Tampa Bay Rays’ Chandler Simpson just turned the base paths into his personal racetrack—again. And this time, it happened on a grounder to Paul Goldschmidt.
One of the smoothest first basemen of the past decade. But when Simpson is sprinting, the physics of baseball changes. And so do the rules of what’s possible on a ground ball.
Let’s unpack this electric moment that unfolded Sunday and ended with Statcast timers blinking in disbelief.
The Play That Made the Scorer Sweat
In the fifth inning, Simpson hit what seemed like an ordinary grounder to first. Goldschmidt misplayed it—technically—letting it carom off his glove to shortstop Anthony Volpe. Initially, the scorer chalked it up as an error. But by the seventh, something unusual happened: the scorer reversed the call.
Why? Because even with a perfect pickup, there was no world where Max Fried was winning a footrace to the bag against Simpson. That’s how blazing fast this kid is. Officially, it was changed to a hit, preserving Fried’s no-no into the eighth—until it wasn’t.
The Speed: Statcast Doesn’t Lie
Simpson clocked in at a ridiculous 3.90 seconds from home to first, and that’s not just good. That’s historic. That’s “start writing the folklore now” good. Only one other batter has matched that kind of burst on a full swing in the last two seasons: Ji-Hwan Bae at 3.89 last August. That’s it. Just the two of them.
You might say, “Wait, I’ve seen faster times!” Sure—on bunts, where hitters cheat the stopwatch with a running start. When you isolate pure, swing-speed metrics, Simpson’s 3.90 is like a comet across the Statcast sky.
Let’s Talk Context
Left-handed hitters already have a step or so advantage to first. But even factoring that in, Simpson’s 3.90 is top-tier—an 80-grade time, the scouting equivalent of an Olympic sprinter’s 100-meter dash.
And because Statcast typically runs about 0.10 seconds slower than stopwatch-timed bursts, Simpson may have unofficially dipped into 3.8 territory. That’s cartoon-level fast.
For further perspective, Simpson owns the fastest Triple-A time this season at 3.91. And while Bobby Witt Jr. has challenged that mark with a 3.96—as a righty no less, meaning more ground to cover—Simpson’s acceleration is in its own class.
Chandler Simpson Isn’t Just Fast
Chandler Simpson is the type of player that forces scorers to reconsider calls, makes pitchers look flat-footed, and turns grounders into existential dilemmas for infielders. He leads this season in fastest 90ft sprints. Baseball hasn’t seen many like him, and if he keeps this up, pitchers better start covering first with a parachute and a head start.
