Cascade alum Souza enjoying career year, laughs with Rays

SEATTLE — Like many youngsters growing up in the Pacific Northwest, the people Steven Souza Jr. considered heroes performed their craft at Safeco Field.

“I came here all the time growing up, watching Griffey, A-Rod, Edgar — and Jesus Sucre,” said Souza, nodding in the direction of his Tampa Bay teammate. “It’s just fun to be back and play in this park.”

Sucre, the one-time Mariners backup catcher now in his first season with the Rays, smiled, acknowledging the playful clubhouse banter from Souza, the former Cascade High standout now in his third season with Tampa Bay.

The three-game weekend series against the Mariners marks the third trip Souza has made to Safeco Field since he broke into the majors with Washington in 2014 before he was traded to the Rays the following offseason. The chances to play in his hometown are infrequent and come only once a season due to Tampa Bay playing in the American League East Division, so there is no shortage of friends and family in the stands wearing Tampa Bay gear during that one trip.

“(I’m) definitely excited for Souz to get back here,” said Rays manager Kevin Cash. “He’s playing really well right now. In the past he has put, probably, a lot of pressure on himself to come in here and really perform, but we’re confident with the way he is at the plate right now, where his head is at. He’s going to have a big series for us.”

Souza is having the best season of his career. While the 6-foot-4, 225-pound right fielder has always shown the ability to hit the ball out of the ballpark, he’s also shown a propensity to strike out frequently while walking rarely. But thanks to a pair of walks Friday, he’s already surpassed his walk total of 31 a season ago and is striking out in 27.7 percent of his plate appearances after nearly identical strikeout rates of 33.9 and 33.8 percent the past two seasons.

Consequently, Souza’s slash line of .272/.384/.500 (batting average/on-base percentage/slugging percentage) is a career high in all three categories and he is on track to set career marks in hits, doubles, home runs, runs and RBI.

“I think in the past he’s gone up to the plate trying to cover two pitches at one time,” Cash said. “This year he’s kind of committed himself to one approach and adjusting when pitchers alter their plans against him or if he’s ready to hit the fastball he’s just reacting to other pitches rather than trying to cover them all. That’s allowed him to maybe lay off some pitches to put him in some hitter’s counts.”

Souza hits fifth in the Tampa Bay lineup behind former Mariner Logan Morrison, who is tied for fifth in the American League with 15 home runs. Souza has 10 long balls for the Rays who, entering Saturday, led all of Major League Baseball with 86 homers this season.

“Up and down our lineup has been really good, and when you get a whole lineup clicking it’s really easy to try to do your part instead of trying to do too much,” Souza said. “I think last year there were a lot of times when I tried to do too much.

“We have so many guys who can hit the homer, swing the bat and when you get that it’s really easy to just go up there and pass the baton, and that’s what I’m trying to do this year.”

Another aspect is that Souza has been healthy this season, not a small feat considering his career to this point. He had a stint on the disabled list last June and was ultimately shut down in late September to undergo hip surgery. The year before he had two stints on the disabled list including a month-long stretch following a broken hand.

“Any time you get to play healthy it’s freeing,” he said. “I had to play a long time (in 2016), to grind through an injured hip and just being back there and being healthy, you take it for granted sometimes, so it’s just been really a blessing to be out there every day feeling as good as I can.”

His improved health and performance haven’t been the only changes in his life. Souza’s wife, Mikaela, gave birth to their first child this past offseason and Micah turns six months old later this month.

“You really just have to let stuff go when you leave the field and it’s time to be a dad,” Souza said. “Obviously that’s my No. 1 priority in my life is to take care of those guys — my wife and my son — it’s just a lot of fun to come home and see smiling face and watch him wake up in the morning.”

Back to that clubhouse banter: Souza can dish it out, but he can also take it — a critical skill in the baseball world. He had no choice following the now-viral clip of him diving for a ball that ended up more than 20 feet away from him in Minnesota last week.

I've watched this Souza dive like 50 times 😂😂😂 #RaysUp & having fun pic.twitter.com/ekG9pMg4EA

— Zac BloBner (@ZacOnTheMic) May 27, 2017

Center fielder Kevin Kiermaier simply reached down and picked the ball up on two hops and threw it back to the infield. Video then showed the duo watch the replay on the Target Field screen before descending into gales of laughter.

Souza took it so well he tweeted at Statcast, which informed him he officially missed the ball by 23 feet.

Steven Souza terribly misjudged this dive for the ball. 😂https://t.co/g6uQAGX4rS

— SB Nation (@SBNation) May 27, 2017

“I took a couple steps and I completely lost the ball and it was more of a protection dive to get out of the way,” Souza said. “I really didn’t think I had a chance at catching the ball, but I thought it was at least 10 feet from me or somewhere closer. I didn’t realize it was at least 30 feet away from me. It was a funny moment. KK obviously made me chuckle and we had a good time with it.”

Whether Souza is the subject or the instigator the laughter is constant, and that’s the way he imagined it growing up when he watched from the stands on the field where he now gets to play.

Follow Herald Writer Jesse Geleynse on Twitter.