Rays Make Right Move Naming Their Starting Shortstop for Opening Day

Who is going to be the starting shortstop for the Tampa Bay Rays on Opening Day

Feb 26, 2026; Fort Myers, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Rays manager Kevin Cash looks on from the dugout during the fourth inning against the Boston Red Sox at JetBlue Park at Fenway South. | Jim Rassol-Imagn Images

With Opening Day for the Tampa Bay Rays nearly here, the roster is now set for the team following a few decisions made on Tuesday. 

Since the season is getting ready to go this week, the Rays needed to make their decisions for what the final roster was going to be on Opening Day. Unfortunately, this was a team that was hit by injuries of late, and the roster will look a bit different than originally projected. 

In the starting rotation, a little hip issue is going to result in Ryan Pepiot starting the campaign on the injured list. Fortunately, it doesn’t appear like he should be missing too much time, but starting on the IL is never ideal. 

Furthermore, the starting middle of the infield will also be on the injured list to begin the year. Both Gavin Lux and Taylor Walls will be out, with Walls expected to miss about a month of action. 

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Carson Williams makes team and is starting SS

— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) March 24, 2026

With the starting shortstop out for a while, the Rays recently made the decision to bring up their top prospect, Carson Williams, to be their starter at the position. The pressure will certainly be on the talented infielder, but this was the right move for the team. 

Rays Naming Williams Starting Shortstop is the Right Move

Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Carson Williams | Jim Rassol-Imagn Images

After getting some action in the majors at the end of last year, the goal for Tampa Bay was to always have their top prospect called up at some point this year. While that plan might have had to be moved up a bit, it presents the young prospect with a great opportunity. 

Williams is the top prospect in the system for Tampa Bay, and his success in the majors is an important thing for the franchise. While his time with the Rays last year didn’t go well, he did gain valuable experience to carry over. 

This spring, that experience seemingly helped him quite a bit. Williams performed great at camp, showing an improvement in a couple of key areas. One of the main goals was generating more contact and cutting down on swings and misses. 

The young shortstop has a good amount of power for the position, but he struck out far too much last year. Now, with Walls out for about a month, Williams very well could have enough time to prove himself and take over as the starter going forward. While Walls is an excellent defender, Williams is the one with the much higher upside offensively, and his getting a real shot to perform now makes sense.