In a deal that flew well below the radar in MLB’s offseason trade market, the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday acquired a left-handed minor league reliever named Jeff Belge.
The 25-year-old Belge, acquired by the Rays from the Los Angeles Dodgers for reliever J.P. Feyereisen, posted some solid numbers in the minors last season, but one stat in particular stands out. That’s 20/400, Belge’s vision in his right eye according to Syracuse.com.
That makes Belge legally blind in that eye.
“It’s pretty much nothing,” Belge told the Tampa Bay Times.
Belge lost vision in his right eye after a piece of shale pierced his cornea when he was nine years old, requiring two surgeries. Another traumatic injury to the eye when he was 17 led to another surgery.
So today, Belge can only see colors and outlines of objects in that eye.
That hasn’t stopped him from finding success on the diamond. Selected by Los Angeles in the 19th round out of St. Johns in 2019, the 6’5″ Belge pitched for High-A Great Lakes last year, posting a 3.66 ERA with 50 strikeouts and 17 walks in 32 innings. That’s a marked improvement from his 5.61 ERA in 2021, so he’s trending in the right direction. Belge’s mid-90s fastball gives him a good shot to make the big show.
Belge insists his issue with his vision is not a big deal.
“I find ways around it,” Belge told the Times. “It doesn’t really bother me. It’s just me having a dream and just following it. It’s a bump along the way I had to get over.”
[Tampa Bay Times; Photo Credit: Rays Metrics]
