From juggling strikeout to clutch hit, Fortes shows his value with Rays

WEST SACRAMENTO -- Rays catcher Nick Fortes wasn’t happy with himself after an 0-2 foul ball from the Athletics’ Shea Langeliers dropped out of his glove in the second inning Monday.

It wasn’t an easy play by any means, but Fortes knows it’s one he usually makes. And it probably didn’t help that Langeliers, given a lifeline, ripped a single to left field two pitches later.

“I don’t know how I didn’t catch it,” he mused later to starter Ryan Pepiot in the Rays dugout.

Luckily for Fortes, he got another chance to make a play -- and what a play it was.

On another two-strike foul ball, this one in the fifth inning of Monday’s 7-4 win over the A’s at Sutter Health Park, the Tampa Bay backstop mixed a little luck with a little pain to make a play that likely won’t be recreated anytime soon.

“You don’t see that very often,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “I’m glad he was able to hang on.”

“Hang on” is a particularly apt term for the bizarre play, which came in the fifth inning with the Rays up 4-1 and A’s shortstop Darell Hernaiz at the plate. On an 0-2 count, Hernaiz lunged at a Pepiot slider well off the plate and barely made contact, directing the baseball downward. The foul tip found the perfect place -- lodged right in the center of a triangle between Fortes’ throwing arm, his right leg and the side of his chest protector.

The play wasn’t over yet: When Fortes clambered to his feet an instant later, the baseball popped free from its nesting spot. After a hasty, failed attempt to snag it with his throwing hand, Fortes brought his glove arm down underneath the baseball to grab the foul tip and complete the strikeout once and for all.

“It ricocheted off my thumb,” Fortes said. “I kind of lodged it in my arm and then caught it with the glove.”

The Rays catcher’s description was straightforward, but the play he made was anything but. Pepiot didn’t even see what happened right away: He had to be told by home-plate umpire Brennan Miller (who made an EMPHATIC out call on the play) what Fortes had just done.

After the inning, Pepiot and Fortes reviewed the play (and Langeliers’ earlier foul ball) in the dugout, with the starter impressed by his batterymate’s ability to “play a little pinball.”

“Unbelievable catch, and I don’t know how he did it,” Pepiot said. “It was crazy.”

It wasn’t Fortes’ only impression on Monday’s game, either. Acquired from the Marlins on July 29, Fortes recorded his second hit since joining the Rays, a two-run single up the middle to open the scoring in the second inning. The base hit, which came on a 1-2 count, was crucial after the Rays got a single and a double to open the inning but nearly came away with nothing.

“That could have been a really frustrating inning,” Cash said. “Second and third no outs, come up with two outs and not get anything. ‘Fortie’ came up in a big way.”

After walking in the eighth inning, Fortes got a massive jump to steal second base without a throw. He credited the swipe -- his first steal since Sept. 10, 2023 -- to first-base coach Michael Johns.

“He was giving me some good information,” Fortes said. “He said, ‘If you like it, take it,’ and so I just took a shot.”

Monday was further proof Fortes, who grew up a Rays fan but began his Major League career on the other side of the Florida with the Marlins, is settling in with his new club.

“I love this team,” he said. “I love this organization. I’ve been watching them my whole life. It’s super surreal. To be able to contribute, to win and to help this playoff push here at the very end of the year, it’s pretty cool. I’m happy to be part of it.”

Fortes is still just 2-for-19 at the plate with Tampa Bay after being acquired for outfield prospect Matthew Etzel two days ahead of the Trade Deadline, but his value has always come from his skills behind the plate. An above-average receiver and blocker with a strong throwing arm, he’s been a defensive upgrade for the Rays at catcher.

And if he can make more plays like Monday’s foul-tip snag, that’s even better.

“Kind of a unique little circumstance,” Fortes said. “Just happy I was able to hang onto it.”