How Isaac Paredes became such a huge hit for the Rays

ST. PETERSBURG — When Rays officials first took notice of Isaac Paredes, he was a teenager playing shortstop in 2016-17 for the Cubs’ Class A team in South Bend, Indiana, with an offensive profile to spray the ball around the field without much power.

“His hit tool was very obvious,” said assistant general manager Kevin Ibach, a Rays pro scout at the time. “This was a guy that we really identified as someone who could use all fields, ironically speaking now, and probably more of a doubles over home run guy.”

As the Rays kept watching Paredes, batting his name around in occasional talks with Cubs officials, they started to see signs of what he could become and became more intrigued.

More so after Paredes was traded to Detroit in July 2017 and started looking more like a second or third baseman in the field and began flexing some muscle at the plate.

“His profile started to change a little bit,” Ibach said. “You were still impressed by the hit tool, and you thought you started to see some of the emergence of the pull-side power. … So, I think as he matured in the minor leagues, it was more of him becoming more of a complete hitter, and not just the hit-over-power guy. And he kind of evolved into what he is right now.”

Right now, Paredes is the top offensive player on the Rays, a right-handed power hitter with a penchant for pulling the ball. He put a 31-homer/98 RBI/.840 OPS performance on his resume last season and potentially could add a first All-Star appearance next month.

“It’s hard to put into just one word, honestly, to have a guy like that in the lineup that you know is going to roll out those (quality) at-bats every single time,” second baseman Brandon Lowe said. “It’s very last year Yandy (Diaz)-esque, that feeling, especially with runners in scoring position, where he comes to the plate and you’re like, OK, we have at least one RBI coming through.

“You know he’s going to get the job done, and we’re going to be in a good spot after.”

Paredes certainly was worth the time the Rays put into scouting him for years, finally landing him in the final days of 2022 spring training when weeks-long talks with the Tigers led to a deal.

The Rays gave up 2019 All-Star outfielder Austin Meadows, ostensibly to create an opening for promising prospect Josh Lowe, in exchange for the No. 71 pick in the draft (which they used to take outfielder Ryan Cermak, currently playing at Class A Bowling Green) and Paredes.

Though there was extensive internal debate over the merits of the deal and the wisdom of making major changes to a team coming off back-to-back division titles and a 2020 World Series appearance, they went ahead with it.

Now, they couldn’t be more glad they did.

“Looking back and seeing how Isaac evolved as a player,” Ibach said, “it’s very clear that we made the right decision.”

Paredes, 25, also has been pleased, given the limited opportunity he got with the Tigers during 2020-21. He hit .215 with two homers, 11 RBIs and a .592 OPS in 57 games spread over five stints in the majors.

He started 2022 in the minors with the Rays, got a 10-day look when Ji-Man Choi went on the injured list in early May, then was called back up in mid-May when Brandon Lowe was hurt. He has stuck around since.

How Paredes has continued to develop as a hitter also has impressed the Rays, specifically with his consistency to what is a somewhat unusual approach — pulling the ball extremely down the leftfield line with power (all 63 of his career homers have been to left or left-center) but willing to use all fields for base hits, especially deep in counts.

“It’s really hard to do with the ability that he has to do it,” hitting coach Chad Mottola said.

To illustrate his point, Mottola notes the uneasiness among Rays staff when occupying the third-base dugout on the road, knowing how forcefully Paredes can turn on inside pitches.

“He pulls some balls that we’re not ready for,” Mottola said. “We’ve learned when we are on the third-base side to always be alert. Guys usually can’t do that.”

More impressive, Mottola said, is Paredes’ top-notch strike-zone awareness and the usually high-quality at-bats that result.

“That doesn’t get the attention that it should,” Mottola said.

Nor does the overall improvement Paredes has made this year, most notably in boosting his average. That was his primary area of emphasis in an overall bid, he said via team interpreter Manny Navarro, to feel “a lot more comfortable learning the game, playing the game a little bit better, knowing where my strengths are.”

After averaging .229 through his first four seasons, including .250 last year, Paredes through Friday was batting .292 with 10 homers, 37 RBIs and an .866 OPS.

“He knows who he is as a hitter,” manager Kevin Cash said, “and he’s really good at going up and being that guy.”

Growing up in Mexico with the nickname “Winsy” (WIN-see) from a song his family sang to him as a child, Paredes said he was driven by one thing: “The goal was just always to get to the big leagues.”

With All-Star voting launching last week, there has been considerable chatter that Paredes, who has played mostly third base this season, is the most deserving Ray. Unlikely to beat out Cleveland’s Jose Ramirez for the starting spot, he will have to hope he is voted in by the players or chosen by Major League Baseball as a reserve.

Any reason to make the mid-July trip to Arlington, Texas, would be worth it.

“I think getting to the All-Star Game is something that you can never forget,” Paredes said. “I think it’d be something very cool.”

But it could present a small problem. Though Mottola praised him for growing into a quiet, “by example” leader in the clubhouse, Paredes said he prefers to stay out of the spotlight. (Though he is excited that Sunday’s game will feature his first promotional item, socks for kids 14-and-under.)

“I’ve always been kind of a serious guy,” Paredes said. “I’ve never really liked all the attention around. I think I like it better without all that pressure.”

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