On Friday, the Tampa Bay received the news they feared the most. Center fielder Kevin Kiermaier, the best defensive center fielder in the game and the most important Rays position player, will miss the next two-plus months of action after he suffered a fractured hip when he slid leg first into first base during Thursday's game. Tampa Bay Times' reporter Marc Topkin first broke the news on Friday.
While many will discuss the negatives of sliding into first base and further use this as evidence that baseball players should stop doing it, the sadder issue is baseball will now be without one of its amazing wonders. Watching Kiermaier play center field felt like watching the Mona Lisa painted, it represented everything beautiful about defense and how perfect someone can make their craft. Now Tampa Bay loses Kiermaier's range, glove, arm and bat in one slide.
To make matters worse, this couldn't come at a worse time. Kiermaier really turned it around at the plate as of late and his bat got hot. Over his last 82 plate appearances dating back to May 19, Kiermaier posted a .316/.350/.566 slash line with a .381 wOBA and 145 wRC+. He combined the Gold Glove defense with a major threat in Tampa Bay's lineup to make him the ideal all-around player for the Rays.
Tampa Bay will call up outfielder Mallex Smith from Triple-A Durham to take Kiermaier's place on the roster. Smith received a nine-game sample of the majors this year, but most of his time has been spent in Triple-A. Across 140 plate appearances in Durham, Smith posted a .311.345/.477 slash with a 127 wRC+ and 16 stolen bases. Given how bare the stolen base market is in fantasy this year, Smith should be picked up immediately if you need stolen bases.