The Rays might have kind of a weird platoon set up in RF with Matt Joyce starting against righties and Ben Zobrist against lefties with Sean Rodriguez starting at 2B when Zobrist is in RF. That would mean that 25-year old lefty swinging Matt Joyce would get the most playing time in RF for the Rays in 2010. Joyce played in 11 games for the Rays last season in which he was 6 of 32 (.188 avg, .770 OPS) with 3 runs scored, 3 homers, 7 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Joyce also played in 111 games in AAA-ball last season in which he was 114 of 417 (.273 avg, .855 OPS) with 73 runs scored, 16 homers, 66 RBIs and 14 stolen bases. Joyce didn’t make any errors in 5 games in RF last season but he didn’t show much range. He will need to improve his defense a bit if the Rays are going to trust him in 2010.

28-year old switch hitting Ben Zobrist played in 59 error-free games in RF for the Rays last season while showing outstanding range. If Sean Rodriguez wins the starting 2B job outright this spring then Zobrist will be the full-time RF in 2010.

34-year old righty swinging Gabe Kapler could also get some starts in RF against lefty starting pitching. Kapler played in 99 games for the Rays last season in which he was 49 of 205 (.239 avg, .768 OPS) with 26 runs scored, 8 homers, 32 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. Kapler made 2 errors in 66 games in RF last season while showing outstanding range. He also had 4 assists while in RF as he has a strong arm and likes to show it off.

26-year old switch hitting speedster Fernando Perez could also get some P.T. in 2010 in RF for the Rays. Perez didn’t make any errors in 1 game in RF for the Rays last season. He has outstanding range.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE RF IN 2010: B