The Rays have traded outfielder Jordan Luplow to the D-Backs for infield prospect Ronny Simon, the teams announced. Arizona designated reliever Brett de Geus for assignment to open space on the 40-man roster.
Luplow is a five-year big league veteran, although he’s spent the bulk of his time in a platoon capacity. The right-handed hitter has never tallied more than 261 plate appearances in any given campaign, as he’s instead been leveraged heavily against lefty pitching. That’s a role in which he’s had great success, as Luplow has a massive .245/.360/.539 showing against southpaws. While that batting average isn’t eye-catching, Luplow’s combination of a huge 14.3% walk rate and 23 home runs in 378 plate appearances (essentially a little less than two-thirds of a full season’s workload) when holding the platoon advantage has made him an impact player in those situations.
More to come.