Hit his 10th HR today.  Who would have expected this from a  player who couldn't break into the Tigers lineup when they were at their worst?  The Rays may really be magic.

Another guy on this list with Paredes is MJ Melendez. We have his name and my previous post, but still don't have stats. Now that Perez is down, the stats will grow.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. Jared Walsh Luis Arraez Nick Pivetta Zack Wheeler May 18, 2022 Top Performers Batters: Jazz Chisholm Jr. (MIA): 2-2, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 2 R Jared Walsh (LAA): 2-4, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 2 R Luis Arraez (MIN): 3-5, 2 RBI, 4 R, 1 SB Isaac Paredes (TBR): 2-4, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 2 R Pete Alonso (NYM): 2-4, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 2 R Kole Calhoun (TEX): 2-3, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 2 R Ty France (SEA): 3-5, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 R Keibert Ruiz (WSN): 3-3, 1 RBI, 1 R Thairo Estrada (SFG): 3-3, 1 R, 1 SB MJ Melendez (KCR): 2-4, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 2 R View All of Yesterday's Batters at Baseball-Reference.com

Looked solid in his call up, but sent down after a week. The Rays just use interchangeable parts. 

BP's Jarrett Seidler taking a close look at what it sure seems like a player the Rays really wanted.

Prospect (Kinda)

Isaac Paredes
The Rays have a very defined type of hitter they target from outside their organization: positional flex with defined on-base skills. And Paredes fits their paradigm like a glove (or several gloves, as it were). The stout 23-year-old isn’t really quick enough to play more than an emergency shortstop, but he just got moved to the team that extended Wander Franco well into the 2030s, so that’s no longer a real issue. He’s played a bunch of second and third in recent years, and the Rays’ excellence at positioning their infielders should be a boon to his glove. I wouldn’t be shocked if the Rays eventually get him corner outfield reps too; his speed is fringy but not catastrophic, and they’ve had similar defenders like Mike Brosseau and Daniel Robertson stand out there.

Offensively, Paredes’ success is going to be driven by his impressive bat-to-ball and swing decisions. Once upon a time, he plausibly had a plus power projection, but now that’s settling in at no more than average, perhaps even fringe-average. His setup is noisy with timing mechanisms, though once he gets rolling he’s pretty short to the ball, and he just doesn’t swing at many bad pitches. That leads him to make a lot of decent but not great contact, and while he’s struggled the last two seasons in small samples it’s reasonable to expect him to hit for a solid average with a healthy amount of walks long-term.

Paredes is in the weird zone where he’s neither prospect-eligible nor an established major-leaguer, and therefore has kind of fallen off the radar over the past year. The Rays have been particularly good at putting players with this type of skill grouping in positions to succeed, and he could slot into a Joey Wendle-type role very soon.

2020: EV 86.5 HardHit 26% Barrel 0% HR/FB 4% LA 7.5 Pull 45% Cent 26% Oppo 29%
2021: EV 85.5 HardHit 25% Barrel 2% HR/FB 4% LA 18.0 Pull 48% Cent 30% Oppo 22%