Taylor Walls was excited to celebrate another milestone.
This one, however, wasn’t associated with the Tampa Bay Rays’ historic start this season.
Walls, the former Florida State All-American shortstop who plays multiple infield positions for the Rays, loves nothing more than being a baseball dad.
Walls and his wife Hallie were in birthday mode Tuesday as their daughter Sutton − born about a month before Walls made his Major League debut with the Rays in 2021 − turned 2 years old.
“It’s so cool and fun because she really loves baseball and being at the park,” Walls said Tuesday afternoon.
Walls was hoping to continue the celebration Tuesday night at Tropicana Field.
The Rays (20-3) made MLB history Monday after opening their season with a 14th-straight win at home, beating the reigning World Series champions, the Houston Astros, 8-3 at Tropicana Field. The Rays passed the 2009 Los Angeles Dodgers for the longest home winning streak to start the season in the modern era.
The teams are scheduled to play Tuesday at 6:40 pm
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Camaraderie one component to Rays’ early success
Walls, who started at second base in Tuesday’s game, entered batting .333 with three doubles, a triple, three home runs and seven walks in 14 games.
Regarded as one of the top defensive infielders in the Majors, Walls is off to a nice start offensively after hitting .172 last season in 466 plate appearances. He had recorded at least one hit in 10 of 14 games (71.4%), and had multiple hits twice.
In a 10-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds last week, the switch-hitting Walls went 4-for-5 with a triple, two home runs (one from each side of the plate), four RBI and two runs scored. He was a double shy of the cycle in the blowout win.
“I feel great both from sides of the plate,” Walls said. “Right handed I was a worried a bit because I didn’t have any at-bats from that side during spring training (games). I probably last saw live pitching from the right side in Tallahassee before leaving for spring training. But I think I am in a much better place and feel good.”
Managed by former FSU catcher Kevin Cash, the Rays’ start to the season has been national news.
They went a record-tying 13-0 to match the 1982 Atlanta Braves and 1987 Milwaukee Brewers, trailing only the 20-0 start by the 1884 St. Louis Maroons of the Union Association. And only the 1911 Detroit Tigers and 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers had better starts at 21-2 since 1901.
“It’s cool and something you really can’t avoid because it’s on (television) in the locker room and everywhere,” Walls said. “We are only 20-some games in, but it is special. The mindset of this team is to go out and play every game like it’s the seventh game of the World Series.”
Walls, 26, also points to Cash’s leadership and team camaraderie behind the team’s success.
“It all starts with him – he jokes around all the time and keeps everyone extremely loose,” Walls said. “He really makes you comfortable in whatever role you have on the team. Our locker room chemistry originates from him.”
The Rays are looking to make the postseason for the fifth consecutive year, leveraging pitching depth with young position players.
The franchise boasts MLB’s fourth-best record since 2018 and it’s the second-youngest team behind the Guardians (26.9 years old) with an average age of 27.3.
“For the most part it is the same core group as last year,” Walls said.
“I feel like everyone is a little more comfortable with each other. We’ve been around each other for so long. … Everyone is also still relatively young. So it feels like everyone is still very humble, very open. Everyone respects each other and works together.
“It’s a good mix right now.”
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Former Seminole Walls helping Rays rewrite baseball’s history books