Gameday Preview: Happy Homecoming for Rays' Emerging Star Jonathan Aranda

Tampa Bay Rays first baseman Jonathan Aranda grew up right across the border from San Diego and always dreamed of playing here as a kid. He gets that opportunity Friday in front of family and friends. Here's our gameday preview, with an Aranda interview, starting lineups and pitching matchups.

Tampa Bay Rays first baseman Jonathan Aranda (62) hits a two run walk off home run against the New York Yankees. | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

SAN DIEGO, Calif. — When Jonathan Aranda was a boy growing up in Mexico just across the border from San Diego, he dreamed of one day playing at Petco Park as a major-leaguer.

Lots of kids have those dreams. Hundreds, thousands, maybe even millions. But for Aranda, the Tampa Bay Rays' 26-year-old first basemen, his boyhood wishes have come true. He's in the big leagues now — and he's having an All-Star-like first month of the season.

Friday night is the cherry on top of his hot start.

He's back home, just a few miles from where he grew up, and he's in the Rays' lineup on Friday night when they take on the San Diego Padres. He'll have about 20 family members here and ''too many to count'' friends in the stands. He was guessing it could be 50 or 60, ''but it could be more, too. It's exciting. There are a lot of people from Tijuana who are going to be here.''

Aranda is hitting .314 with four home runs and 13 RBIs so far. His OPS is 1.017, which is top-10 in the league. He's responding well to every-day playing time, just like he always dreamed as a kid.

"It feels nice because I used to live like 15 minutes from her and when I was a child, I used to come to this stadum here. It's very nice to play here for the first time,'' Aranda said through interpreter Eddie Rodriguez. "I didn't come a lot, but I do remember my first time because it was with my friend Alejandro Kirk (who's now the catcher for the Toronto Blue Jays.)

"I feel very proud to be from Tijuana because there were a lot of players from there who came before me,'' Aranda said. "Being in the big leagues is a very special thing, and I'm very proud of it. (The start to my season) has been nice and I hope I can give them what they came to see.''

Aranda is playing first base and batting fourth for the Rays. Here are the details on the game.

How to watch Rays-Padres

• Who: Tampa Bay Rays (11-14) vs. San Diego Padres (17-8)
• When: Friday, April 25 at 9:40 p.m. ET
• Where: Petco Park in San Diego, Calif.
• TV: FanDuel Sports Sun
• Radio: WDAE 95.3 FM/620 AM, WQBN 106.7/1300 AM (Spanish)
• Betting information: The Padres are favored on the money line at Fanduel.com at minus-144, and the Rays' money line odds are plus-122. On the run line, you can bet the Padres minus-1.5 at plus-152 odds, and the Rays plus-1.5 at minus-184 odds. The over/under is 7 runs.
• Weather: At 5 p.m. PT in San Diego, the temperature is 62 degrees and sunny with winds out of the west at 9 miles per hour. The chance of rain is 0 percent, and no rain is expected in the next 10 days.

Rays starting lineup

1. Chandler Simpson CF
2. Brandon Lowe 2B
3. Yandy Diaz DH
4. Jonathan Aranda 1B
5. Junior Caminero 3B
6. Kameron Misner RF
7. Christopher Morel LF
8. Ben Rortvedt C
9. Taylor Walls SS

Padres starting lineup

1. Fernando Tatis Jr. RF
2. Xander Bogaerts SS
3. Manny Machado 3B
4. Gavin Sheets 1B
5. Oscar Gonzalez DH
6. Jose Iglesias 2B
7. Tirso Ornelas LF
8. Elias Diaz C
9. Tyler Wade CF

Rays-Padres starting pitchers

• SHANE BAZ, Rays: The 25-year-old right-hander from Houston is 2-0 with a 3.22 ERA through four starts, and that number was much better before last Saturday's start against the New York Yankees, where he was touched for five runs in 3 1/3 innings. He had four walks after not walking a single batter in his first two home starts. He wants to do a better job of hitting his spots on Friday night.

• MICHAEL KING, Padres: King, who came to San Diego from the Yankees in the Juan Soto trade, is 3-0 with a 2.57 ERA this season. He pitched a two-hit shutout in his last start at Petco Park, blanking Colorado 2-0. He also pitched five scoreless innings here against Cleveland on April 1.

Rays manager Kevin Cash is impressed with King. "He's got pretty electric stuff. We saw him as a Yankee when he was really starting to come into his own and establish himself as a starter, and he hasn't looked back. These five starts to the season, he's been pretty dominant.''

Related Rays stories

• MEET THE OPPONENT: Tampa Bay's West Coast road trip continues this weekend in San Diego, where they'll run into a Padres team that is 17-8 already and a spectacular 12-1 at home. Here are three things to know about the Padres. CLICK HERE

• RAYS WIN IN EXTRAS AGAIN (Thurs.): For the second straight night, the Tampa Bay Rays rallied late against the Arizona Diamondbacks, tying the game in the ninth and winning 7-4 in the 10th. Junior Caminero and Christopher Morel had the big extra inning hits to complete the comeback. CLICK HERE

• RAYS WIN SLUGFEST (Wed.): Tampa Bay won its first road game of the year Wednesday night, beating the Arizona Diamondbacks 7-6 in 11 innings. It was a slugfest with six lead changes, and it was just the second time in 57 Rays games where both teams scored six runs or more. CLICK HERE

• RAYS ROOKIES SHINE: A side effect of all the injuries in the Tampa Bay Rays' outfield has been the emergence of Kameron Misner, Chandler Simpson and Jake Mangum as productive big league players. CLICK HERE

• MORGAN REACHES AAA: Tre' Morgan, the No. 4 prospect in the Rays' farm system, joined the Durham Bulls after missing the first few weeks of the 2025 regular season with a quad injury. CLICK HERE

• SMITH CRACKS TOP 100: With Yankees outfielder Jasson Domínguez officially graduating to the big leagues, Rays outfielder Aidan Smith took his spot on MLB Pipeline's list of the top 100 prospects. CLICK HERE