In late August and September, the Tampa Bay Rays ' supporting cast has begun to pick up the slack.
Newly anointed AL Player of the Week, Victor Mesa Jr . is hitting the cover off the ball and further cementing himself to a starting role. Ian Seymour punched out ten Astros last weekend and is gearing himself up for meaningful postseason innings.
Another surprise has been Richie Palacios ' bat, which has finally started to take the strides forward the Rays believed were there to make.
It's not a terribly big sample to read into, but in 51 plate appearances over the past three weeks, Palacios is garnering attention as one of the hotter hitters in the game. The smaller-sized infielder has had streaks of success to give the Rays faith in his ability to nail down second base, but this time he's made meaningful adjustments, hinting at something greater.
Sep 8, 2026; Cumberland, Georgia, USA; Tampa Bay Rays second baseman Richie Palacios (1) reacts after hitting a home run against the Atlanta Braves during the ninth inning at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
His 134 wRC+ over these plate appearances is accompanied by two indicators that something new is at play here. It starts with the strikeout-to-walk ratio, a metric known as one of the best tellers of a player's long-term hitting outlook. The stat gives a picture of a hitter's aggression, or lack thereof, which is the root of both their approach and future output.
One of Palacios' longtime strengths, found on his earliest scouting reports, is a good sense of the zone. His 14.2 walk percentage in his best hitting season with Tampa Bay back in 2024 ranked sixth in the MLB among players with 300 plate appearances or more.
That strike zone awareness is being harnessed to a new level during this heater. A 7.8 walk percentage to go along with a 9.8 strikeout percentage gives a clue that Palacios is seeing the ball better than ever right now. But there's a layer beyond that which makes it all the more intriguing.
Interestingly, that almost even strikeout-to-walk ratio is highlighted by a low walk percentage, which is not usually seen in Palacios' neighborhood. That's because the keen eye he's so well known for is now being weaponized to do some of his best damage yet.
Pitchers are attacking Palacios in the zone, expecting him to look at more pitches than he swings at. Cunningly, he's flipped his own scouting report and approach to attack the ball at the highest rate of his career.
With pitchers challenging him in the zone more than ever, Palacios is responding by swinging more than ever. During this sample, he's recorded a heart zone contact percentage of 96.4%. Simply put, he's cast his usual patient approach aside to show pitchers what's in the bat. The five home runs he hit in 10 games during this stretch matched his total from the first five months of the season.
He is swinging more than he's ever done at any point in his career, and maybe that can be taken too far. Some aspects of Palcios' game encourage patience, but this new version we are seeing is enticing.
Sometimes there is such a thing as being too patient, and now he's testing his longtime approach. So far, it's helped him put together one of the best stretches of his career. If he really has switched into a new gear, there's a chance it could carry over to October too.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/mlb/rays/onsi as Richie Palacios Has Flipped His Scouting Report on Its Head .
