Tampa Bay Rays Minor League Roundup: Week 5
Carson Williams moves to the top of the prospect power rankings
Every Monday during the regular season, each minor league team has the day off. This serves as an excellent check point system to check in on how each team and individual prospect is performing. We are now five weeks into the 2024 campaign and some prospects have certainly continued their ascent up the organizational ladder while others are off to less than stellar starts.
According to FanGraphs (which factors in age and proximity to the big leagues), the overall top hitter in the Rays farm system right now is shortstop Carson Williams. The talented infielder is expected to be a perrenial Gold Glove contender, but his bat is showing up in a big way in the early season. Although he isn’t walking very much, that may change as pitchers learn to fear his powerful approach.
Meanwhile, the top pitcher is 25-year old southpaw Ian Seymour. After dealing with injuries throughout the start of his profesisonal career, Seymour is finally healthy and is dominating in Double-A. Over four starts, he has a 2.25 ERA | 2.65 FIP with a 37.8 K% and 6.8 BB% over 20 innings pitched.
Let’s break it down by team; the offensive players must have at least 30 plate appearances and the pitchers must have at least 10 innings logged. All stats were recorded prior to the start of play on Tuesday.
Durham Bulls
Record: 10-17, 8 games back (last place in the International League East)
Team Offensive Leaders:
AVG: .367, Jake Mangum
OBP: .406, Jake Mangum
SLG: .646, Junior Caminero
HR: 7, Alex Jackson
wRC+: 165, Jake Mangum
SB: 8, Kameron Misner
Team Pitching Leaders:
ERA: 1.80, Justin Sterner
FIP: 2.36, Michael Gomez
K%: 39.6%, Trevor Brigden
BB%: 4.3%, Joe Rock
WHIP: 0.73, Justin Sterner
AVG: .143, Justin Sterner
WHIFF%: 14.7%, Edward Uceta
Top 10 Prospects
- Junior Caminero: .313/.377/.646 | 22.6 K% | 9.4 BB% | 4 HR | 1 SB | 156 wRC+ | 53 PA. Caminero has been playing on a limited schedule as he works his way back to full strength after dealing with a quad issue earlier in the season.
- Osleivis Basabe: .224/.270/.276 | 22.2 K% | 1.6 BB% | 1 HR | 1 SB | 42 wRC+ | 63 PA. Currently on the 7-day IL with a fracture wrist suffered on 4/16
- Jonny DeLuca: .200/.385/.300 | 0.0 K% | 15.4 BB% | 0 HR | 0 SB | 97 wRC+ | 13 PA. Started the season on the IL after breaking his hand during Spring Training. Began rehab assignment on April 25th.
- Shane Baz: Hasn’t pitched in a regular season game yet due to undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2022 and also dealing with oblique issues in his rehab. Expected to begin rehab assignment with Durham this weekend.
Highlight of the Week:
Montgomery Biscuits
Record: 11-10, 3-way tie for first in the Southern League South
Team Offensive Leaders:
AVG: .370, Carson Williams
OBP: .419, Heriberto Hernandez
SLG: .661 Heriberto Hernandez
HR: 5, Heriberto Hernandez
wRC+: 209, Heriberto Hernandez
SB: 12, Dru Baker
Team Pitching Leaders:
ERA: 0.00, Brendan McKay
FIP: 2.04, Brendan McKay
K%: 37.8%, Ian Seymour
BB%: 2.1%, Brendan McKay
WHIP: 0.62, Brendan McKay
AVG: .111, Patrick Wicklander
WHIFF%: 17.2%, Austin Vernon
Top 10 Prospects
- Carson Williams: .370/.403/.603 | 27.3 K% | 3.9 BB% | 3 HR | 4 SB | 201 wRC+ | 77 PA
- Dom Keegen: .221/.349/.426 | 19.3 K% | 14.5 BB% | 4 HR | 0 HR | 136 wRC+ | 83 PA
Highlight of the Week:
Bowling Green Hot Rods
Record: 12-9, 1st place with a 0.5 game lead in the South Atlantic League South
Team Offensive Leaders:
AVG: .359, Chandler Simpson
OBP: .468, Chandler Simpson
SLG: .576, Colton Ledbetter
HR: 3, Xavier Isaac
wRC+: 165, Colton Ledbetter
SB: 18, Chandler Simpson
Team Pitching Leaders:
ERA: 1.89, Alex Cook
FIP: 2.64, Duncan Davitt
K%: 35.4%, Duncan Davitt
BB%: 3.6%, Trevor Martin
WHIP: .082, Duncan Davitt
AVG: .123, Yoniel Curet
WHIFF%: 18.0%, Alex Cook
Top 10 Prospects
- Xavier Isaac: .234/.324/.422 | 33.8 K% | 10.8 BB% | 3 HR | 4 SB | 120 wRC+ | 74 PA
- Brayden Taylor: .258/.397/.403 | 28.2 K% | 19.2 BB% | 1 HR | 7 SB | 140 wRC+ | 78 PA
Highlight of the week
Charleston River Dogs
Record: 8-12, 5.5 games back (5th place in the Carolina League South)
Team Offensive Leaders:
AVG: .261, Noah Myers
OBP: .463, Noah Myers
SLG: .448, Angel Mateo
HR: 3, Angel Mateo
wRC+: 169, Noah Myers
SB: 10, Noah Myers
Team Pitching Leaders:
ERA: 1.32, Chandler Murphy
FIP: 2.52, Santiago Suarez
K%: 30.4%, Adam Boucher
BB%: 1.5%, Santiago Suarez
WHIP: 0.89, Santiago Suarez
AVG: .182, Gary Gill Hill
WHIFF%: 14.6%, Santiago Suarez
Top 10 Prospects
Adrian Santana: .186/.262/.220 | 27.7 K% | 9.2 BB% | 0 HR | 9 SB | 52 wRC+ | 65 PA
Highlight of the Week: