Baseball's newest speedster can hit, plus 3 more spring training items

Would you be interested in a player who hits like Luis Arráez but can run like Billy Hamilton? That would be must-see TV, right?

The Tampa Bay Rays just might have such a player in prospect Chandler Simpson.

There's a growing buzz around Simpson in Grapefruit League play. He's one of the fastest professional baseball players with blazing 80-grade speed. He told theScore he ran a 60-yard dash in 6.3 seconds.

Simpson stole 104 bases in the minor leagues last year, the first major- or minor-league player to break the century mark since Hamilton in 2012. He's also an efficient base-stealer with an 87% success rate in his pro career.

Unlike speedsters such as Hamilton or Esteury Ruiz, Simpson can hit. Former major leaguer Marquis Grissom, who trains several players, including Simpson, in the offseason, calls Simpson "little Tony Gwynn" because of his ability to make contact. Simpson compiled a .351 batting average in 358 plate appearances in Double-A last season.

Out of the 1,140 qualified batters across affiliated minor-league baseball last year, Simpson had the 13th-best strikeout rate (8.5%). His mark ranked third among players who advanced past Low A.

The downside is he has little power: Simpson has one home run in 921 career minor-league at-bats.

But even weak contact can be productive when you run like Simpson.

In the club's first spring game on Feb. 21, he tapped a slow ground ball down the first-base line. Yankees first baseman T.J. Rumfield had to move in to retrieve the ball, which opened the door for Simpson to beat out the grounder for a hit.

"His teammates told the story as it was unfolding," Rays manager Kevin Cash said of the play. "If he hits a ball that makes the first baseman move like he did … he's safe. We are seeing firsthand that he can really move."

That infield single essentially became a double as Simpson proceeded to steal second base.

"I feel like I am in scoring position when I touch first base," Simpson told theScore.

But he makes more than low-quality contact. His line-drive percentage ranked in the 79th percentile in the minors last year. Prior to his infield single on Feb. 21, he laced a line drive to right field for a single.

While the Gwynn comp from a former major leaguer should open eyes, Simpson said he's modeling his game after a contemporary player: Arráez.

Simpson studies Arráez's plate appearances and social-media videos of his practice routines.

"Obviously, our bodies move differently. I try to cater to me," Simpson said. But a lot of things, like keeping his head on the ball in tee drills or soft toss, or staying on my back leg, I implement in my swing."

While baseball today is focused on launch angle and exit velocities, that's not Simpson's optimal game. He wants to hit the ball on the ground, line drives, anything but infield pop-ups and lazy fly balls. "(Arráez) hits everything between minus-10 (degrees), zero, and 10 degrees," Simpson said.

Should Simpson earn a call-up to the majors this year, FanGraphs' Steamer projects him to be league average (101 wRC+ in about 100 plate appearances). Simpson had a 141 wRC+ across two levels of the minors last season.

That projection is far better than Hamilton's career mark (66 wRC+) or Ruiz's (82 wRC+) to date. The last player to reach 100 steals in the majors, Vince Coleman, posted an 86 wRC+ career mark and only twice exceeded a 100 wRC+ in a season.

Simpson, the 70th overall pick in the 2022 draft, was an infielder at Georgia Tech but is improving his ability to play center field.

His outfield routine is tied to what he calls "power shagging" during batting practice, which is playing center and tracking fly balls as if he were in a game, in addition to other defensive drills. Simpson made two diving catches against the Red Sox during a three-inning stretch on Feb. 24.

He looks to have the speed and body control of a wide receiver. Did Georgia Tech football coaches ever persuade him to play football?

"Nah, nah, I can't play football," the 6-foot, 170-pound Simpson said. "They would have killed me out there. I never played football."

Cash has curbed some of the enthusiasm around Simpson since he hasn't yet played above Double-A. But the expectations are that he'll arrive in Tampa Bay this year, and his legs are a good bet to make an impact. An Arráez with 80-grade speed would be a star.

