Tampa Bay Rays: Randy Arozarena is On Fire at the Perfect Time

Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Randy Arozarena has been white hot for the Tampa Bay Rays in the playoffs.

Randy Arozarena decided to get hot at the best moment possible for the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Rays rookie outfielder tied the rookie record for home runs in a single postseason during Game 5 of the ALCS against the Houston Astros, matching former Ray Evan Longoria’s six playoff blasts in 2008.

Arozarena could match or surpass current foe Jose Altuve’s seven-homer mark (2017) during the series against the Astros, win or lose, and the same goes for former Ray B.J. Upton’s seven in 2008. Eight homers would match his regular-season total for 2020, and nine would be a record-setting number. The Cuban outfielder could easily match that, especially if the Rays make it to the World Series – after Friday (Oct. 16) night’s game, Arozarena theoretically has between five and eight games to hit three home runs.

That’s more than doable.

Offense isn’t everything for Arozarena, either. In Game 5, Altuve lined a shot down the third-base side that hit the bag itself, ricocheted over a diving Joey Wendle at third base and lazily bounced into the outfield.

Arozarena was in the process of gloving it while Altuve rounded first. Altuve decided to try for second but the rookie cut him down right at the bag, erasing what would’ve given Houston a runner in scoring position. The Astros went on to win the game, of course, but that throw could very well have prevented Houston from blowing the game wide open.

To be fair, Arozarena only played about a month of the 2020 season, but in that time hit those eight home runs in the span of three weeks.

Important to realize, too, is that Arozarena has been wowing crowds – human ones, back in the old days – for a while now. While in the Cardinals organization, he legged out an infield triple when no infielder managed to catch a sky-high pop-up.

The Tampa Bay Rays went to the World Series (but lost) the year Longoria set the record. They’ll try to replicate that trend with Arozarena, albeit with a championship trophy at the end of the road.