a relatively quiet camp -- aside from the ruckus resulting from him parking his Range Rover in president of baseball operations Erik Neander’s spot -- the Rays’ star shortstop had his best game of the spring at the plate and in the field. Franco went 3-for-3 with three doubles and three runs scored and made a couple highlight-reel plays during the Rays’ 9-2 win over the Pirates on Sunday afternoon at LECOM Park.

“We're here,” Franco said through interpreter Manny Navarro, “and I'm waiting for it anxiously.”

Franco had been just 5-for-26 with one extra-base hit before Sunday’s game. They were hardly worrying numbers, but it did seem like only a matter of time before the 21-year-old got locked in. That moment may have come five days before his first Opening Day in the Majors.

In the first inning, Franco ripped an 81.6 mph curveball below the zone to right field for a two-out double and scored on Austin Meadows’ RBI single. In the third, he lashed a high, 96.2 mph fastball into the right-center gap and scored on a single by Harold Ramírez. He moved to the other batter’s box to face Pirates lefty Dillon Peters in the fourth and pulled a low, 85.1 mph changeup to left.

All three doubles were hard-hit, according to Statcast, with exit velocities of 105.7 mph, 100 mph and 98.4 mph.

“I didn't really change too much,” Franco said. “As spring goes on, I'm just getting better and better.”

Franco also made a tough play look easy in the second inning, ranging to his right and firing a perfect throw across the infield to retire Michael Chavis.

“I like to show off my defense,” he said, “because I think I [play] good defense.”

Franco was far from the only Rays hitter to shine on Sunday, however, as they racked up 21 total hits. Catcher Francisco Mejía went 3-for-3 with a homer. Taylor Walls went 3-for-3 with a walk. Ramírez went 2-for-4 with a home run that nearly sailed over the boardwalk beyond the left-field fence. Over the last five games, Tampa Bay has scored 31 runs on 55 hits.

“A lot of guys are swinging the bats really, really well,” manager Kevin Cash said.

Rasmussen ready for the regular season
Seemingly lined up to start the second game of the regular season Saturday against the Orioles, right-hander Drew Rasmussen finished his Spring Training on a high note Sunday. Rasmussen allowed just one run on five hits while striking out six over 3 1/3 innings, and he filled up the zone -- as usual -- by throwing 41 of his 54 pitches for strikes.

“Command and movement were basically right where we want it, filling it up early and expanding late, then we were able to get the pitch count up just a little bit higher than it has been in the last couple of outings,” he said. “Today was a good end to Spring Training, and I'm looking forward to the regular season.”

Rasmussen feels like he’s had enough time to refine a tweak to his arsenal, which now includes two sliders: one big, sweeping breaking ball and another with tighter, more cutter-type break. He also got to work on his fielding Sunday, just missing an out covering first then making a heads-up throw across the infield to Walls, who tagged out Cole Tucker for the first out of the first inning.

“I got to rip a fastball across the infield,” Rasmussen said, smiling. “That's all I'm trying to do on the mound, anyway.”

Ramírez impresses in first-base debut
Ramírez only had five innings of experience at first base in the Majors or Minors before Sunday’s game, but he certainly looked playable there during his six innings in the field, giving Cash another right-handed-hitting option at first to start the season.

“Very comfortable,” Cash said. “It would be fine to play him right out of the gate there. We're all pleasantly surprised that he had the reps doing that back home [in Colombia this offseason] and he can play first.”

It was a strong game for the Rays’ defense overall. Brett Phillips delivered a strike from center field in the bottom of the second, although Mejía couldn’t reel it in for the out at the plate. Walls also made an excellent charging play on a soft grounder hit by Ben Gamel, and Ramírez pulled off somewhat of a split to scoop Walls’ throw at first.

Up next
Left-hander Josh Fleming will start against the Braves on Monday afternoon as the Rays host their final game of the spring at Charlotte Sports Park. After Monday, the Rays have one more road game (against the Braves at CoolToday Park in North Port) before they head north to Tropicana Field for Wednesday’s Spring Training finale against the Phillies.

First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. ET. The game will air on MLB.TV and Bally Sports Sun, with a free Rays radio broadcast available on MLB.com.