Painter plan

Stephen Strasburg wasn't happy when the Washington Nationals shut him down in early September 2012 to manage his innings in his first full year following Tommy John surgery.

Strasburg was the most talented pitcher on what would be a 98-win team and wasn't available in the postseason when the Nationals lost in the division series. Many second-guessed Washington's decision to shut him down.

Innings caps are a reality of the game today. But perhaps it's time to think differently about managing those limited innings from young star pitchers.

The Philadelphia Phillies face a similar dilemma this season with prospect Andrew Painter, who's entering his first full year after Tommy John surgery.

Painter told theScore he has a cap of about 100 innings.

But rather than burn through the frames in the first half of the season, Painter, who's throwing two bullpens a week now, isn't expected to debut until "July-ish" at the MLB level, club president Dave Dombrowski said. That means Philadelphia will have Painter's rare combination of velocity, command, and feel for spin available when the games matter most.

"There were three options: start on time and hit the limit, and you're done like Strasburg," Painter said, "or start on time and midway through the year … have (a break). But I feel like once you get going, you just want to keep going.

"Or once you are off the leash, you get to go compete."

Everyone agreed on Plan C.

Painter was likely to start late regardless because he pitched in the Arizona Fall League, where he was dominant and hit 100 mph but averaged 94 to 98 mph with his fastball.

Phillies pitching coach Caleb Cotham said Painter will slowly ramp from the seven-day throwing plan he's on now to a six-day and then a typical five-day routine. Painter will be assigned to a minor-league affiliate after time in extended spring training.

Cotham said the club will consider Painter's overall workload, not just his frames pitched, which could affect the final range of his innings this year.

If the plan works, it could be a new model for how contenders handle innings caps.

The Red Sox machine

The Boston Red Sox are drawing rave reviews for their collection of elite hitting prospects pushing to make early MLB debuts this season.

It's incredibly rare for a club to have two prospects (Roman Anthony and Kristian Campbell) reside in the top five of Baseball America's top 100 list. And Marcelo Mayer isn't far behind at No. 15. In fact, the Red Sox internal evaluations suggest Mayer has the most future value, especially if he remains at shortstop.

Boston picked Mayer early in the first round, but Anthony was a second-rounder, and Campbell was a fourth-rounder. Their collective rise is why some believe the Red Sox are building the best hitting development system in the game, led by former Driveline baseball hitting guru Jason Ochart.

The Red Sox have implemented a data-driven approach to hitting and are employing all the advanced technology they can get their hands on. Their scouting and training regimens are paying off.

The arrival of the prospects puts a crunch on the major-league roster, which also added newly signed veteran Alex Bregman into the mix.

Several evaluators believe that if the Red Sox put out their best roster today, it would have Bregman at third base, Campbell at second base, and Rafael Devers at DH, where his suspect glove would be hidden and his aching shoulders better managed. However, Devers has already said he doesn't want to leave third base, and the Red Sox also have Masataka Yoshida's contract clogging up the DH spot.

Are the Blue Jays too nice?

One criticism the Toronto Blue Jays' front office has heard in recent years is that their club lacks an edge. The players have heard it this spring, too.

On Sportsnet Radio's "Blair and Barker Show" this week, Jeff Blair said new outfielder Anthony Santander told pitchers Kevin Gausman and José Berríos to show more aggressiveness by pitching inside more often.

Last season, the Jays were in the middle of the pack - 11th against right-handed hitters and 16th against left-handed hitters - for fastballs thrown off the plate inside, according to pitch-tracking data. They weren't outliers in terms of that measure. Whether or not the critique is truly accurate or meaningful, it'll be interesting to see if the pitchers change their approach.

Toronto brought in Santander and Max Scherzer to add a new dynamic to the clubhouse culture, an intangible the club values. Will it work? Will it matter? We'll soon learn more.

Travis Sawchik is theScore's senior baseball writer.