Jonathan Aranda has been the Rays best player this season.
However, throughout the first 29 series of the season, there has always been at least one player to overshadow his contributions during that particular 3 or 4 game series. Well, that wasn’t the case during the Rays three games in Detroit.
On Monday, Aranda provided the Rays with their lone run when he singled home Taylor Walls to put the Rays within one, however Danny Jansen was thrown out at third on the play to end the inning.
Aranda attempted to ignite the Rays offense on Tuesday when he launched a solo homerun, his 11th of the season, in the first inning. He would later double and was robbed of extra bases later in the game that Tampa Bay eventually lost.
Finally, on Wednesday, Aranda collected three hits and a walk over four trips to the plate, including another double.
Overall during the three games, Aranda hit .500/.538/.917 over 13 plate appearances.
After crushing Triple-A pitching for several seasons, Aranda is finally healthy and is thriving with a full-time opportunity at the big league level. After showing glimpses of a breakout last September, Aranda is hitting .327/.403/.498 with 11 HR, registering a 155 wRC+ and has accrued 2.3 fWAR over 345 PA in 2025.
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
8th: Christopher Morel
9th: Chandler Simpson
10th: Mason Englert
11th: Taylor Walls
12th: Yandy Diaz
13th: Travis Jankowski
14th: Brandon Lowe
15th: Drew Rasmussen
16th: Curtis Mead
17th: Junior Caminero
18th: Zack Littell
19th: Zack Littell
20th: Junor Caminero
21st: Christopher Morel
22nd: Yandy Diaz
23rd: Junior Caminero
24th: Brandon Lowe
25th: Yandy Diaz
26th: Shane Baz
27th: Brandon Lowe
28th: Yandy Diaz
29th: Joe Boyle
30th: Jonathan Aranda