Victor Mesa Jr. Has Found His Calling With the Rays

Baseball fans will likely remember a rather unlikely interaction back in 2021 between young Miami Marlins outfielder Victor Mesa Jr. and soccer superstar Lionel Messi.

One was an upstart prospect who had yet to get his shot in the big leagues, while the other has been considered the best to ever play their sport, but somehow, the stars aligned and a photo surfaced of Messi holding up a “Mesa Jr.” black alternate Marlins jersey.

“He’s my idol,” Mesa said on MLB Network’s Intentional Talk on July 21. “I grew up, since I was like six years old, following him.”

However, while Messi has already carved out his legacy for clubs and country over the past two decades, Mesa’s story is just beginning. Funnily enough, he’s playing only a few hours across the state from Messi’s Inter Miami in St. Petersburg, Florida.

There might not be a team in Major League Baseball that’s better at identifying talent than the Tampa Bay Rays, so when the lefty became available on the trade block in the offseason, Erik Neander quickly pulled the trigger to acquire him.

At the time, the move was rather insignificant, a small transaction between two teams who have become frequent trade partners since former Tampa Bay general manager Peter Bendix became Miami’s president of baseball operations several seasons ago.

That trade isn’t just a blip on the radar anymore, as the 24-year-old has evolved into a key piece in the Rays’ outfield, despite landing on the 10-day injured list on Wednesday. It’s expected to be a minimum stay, per manager Kevin Cash.

“I want to thank all my teammates and coaches inside that even when lately I haven’t been producing my best, they still have the confidence to put me out there,” Mesa said postgame on August 5. 

It starts with power, something that was relatively non-existent last season, despite his playing in a hitter-friendly ballpark: George M. Steinbrenner Field, across the bridge in Tampa.

Christopher Morel, an injured Josh Lowe and rookie Jake Mangum provided production at a mediocre level in 2025, despite each playing in at least 105 games. Morel finished with a .684 OPS in 305 plate appearances, Lowe managed a .650 OPS in 435 plate appearances, and Mangum led the trio with a .296 average and .698 OPS in 428 plate appearances.

All three were moved ahead of the 2026 season, but in their place, Mesa has the chance to be a steady outfield presence alongside others like Chandler Simpson and Cedric Mullins, especially with Jake Fraley having missed the majority of the season to date with injury.

“I try to calm myself and try to not go looking for results,” Mesa said in August. “At the end of the day, I feel like I’m doing a job. I’ve been working a lot, and sometimes, it doesn’t always come though, but my teammates and coaches, they’ve told me to keep going.”

That power has seen him put up a .447 slugging percentage and a .735 OPS, having hit 10 homers since Memorial Day, when he made his Rays debut against the Baltimore Orioles. 

The 24-year-old got a taste of the big leagues last season in Miami, hitting .188 with a .641 OPS in 38 plate appearances, but he’s found a spot to produce with Tampa Bay, increasing his barrel percentage to 12.1 percent and his wOBA from .288 in a small sample last year to .318 this season.

His max exit velocity has also increased this year to 110.4. He’s hitting the ball harder at a more consistent clip. 

“I just stick to my approach, try to see my pitch and just put a good swing on the ball,” Mesa said on MLB Network. “I haven’t been a power hitter in my career, but I feel like once you’re [in MLB], you learn to hit the ball harder and thank god it’s coming through.”

Just as he’s hit the ball harder, he’s shown off his arm in the outfield, throwing harder than last year, with a max throw of 95.6 mph and an average throw of 93.1 mph, which ranks 17th in MLB among players with a minimum of 50 throws on the year.

That arm helped him record 41 outfield assists across 558 career games in the minor leagues, a 162-game average of 11.9 outfield assists per season. 

Mesa already has four assists in 55 games played this season, all from right field. His +6 outs above average (OAA) makes him one of four Rays outfielders with at least 6 OAA in 2026.

As a promising bat in a short sample with great defense and above-average speed (sitting in the 67th percentile in the league), Mesa has a chance to thrive in an organization that thrives off lesser-known players with untapped potential, like teammate Ryan Vilade, now with his fifth organization, who is fifth on the team in homers and sixth in RBI.

All Mesa needed was an opportunity, and the Rays were the perfect fit.

“This is a team that I’ve understood since I’ve been here the way we play ball, why we believe and why we trust each other,” Mesa said on MLB Network. “There’s not just one, but a lot of people that believe in us, the way that we are…We have a great clubhouse, and I love everyone.”