Could a trip to the minors fix Randy Arozarena’s season-long slump?
ST. PETERSBURG — The pitch was thrown, the bat was flung, the metaphor was complete.
Randy Arozarena was so completely fooled by a fifth-inning changeup from Royals starter Michael Wacha on Sunday that the bat flew from his hands and landed in the far corner of the Kansas City dugout more than 100 feet away. It was Arozarena’s 64th strikeout of the season which, at that moment, was tied for the American League lead.
Yes, Arozarena is lost. Has been lost for quite some time.
You can see it in his swing, his somberness and certainly in his .156 batting average. The Rays have given him days off, dropped him in the batting order, encouraged him, left him alone, worked with him in the cage, the video room and presumably everywhere else.
At this point, there may only be one option remaining:
Send him back to the minor leagues to find himself.
Understand, this would be more mercy than punishment. An opportunity for Arozarena to reset in a less pressurized setting. A chance for a deep breath, maybe some experimentation and hopefully some positive reinforcement and momentum.
Will it happen? Probably not.
It’s a drastic solution and runs the risk of angering a player who has been at the heart of Tampa Bay’s success the past four years. Not to mention, it would be a red flag if the Rays had any intention of exploring an Arozarena trade at the deadline in July. Plus, the Rays keep seeing signs that their leftfielder might be on the verge of a turnaround, like the 112 mph lineout to third base in his first at-bat during Sunday’s 4-1 victory.
But if the season continues on the current path, Arozarena’s struggles could force the team’s hand.
It’s not as if this hasn’t been done before with established players. Alex Gordon had been Kansas City’s third baseman for three years when the Royals sent him back to the minors in 2010 when he was hitting .194. The next season, he hit .303 with 23 home runs and got MVP votes. A few years later, the Royals did the same thing with Mike Moustakas when he was hitting .152 on May 20. The next season, he made the first of three All-Star teams. Miguel Sano was hitting .203 when the Twins sent him back to Class A in 2018. The next season, he hit 34 home runs.
Just a month ago, the Astros shipped former Rookie of the Year and MVP Jose Abreu to a rookie league team after he began the season hitting .099. Abreu is scheduled to return to Houston’s lineup today and told The Athletic that the demotion, while difficult to accept, was the best thing that could have happened to him.
Would Arozarena be equally optimistic about that kind of move?
It’s hard to say, but up until now the Rays say he has approached his season-long slump with the proper mix of determination and enthusiasm. Having explored every other avenue, there may not be anywhere else to turn.
The problem, incongruously, seems inexplicable and simple. Arozarena is not chasing pitches. His exit velocity on batted balls is still above MLB average. His percentage of hard-hit balls is not drastically different from his career average.
The issue is he is swinging and missing too many pitches in the strike zone. He’s always had a fairly high whiff rate (29.1% in 2023 and 28.6% in 2022), but this season he’s top-three in the league at 35.2%. Even more concerning, is he’s struggling with fastballs.
Arozarena’s career has been built on his ability to handle high-velocity pitches. The past three seasons, his slugging percentage on four-seam fastballs was .541, .570 and .577. This season, he’s at .415 with a .132 batting average on fastballs.
That could be a sign that his timing is off. Or maybe his recognition of pitches. Either way, it often gets harder and harder for a player to figure out what’s wrong when he’s trying to revamp his swing against the best pitchers in the world while his team is trying to stay in contention.
That’s why a trip to the minors could be the best thing for Arozarena. Like Abreu, the Rays could send him to their Florida Complex League in Port Charlotte where the facilities are top-notch and he can focus on process instead of results. It would also feel more like a rehab than a demotion to Triple A.
Maybe that won’t be necessary. Maybe Arozarena is ready to turn the corner when the Rays face the Athletics at Tropicana Field this week.
There’s still plenty of time remaining in the season, but that hole is starting to feel deep.
John Romano can be reached at jromano@tampabay.com. Follow @romano_tbtimes.
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