The way the Rays are set up right now it looks like Ben Zobrist will be playing every day in 2010. He will likely play 2B against righty pitchers and RF against lefty pitchers. What that really does is that it means that Sean Rodriguez will likely be starting at 2B against lefty starting pitchers and Matt Joyce will be starting in RF against righty starting pitchers. 28-year old switch hitting Ben Zobrist will get most of the playing time at 2B for the Rays in 2010 as things stand right now. He had a breakout year for the Rays in 2009 and they are hoping that he can repeat it. He played in 152 games for the Rays last season and he was 149 for 501 (.297 avg, .948 OPS) with 91 runs scored, 27 homers, 91 RBIs and 17 stolen bases. Zobrist made 4 errors at 2B in 91 games while showing slightly below average range at 2B last season. Look for him to improve on defense there as he is a natural shortstop.

24-year old righty swinging Sean Rodriguez was the key player in the Scott Kazmir trade last Summer. He played in 5 games for the Angels last season and he was 5 for 25 (.200 avg, .716 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 2 homers and 4 RBIs. Rodriguez played in 108 games in AAA-ball last season and he was 113 for 385 (.294 avg, 1.005 OPS) with 87 runs scored, 30 homers, 98 RBIs and 9 stolen bases. He has a nice upside for the Rays and he will likely start for them at 2B against lefty starting pitchers. He didn’t make any errors in 5 games at 2B for the Angels last season but he showed poor range. He will likely improve his range factor in 2010 so I wouldn’t be too worried about it.

26-year old switch-hitting Willy Aybar will likely be third on the depth chart at 2B this season for the Rays. He showed outstanding range in his 28 games for the Rays at 2B last season but he made 5 errors which is way too many.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2B IN 2010: B