PORT CHARLOTTE (620 WDAE) -- You can call Rays outfielder Kevin Kiermaier anything you want. Just don't use one adjective to describe him.
"I don't want to hear 'injury-prone,'" Kiermaier said Friday. "I've broken two bones , unfortunately. I know I need to stay on the field. I know all that."
Kiermaier missed two and a half months in 2017 after fracturing his hip sliding in to first base, and missed 45 games in 2016 when he broke his wrist diving for a fly ball in the field, and is looking forward to putting those events behind him once and for all.
"I want to remind people what I did in 2015," Kiermaier stated. "I set a lot of records defensively. I say that because I want to remind people in the baseball world who the best defensive player on the planet is."
With Evan Longoria now gone, Kiermaier also said he's ready to step up into more of a leadership role amongst his teammates.
"I'm not going to change anything about my game, or anything like that," Kiermaier said. "But honestly, even if Longo was still here, it's one of those things I think I've become a lot more comfortable with who I am as a player and I think I've earned all the respect I need to with my teammates."
His manager Kevin Cash says he's already taken charge of things in the clubhouse.
"KK has already been leading," Cash said. "We always talk about the energy he brings on a daily basis, so he's already good at doing that. If he wants to involve himself a little bit more, he's got carte blanche because we really trust how he goes about his business and how he goes about playing. And for any young guy or any veteran guy, when you're around KK for a couple of weeks, you realize he's about one thing and that's winning."
Listen to more from Kiermaier and Cash below!