Nick Fortes Is Doing Everything He Can to Fight For His Job

It’s safe to say that the catcher position has been a consistent position of offensive instability for the Tampa Bay Rays throughout the franchise’s 29 seasons in Major League Baseball.

Mike Zunino has the most home runs at the catcher position for Tampa Bay with 51 and Toby Hall has the most games played and RBI for any Rays catcher with 586 and 251, respectively.

Not often do you see a Rays catcher stick around for more than a year or so, but Nick Fortes is looking to buck the trend as rumors currently swirl regarding Tampa Bay being in the market for a new face behind the plate with MLB’s trade deadline only a few days away.

“I’m just trusting the work and staying consistent with it,” Fortes said in an article from Field Level Media.

This meteoric rise for Fortes has taken place since the Rays’ 7-6 loss against the Boston Red Sox on July 18 at Fenway Park, a game where he went 1-for-4 after going hitless in three at-bats the previous day, lowering his season average to .254 and his OPS to .632.

In the seven games he’s played since that point, the former Ole Miss standout is hitting an eye-opening .500 (11-for-22) with a 1.364 OPS, two homers, two doubles and 7 RBI.

He had three multi-hit games across that stretch, including a 4-for-4 night in an 11-3 win over the Cleveland Guardians this past Friday.

“There’s going to be ups and downs, but you’ve got to continue with the same approach and routine, and that’s just kind of where I’m at right now,” Fortes told FLM.

Not only did the Rays go on a six-game winning streak over the first six games of this stretch, his counting stats this season have risen dramatically, now sitting with a .277 average and .699 OPS.

It’s crazy what a week can do, and in this case, what Fortes has done since the 18th has definitely changed the mentality for what the team is planning to do at the trade deadline.

Lots of Catchers for Sale

Acquiring a catcher is still very much in the cards, with the biggest name on the market currently being Hunter Goodman, All-Star catcher for the Colorado Rockies.

However, he has been linked with other potential suitors as names like Adley Rutschman, Ryan Jeffers and Tyler Stephenson, among others, have seen similar trends follow them.

Jeffers, in particular, was a name to watch as the Rays sent scouts to watch him play against the Chicago Cubs during their series at Wrigley Field from July 17-19.

However, recent updates have pointed toward Minnesota keeping him instead of dealing him.

“Twins say they are looking to improve the team after walkoff win gets them to .500, half-game back in the AL Wild Card race. So they’re buyers, which means Joe Ryan and Jeffers aren’t going anywhere,” MLB insider Jon Heyman said on social media on Tuesday.

Fortes Is Getting Hot at Just the Right Time

All of this is to say that Fortes’ hot streak came at the right time for Tampa Bay, both in terms of building confidence with just 55 games left in the regular season and with the Rays expected to be a significant buyer at the trade deadline, 2.5 games ahead for the best record in the American League.

Right now, the biggest key is whether someone like him can maintain this stretch of offensive success, something that began well before the Red Sox series earlier this month.

In his last 21 games played, Fortes is hitting .368/.390/.579 with a .969 OPS, three homers, 13 RBI and three doubles and going even further back, he’s hitting .337 with an .885 OPS over his last 30 games, a stretch that began on June 9 that has seen the Rays go 18-12 overall.

It’s highly unlikely that he maintains this clip through the rest of the regular season, but he’s put himself once again in a position to succeed one of MLB’s best teams.

“Just trying to stay short and put the bat out front, catch the ball out front and try to pull it,” Fortes told Rays TV sideline reporter Ryan Bass on June 10. “Thankfully, [Ozzie Timmons], [Chad Mottola] and all the boys in the cage have been helping tremendously and I can’t thank them enough. … I just have to keep working.”