ST. PETERSBURG -- Victor Mesa Jr. has become one of the Rays’ most useful answers in a season that’s already delivered plenty of them.
Tampa Bay has gotten major lift from a long list of unexpected contributors, from Nick Martinez’s all-around impact to Bryan Baker’s climb into an All-Star closer role, from Chandler Simpson’s rise to Griffin Jax’s shift from struggling reliever to reliable starter. Cam Booser, Ryan Vilade and Ian Seymour have also helped shape a year of surprises.
Still, it’s hard to ignore how much Mesa has meant since arriving in late May. Back in February, it would have been difficult to picture the AL-leading Rays asking where they would be without him. Yet that’s the conversation now, and it’s one he has earned in just 70 games.
“I think we were watching him in spring, and we said, ‘Wow, the talent's off the charts.’ But I don't know if we could have ever guessed how good he was actually going to be for us,” starter Drew Rasmussen said. “Just watching what he's done for this year, it's been really exciting.”
On Monday, MLB recognized that run by naming Mesa the AL Player of the Week. The numbers behind his stretch explain why. Since stepping into the visitors’ clubhouse at Yankee Stadium on May 24, the 25-year-old rookie has posted 2.7 Wins Above Replacement, according to Baseball Reference, good for seventh on the club and nestled between Baker and Simpson.
He has also become a steady presence in right field and in the heart of the lineup, even after missing two weeks in late August because of a left hamstring injury. Mesa is batting .252/.320/.500 with 13 homers, one every 15.85 at-bats, along with 30 RBIs and nine stolen bases.
Defensively, he has been just as valuable. Statcast lists him among the league’s top outfielders despite the limited sample, with nine Fielding Run Value and nine Outs Above Average.
“Big part of what we’re doing,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “He’s a really talented player, and he’s playing with a lot of confidence right now. … He’s really, both sides of the ball, done so many things to help us win games.”
That confidence didn’t come from nowhere. Mesa has spent much of his career being known more for his name than his production, as the son of Cuban outfield great Victor Mesa and the younger brother of Victor Victor Mesa. The brothers signed with the Marlins on the same day in 2018, and Victor Mesa Jr. didn’t make his major league debut with Miami until last year, when he appeared in only 16 games.
Miami designated him for assignment in early February, and Tampa Bay picked him up in a deal for Rookie-level infield prospect Angel Brachi. The Rays saw the tools right away.
Cash called him “tooled out.” First-base/outfield coach Corey Dickerson described the arm as “special.”
The left-handed swing has real pop, and the instincts have always stood out.
“He’s such an instinctual baseball player, a very smart baseball player, and I think he’s very intuitive in how he thinks,” Dickerson said. “He uses his imagination well.
He tries different things. He takes more risks than most.
And he does that while being smart. That’s a great combination.”
What Mesa needed was an opening, and injuries eventually created one. He was limited during Spring Training, then opened the year at Triple-A Durham, where another hamstring issue sent him to the injured list for nearly a month. Cash said the club knew health had been a concern.
“We had heard that staying on the field and staying healthy was a bit of an issue, and we lived a little bit of that in Spring Training,” Cash said. “But once he found good health, we’ve known for quite some time now that he’s a really, really talented player.”
The Rays finally called on him after Jake Fraley was sidelined by a hernia, Jonny DeLuca strained his right hamstring while running the bases in New York, and outfield prospect Jacob Melton was unavailable with a sprained ankle. Mesa has done the rest.
He said recently that he has never stopped believing in himself, but also understands what it means to be trusted by the people around him.
“I’ve always been believing in myself, but another thing is letting the people outside know it,” Mesa said recently. “Obviously I know that if I was here, that moment was for a reason. I just want to thank the people that believed in me.
“For me, the most important thing is that I’m giving a little bit extra to the team, and the most important thing is that we’re getting wins.”
That’s exactly what he’s been doing.
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