Tampa Bay Rays Turn to Triple-A Durham in Hopes of Finding an Offensive Spark

After five years in the minor leagues, a lefty slugger is poised for his Tampa Bay debut.

Tampa Bay Rays infielder Bob Seymour poses for a photo during media day in Port Charlotte, Fla., on Feb. 17, 2025. | Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

The Tampa Bay Rays, in a tailspin since the end of June, are calling up their top minor league slugger in hopes of generating some much-needed offense.

Bob Seymour, a 26-year-old first baseman with the Triple-A Durham Bulls, is expected to join the Rays on Friday in San Francisco, where they have three games set with the Giants. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times broke the news Thursday night on social media.

#Rays expected to call up 1B/DH Bob Seymour, who has 30 homers, 87 RBIs, .880 OPS for AAA @DurhamBulls. Should join team in SF on Friday.

— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) August 14, 2025

He leads Triple-A in home runs with 30.

After an 11-3 win over the Baltimore Orioles on June 28, the Rays sat a half-game back in the American League East and in the thick of the postseason race.

Since then, they are 12-27 and have fallen 11.5 games back of the Toronto Blue Jays. Their only real shot at the postseason is the American League wild card. The Rays enter play Friday 5.5 games back of the New York Yankees for the final wild card but still have five teams to leap over.

In that span, the Rays have given up 176 runs and scored 144, a run differential of minus 32. In the 25 games since the All-Star break, the Rays have American League-worst totals of 97 runs and 91 RBIs.

And just think of where the Rays would be without the contribution of third baseman Junior Caminero, who has driven in 33 runs and hit 14 home runs since June 28.

Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Junior Caminero (13) rounds the bases after hitting a two-run home run during the ninth inning against the Athletics at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento, Calif., on Aug. 13, 2025. | Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images

The Bob Seymour File

The Rays selected Seymour in the 13th round of the 2021 MLB Draft out of Wake Forest. In 410 games since the draft, Seymour has 89 home runs and 320 runs driven in with a slash line of .283/,361/,522/.883.

In 2025, Seymour has appeared in 105 games with the 30 homers and 87 RBIs. His season slash line is .263/.327/.553/.880.

At the trade deadline, the Rays didn’t acquire a big hitter to complement Caminero. They have to hope Seymour can be that player.