What else are Rays playing for? Yandy batting title, Cash award, more

CLEVELAND — Yandy Diaz doesn’t like talking about the American League batting title race.

Winning it — the first ever by a Ray — would be enough of a statement.

Diaz, hitting .324 going into play Saturday, has been leading the race for a while, the product of remarkable consistency in keeping his average at .300 or better since April 27.

“I’m very happy,” Diaz said Friday, via team interpreter Manny Navarro. “I didn’t expect to have this much consistency going into this late in the year but thank God I’m able to be able to maintain that.”

Especially when his goal, he said, was just “to do a little bit better” than last year, when he hit .296.

But Diaz’s chances for the title may come down to the performance — and health — of Texas’ Corey Seager.

The Rangers shortstop was hitting .345 through Friday, but because of time missed due to thumb and hamstring injuries he just reached the required minimum number of plate appearances (3.1 per team game, 502 for a full season) to qualify for the leaderboard.

How much Seager plays down the stretch, as the Rangers battle for a postseason spot, may be the biggest factor for Diaz.

Diaz’s pursuit of the batting crown is probably tops on the list of things the Rays are playing for over the final month besides the most important, which is winning the American League East and/or playoff seeding.

Among others:

20/20: Randy Arozarena on Wednesday reached the 20-homer/20-steal mark for the third straight season, and Josh Lowe went into play Saturday two homers shy of joining him (with 26 steals, including a streak of 20 straight). The Rays haven’t had two 20-20 players in the same season.

“Going into seasons that’s one of my goals, so to have that happen would be pretty awesome,” Lowe said. “That’d be pretty cool for my first full season in the big leagues.”

Manager of the Year: Baltimore’s Brandon Hyde and Texas’ Bruce Bochy seem to be the favorites. But given all the key players the Rays have lost and the challenges they have had to overcome, winning the division could bring Kevin Cash his third plaque in four years.

30/100: Isaac Paredes could become the fifth player in Rays history with at least 30 homers and 100 RBIs in the same season, joining Fred McGriff, Aubrey Huff, Carlos Pena (who did it three times) and Evan Longoria.

Top 5 MVP: The highest finish by a Ray in the AL MVP voting is sixth by Longoria in 2010 and 2013. Could Diaz top that?

OBP: Diaz also has a shot to lead the league in on-base percentage, going into play Saturday at .400, trailing Shohei Ohtani (.411) and Seager (.410).

10/60: With a 9-3 record and 47 1/3 innings pitched through Friday, reliever Colin Poche has a chance to become the first big-leaguer to have 10 wins with 60 or fewer innings.

Rays rumblings

Radio broadcaster Andy Freed said the disc issue in his back that sent him to the hospital Aug. 25 is feeling incrementally better and he is hoping to return to the booth as soon as Monday. … Reliever Robert Stephenson shared the secret to his always-in-place hair that has been the subject of considerable clubhouse teasing: “It’s mainly just the blow dryer. If I don’t have a blow dryer, I kind of panic a little bit.” He travels with one just to be sure and also uses some basic styling cream — “nothing crazy.” … The Rays, as expected, had interest in several of the pitchers who were available on waivers last week (one being Reynaldo Lopez), and maybe one of the position players, but were too far back in the order to be awarded any claims. … Any chance of Wander Franco returning this season seems unlikely based on an ESPN report, citing anonymous sources, that the Dominican Republic prosecutor’s investigation of alleged relationships with minors “is expected to continue well beyond the end of the season.” … Jim Bowden’s updated list of top 50 prospects for The Athletic includes three Rays: infielders third baseman Junior Caminero, 8th; shortstop Carson Williams, 27th; first baseman Xavier Isaac, 50th. … ESPN ranks the Rays-Orioles AL East race as the third most exciting to watch in September, behind the AL West three-team battle and the NL wild-card free-for-all. … The Rays’ acquisition of starter Aaron Civale was rated the eighth-best trade deadline pickup by mlb.com. … The Rays-O’s series in Baltimore will get some attention, with the Sept. 14 game picked up by Fox (and now a 7:15 p.m. start) and Sept. 15 by AppleTV+. … The Rays are selling 2024 season memberships with the benefit of priority access to tickets for postseason games this season.

Ex-Rays rumblings

In discussing Carl Crawford’s recent induction into the Rays Hall of Fame, former general manager Chuck LaMar recalled how he got original owner Vince Naimoli to spend a then-hefty $1.2 million to sign Crawford as a second-round pick: “I didn’t tell him until I got back (from doing the deal) how much it was.” …. Ex-Ray Ben Zobrist ended a four-year hiatus from social media — and a low profile publicly — to promote a new organization he is forming, Champion Forward, that will work with athletes and others in sports on mental and emotional health. … B.J. Upton, a Ray from 2004-12, said he was glad to see the team start a Hall of Fame this year: “This organization has created a name for itself. We’re not going anywhere. And there were some guys that were part of this organization that paved the way, and Carl was one of them.” … Congats to Tampa product Dwight Gooden, who will have his No. 16 retired by the Mets next year. … And also to Alex Cobb, falling just one out short of a no-hitter last week for the Giants. … Though Upton listing his Davis Islands house for sale created headlines, he only moved to Odessa. … New Hall of Famer and Tampa product Fred McGriff was one of 12 ex-players named to the new Commissioner’s Ambassador Program, tasked with representing the game at events and supporting international, youth and community initiatives.

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