Is Randy Arozarena Made for the big moment?
Photo by Ivy Ceballo (Getty Images)
Randy Arozarena has been lighting up the game of baseball for the past three years. Since 2020, Arozarena has quickly become one of the most talked about personalities in the sport. Following his routine, tonight’s game of the Rays vs Twins was tied 1-1 going into the bottom of the ninth. Leading off the inning Randy Arozarena comes up against Twins flame thrower Jhoan Duran. Fouling a first pitch strike, Arozarena looked to end the game in a hurry. On the 0-1 pitch, Arozarena saw a pitch he liked and smacked it to the right center seats to send all Rays fans home happy. Now this should be of no surprise to those who have been following the Rays. For instance, Randy Arozarena’s post season stats are .333 average, .417 OBP, and a .705 slug which is good for a 1.121 OPS. Not only was he a problem at the plate, Arozarena also got it done with his legs. In game one of the 2021 ALDS, he joined a very small list of people to steal home in a playoff game. With these incredible stats including power, speed, and athleticism, Randy Arozarena is definitely going to be a clutch hitter for the Rays and when they make it to the postseason, other teams should be prepared.
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As mentioned, Randy is always looking to show up in a big way to keep his team in the win column. Look at his season for example, the Rays got off to a historic start going 13-0. In these first 13 games Arozarena posted a .314 average, .379 OBP, and a .549 slug, which is good for a .928 OPS. Along with that he hit 3 homeruns, 16 RBI’s and 2 stolen bases. Leading the way, this actually caused the Rays to dedicate a whole section of the stadium to Arozarena called “Randy Land”. Although the Rays have found Randy exciting for the last couple years and the start of this season, he made a big name for himself in this year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC). Arozarena, although a natural born Cuban player, played for team Mexico for this year’s WBC and became a global star, lighting the world on fire with his heroics and game saving plays. During a semifinal game against Japan, Randy introduced his now signature move, “arm crossed looking serious.” How did he introduce this global move, you may ask? By doing what Randy does best, living for the big moment. Kazuma Okamoto of Japan smacked a ball to left field looking to put Japan on the board. Randy tracks it to the wall and leaps onto the fence, robbing Okamoto of a homerun! As he lands, the crowd loses their minds realizing what they have just witnessed and Arozarena, calm as can be, stands there for just a second taking it all in then hits the pose for all eyes to see. Every chance Randy Arozarena gets he shows out in the big moment in a big way, cementing him in team’s minds for years to come.