Why Rays' Chandler Simpson is 'more fun than valuable' according to ESPN

Why Rays' Chandler Simpson is 'more fun than valuable' according to ESPN originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Tampa Bay Rays are 17-11, sitting only a few games back of the New York Yankees at 19-10 atop the American League.

While the pitching staff isn't great, the Rays' offense has been incredible thanks to Yandy Diaz and Junior Caminero leading the way. But, literally leading off for the Rays might be one of the most unique players in baseball: Chandler Simpson.

ESPN's David Schoenfield named Simpson as a player to watch in left field for good reasons, but also called him "more fun than valuable." He explained his reasoning, which focused on just how unique Simpson's game is at the MLB level.

Why Chandler Simpson is 'more fun than valuable'

"He's more fun than he is valuable, a unicorn in a league where it's too often home run or bust, Simpson slaps the ball on the ground, rarely striking out, rarely drawing walks, and rarely hitting anything besides a single," Schoenfield writes.

Simpson is an incredibly fun player to watch in the Major Leagues. This season, he has a .309 batting average, which normally would be conducive to a good OPS, but he has a .687 OPS and 94 OPS+.

Despite holding a .309 batting average, Simpson is a below league-average hitter. The reason why is clear: he doesn't walk often (six on the season), and he isn't a power hitter (two extra-base hits, both triples).