Chandler Simpson suffered a bizarre mouth injury during the Tigers game on Monday. His own batting helmet smashed into his face during a normal headfirst slide, and it ended in a bloody mess. This forced the 25-year-old speedster out of the game. The Tampa Bay Rays are locked in a first-place battle with the Yankees while dealing with a ton of injuries. Losing a core base stealer to a freak accident is the last thing they need.

“Chandler Simpson was bleeding heavily and had to leave the game after his helmet cut his lip as he slid into second,” reported Talkin’ Baseball after the injury incident happened.

The accident happened in the fourth inning, when Simpson slid headfirst into second base after a wild pitch. But while sliding, his helmet came off, bounced off the ground, and hit his mouth. And the impact of that was clearly visible, as he started bleeding. As soon as this happened, trainers came running out, and Simpson was taken out of the game. After taking Simpson out, the Rays replaced him with Ryan Vilade as the pinch runner and took his place in left field.

But the good news is that, according to Ryan Bass of Rays.tv, Simpson will not take time off and is expected to start the game on Tuesday. This is good news because of how important Simpson is to the Rays’ middle order.

Chandler Simpson in 2026 has an average of .284 with just 12 RBIs, and for most that would be bad, but not for Simpson. Simpson is not known for his power hitting but for getting on base and base-running.

Simpson has an OBP of .318 and is good enough for an average player, but once he gets on base, the chaos starts. After recording 44 steals in his rookie year, Simpson has already stolen 14 bases in 2026. He constantly puts pressure on pitchers and helps his team score easy runs.

Players lose their helmets on headfirst slides all the time, but the helmet usually rolls away into the dirt. But it bouncing back up and making a player bleed is incredibly rare. The last time something exactly like this happened was in May 2023, when a loose helmet cut Cubs star Dansby Swanson above the eye on a slide.

For the Rays, this scary moment adds to an already growing list of bad luck. They were 3.5 games ahead of the Yankees just a week ago, but are now just one game ahead. And the main reason for that is the injuries the Rays have suffered in the past few days.

They also had to remove Taylor Walls from Monday’s game after a hamstring issue. Although they say it is precautionary, we have to remember that Walls missed two games with the same injury last week, too.

And with players like Gavin Lux, Jake Fraley, and Jonny DeLuca also on the IL, the Rays can’t afford to have any more players missing from their core. But it is not only the Rays’ offense that has taken a hit, but also the pitching, too. That is why a top-of-the-line pitcher links to Tampa.

Reports indicate that the Rays are in the mix for Tarik Skubal

The Tampa Bay Rays have been one of MLB’s biggest surprises this season, but injuries continue piling up. Ryan Pepiot is out for the season after hip surgery.

Relievers Craig Kimbrel, Edwin Uceta, Manuel Rodriguez, Steven Wilson, Michael Grove, and Jesse Scholtens are all hurt and not coming back any time soon. With the Rays leading the division, many believe the club could look for another arm before the trade deadline.

And that is the one reason why the Tampa Bay Rays are linked with Tarik Skubal. The Detroit Tigers enter Tuesday with a 23-38 record and sit last in the AL Central. As the Tigers continue to struggle, many insiders are wondering if the club could consider moving valuable pieces like Skubal.

Multiple insiders have already linked the Rays to Skubal.

“The Tampa Bay Rays, the one small-market team that routinely plays on big names, currently lead the AL East. Perhaps new ownership would be tempted to make a splash,” MLB Insider Ken Rosenthal wrote.

This is surprising because the Rays rarely make huge trades.

MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand also believes that the Tampa Bay Rays are a serious contender for Skubal. Feinsand noted that the Rays have acted aggressively before when competing for division titles rather than Wild Card spots.

“The Rays have a very deep farm system from which to deal,” he explained. “So any player that could help them take aim at a division title could be in play if they continue playing at this level.”

And that is exactly what is happening. The Detroit Tigers’ season has gone horribly wrong until now and sit 11 games behind the Guardians and 6.5 games behind a Wild Card spot. With the offense not firing and the pitching heavily dependent on Skubal, the Tigers might look to sell him for decent players that could help the team get better.