Father's Day locker room surprises are Rays' good luck charms

Yandy Diaz's son took the mound to throw Sunday's ceremonial first pitch, but the toddler needed a little help from dad to get the ball into the mascot's hand. Yandy Jr. did not seem to be a fan of pitching.

Like father, like son.

Yandy Jr. and fellow kids of Rays' players seemed to be good luck charms for the 4-3 victory, sealing the home-series win against the Nationals.

The holiday was made even better for the home team fathers, who were surprised with specialized locker room nameplates. Jonathan Aranda looked up to a sticker collage of Disney princesses, while Craig Kimbrel saw that his name was replaced by "Silly Daddy." Taylor Walls' read "Best Dad Ever."

Celebrating his first Father's Day, Junior Caminero was welcomed with a touching message written by his wife on his daughter's behalf: "Daddy, I'm still too little to write, but if I could, I would tell you: Thank you for being my favorite hero."

The infielder wore the title with pride during Sunday's game. Lining the inside of his belt was a photo collage of his daughter, Valentina, who was born in November. On his feet were cleats customized with her name and a painted portrait of the pair.

"It's a blessing from God to be a father, right? Especially to be her father," Caminero said. "Today I'll put on the cleats, before the game, and I kind of don't want the game ever to end."

Rays equipment manager Tyler Wall helped to organize a trio of special holiday footwear, designed by artist Spencer Young, the founder of Forever Young Designs.

Diaz repped a similar pair to Caminero. On his right cleat was a portrait of him smiling at a young Yandy Jr.

"I try to be the best in anything that I do, but I try to be even better now for him," Diaz said via team interpreter Kevin Vera. "It's changed me in every single possible way that I can imagine."

While Caminero and Diaz wore the gear as fathers, Chandler Simpson donned a pair for his father. He gifted the surprise shoes to his dad, Ralph, after the game.

"He loved them. He was just in awe when I showed them to him," Simpson said. "It's everything just to have him, not only at the game, but in my life."

The cleats had a purple accent and a portrait of Ralph wearing gear from the fraternity that both had pledged. With his dad watching at Tropicana Field, Simpson swiped second base in the sixth inning, working to build a new streak since breaking his 30-game steal slump on Saturday.

"I wouldn't be nowhere near the place I am today without my Pops. He's been a great influence on me, not only as a baseball player, as a man," he said. "I'm glad that I get to see him this weekend."

Rasmussen looks to stay hot

The ever-consistent Drew Rasmussen will make his 15th start of the season Monday in the series opener against the Royals.

Posting a 2.59 ERA, the right-hander has struck out a team-high 84 batters.

For a pitcher who frequents three kinds of fastballs, he credits his change-up as the key to this dominant stretch, giving him a more unpredictable weapon. In three June starts, Rasmussen has pitched seven innings each game and totaled 29 strikeouts.

"The addition of the change-up has really helped," Rasmussen said. "Every season comes with ebbs and flows, and right now things are going really well, and we're going to see how long we can ride it out."

For Rasmussen Father's Day surprise, his nameplate was changed to "Rhett's Best Buddy." The pitcher celebrated the holiday with his son and as a first-time girl dad after welcoming daughter Miller Drew in April.

"For a lot of time, my world revolved around the game of baseball, and now there are bigger things, significantly greater things that my world revolves around and baseball, it just makes up a part of it," he said.

Miscellany

Highly rated outfield prospect Theo Gillen is being promoted to Double-A Montgomery after a strong showing at High-A Bowling Green. … Former Dodgers pitcher Michael Grove, signed April 14 as he recovered from right shoulder surgery, was reinstated from the 60-day injured list and optioned to Triple-A Durham, where he went 0-3, 3.38 in six rehab games. … Royals star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. was out of the lineup for Friday and Sunday's games against the Cardinals with a Grade-1 MCL sprain. His status for Monday's game at the Trop is unclear.

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This story was originally published June 21, 2026 at 7:22 PM.