Player of the Series: Chandler Simpson

One of the top prospects in baseball notched his first big league hit during the series

It didn’t take long for Chandler Simpson to prove he was the fastest player in baseball.

Simpson’s game shattering speed made waves around the game on Sunday as he scorched a ground ball to the right side of the infield. Yankees first baseman, Paul Goldschmidt, knew he had to make a play quickly in order to have a chance at retiring Simpson and perhaps this led to him misplaying the ball and having it ricochet off of him and allow Simpson to reach first base without a play. Looking at replays, even if Goldschmidt had made a perfect play, he still would not have been able to get the ball to Max Fried in time to retire Simpson. However, the initial ruling called the play a no-hitter and preserved Fried’s no-hitter. A few frames later while the no-hitter was still intact, the official scorer changed the ruling into a base hit for Simpson (Jake Mangum singled just moments later).

According to Baseball America, Simpson reached first base on the play in just 3.9 seconds, making that the quickest home-to-first time in baseball this season when the hitter swung the bat. Simpson also recorded his first MLB stolen base during this game.

It was an eventful weekend for Simpson, who made his big league debut on Saturday. Entering the bottom of the 9th on Saturday, Simpson recorded his first big league hit as he sliced a ball down the left field line that bounced over the fence for a ground-rule double. This was an integral part of the Rays comeback over New York for their lone victory of the four game set.

DRAYSBAY PLAYER OF THE SERIES

• 1st: Kameron Misner
• 2nd: Jake Mangum
• 3rd: Brandon Lowe
• 4th: Jose Caballero
• 5th: Joe Boyle
• 6th: Shane Baz
• 7th: Chandler Simpson

Simpson is one of the top prospects in all of baseball and widely considered to be the fastest player in the sport. He won the minor league batting title last season, splitting the season between High-A and Double-A, while also racking up more than 100 stole bases. He started the 2025 season in Triple-A Durham, but with injuries tearing through the Rays outfield depth, Simpson was called up to the big leagues.

The Rays will begin their next series, a three-game set, against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday.

Who do you think will be our next Player of the Series?