Rays acquire OF Justyn-Henry Malloy from Tigers

The Tampa Bay Rays have acquired OF Justyn-Henry Malloy from Tigers in exchange for cash considerations, according to the team’s official social media account.

This move might come as a mild surprise, as the Rays have added another outfielder to their 40-man roster with the acquisition of Malloy from the Tigers, brining the count up to 9, but that also makes some sense if the Rays intend to platoon most if not all outfield roles, and there is plenty to like in this acquisition.

Malloy was originally selected by the Atlanta Braves in the 6th round of the 2021 draft and after a couple of seasons in their system, he was packaged with Jake Higginbotham in a trade to the Detroit Tigers for Joe Jimenez. During his time in Detroit’s system, Malloy became one of their top prospects, placing as high as 6th on their Baseball America rankings.

The 25-year old has Malloy been one of the best hitters in all of minor league baseball the past few seasons, hitting .286/.424/.478, registering a 143 wRC+ over 1209 plate appearances. That 143 wRC+ is the 3rd highest among players with at least 500 PA in Triple-A since the start of the 2022 season; Jonathan Aranda and Jake Cave are the only players above Malloy on that list.

However, his production in Triple-A has failed to translate to the big leagues thus far. Malloy debuted with Detroit in 2024 and hit .203/.291/.366 over 230 plate appearances, striking out 37.0% of the time over 230 plate appearances. His follow up campaign wasn’t much better as he hit .221/.346/.308, but did manage to drop his strikeout rate to 25.2% while he walked 15.7% of the time.

In total, the Vanderbilt and Georgia Tech product has 357 plate appearances at the major league level with an 89 wRC+, 9 HR, and 1 SB in just over one year of playing time (1 year, 40 days), with a pronounced split of 138 wRC+ vLHP (3 HR), and 61 wRC+ vRHP (6 HR).

Defensively, the Tigers tried him out for 2 innings at first base in 2025 but he has mainly played left and right field with below average results (-3 career DRS). Meanwhile in the minor leagues, Malloy also spent some time at third base while in the minor leagues with the Braves.

The Tigers designated Malloy for assignment on December 20th to clear a spot on the 40-mn roster for Kyle Finnegan. Malloy still has options remaining, allowing the Rays to stash him in Triple-A should he not making the Opening Day roster, serving as a solid depth piece in Durham.

With this addition the Rays now have 39 players on their 40-man roster.