Tampa Bay Rays Minor League Roundup: Week 13

Curtis Mead has rediscovered his stroke since returing to Triple-A

Every Monday during the regular season, each minor league team has the day off (excluding the Florida Complex League and Dominican Summer League). This serves as an excellent check point system to check in on how each team and individual prospect is performing. We are now 13 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 outfielder Chandler Simpson. The 23-year old continues to be the bester performer in the Rays organization. Since his promotion to Double-A, Simpson has played in 24 games and is hitting .387/.417/.491 with 21 stolen bases registering a 166 wRC+; Simpson is also maintaining a 6.1 BB% and 4.3 K%.

Meanwhile, the top pitcher is still 25-year old southpaw Ian Seymour. After dealing with injuries throughout the start of his professional career, Seymour is finally healthy and is dominating in Double-A. Over 14 starts, Seymour has a 1.97 ERA | 2.80 FIP with a 29.6 K% and 5.8 BB% over 77 ²⁄₃ innings pitched.

Before we get to the statistical breakdowns. Here is some news from around the Rays system.

• 1B Xaiver Isaac reportedly injured his wrist during a game on June 13th. He was removed from the game shortly after and hasn’t played in a game since, although he has yet to be placed on the Injured List.
• Since the start of play on June 4th, Curtis Mead is hitting .315/.386/.562 with 4 HR over 83 PA; he has a 6.0 K% and 6.0 BB% over that time.
• LHP Jeffrey Springs continues to work his way back from Tommy John surgery. The southpaw has made three appearances for the Durham Bulls, compiling a 1.42 ERA | 1.48 FIP with a 33.3 K% and 4.2 BB% over 6 ¹⁄₃ innings pitched. Springs will make his fourth rehab start in Triple-A on Friday.
• INF Jonathan Aranda has been placed on the the 7-day IL by the Durham Bulls
• One of the Rays top pitching prospects, Trevor Martin, left his most recent start early after 2 ¹⁄₃ innings pitched. Martin pitched well during the outing. No reason has been given for the early departure thus far.
• RHP Drew Rasmussen is getting closer to starting his rehab assignment. The veteran hurler is slated to throw a live batting practice on Thursday and then make his first rehab start sometime next week.
• After stumbling a bit during his rehab outings in May, Shane Baz has been excellent in June. In four June starts, Baz has a 1.00 ERA | 1.75 FIP with a 38.4 K% and 11.0 BB% over 18 innings pitched.

Let’s break it down by team; the offensive players must still be at that level and have at least 100 plate appearances; the pitchers must have at least 100 batters faced, excluding the FCL and DSL which just began play. All stats were recorded prior to the start of play on Tuesday.

Durham Bulls

Team Offensive Leaders:
AVG: .287, Curtis Mead
OBP: .375, Austin Shenton
SLG: .503, Curtis Mead
HR: 10, Kameron Misner
wRC+: 121, Curtis Mead
SB: 22, Kameron Misner

Team Pitching Leaders:
ERA: 2.36, Angel Sanchez
FIP: 3.28, Michael Gomez
K%: 32.0%, Justin Sterner
BB%: 5.5%, Angel Sanchez
WHIP: 1.09, Justin Sterner
AVG: .193, Enmanuel Mejia
WHIFF%: 16.1%, Edwin Uceta

Top 10 Prospects

• Junior Caminero:
  .261/.333/.478 | 22.9 K% | 9.2 BB% | 8 HR | 1 SB | 107 wRC+ | 153 PA
  Placed on the 7-day IL on 5/29 with a quad strain.
• Osleivis Basabe:
  .224/.270/.276 | 22.2 K% | 1.6 BB% | 1 HR | 1 SB | 42 wRC+ | 63 PA.
  Began a rehab assignment in the Complex League this past week. Has played in three games thus far and has 1 hit in 11 trips to the plate with four walks and one strikeout.
• Shane Baz:
  4.19 ERA | 4.23 FIP | 23.9 K% | 13.5 BB% | .252 AVG | 34 ¹⁄₃ IP

Montgomery Biscuits

Team Offensive Leaders:
AVG: .387, Chandler Simpson
OBP: .417, Chandler Simpson
SLG: .538, Carson Williams
HR: 11, Carson Williams
wRC+: 170, Carson Williams
SB: 25, Dru Baker

Team Pitching Leaders:
ERA: 1.97, Ian Seymour
FIP: 2.80, Ian Seymour
K%: 29.6%, Ian Seymour
BB%: 4.6%, Sean Hunley
WHIP: 0.75, Ian Seymour
AVG: .155, Ian Seymour
WHIFF%: 20.4%, Austin Vernon

Top 10 Prospects

• Carson Williams:
  .288/.382/.538 | 26.4 K% | 11.0 BB% | 11 HR | 19 SB | 170 wRC+ | 246 PA
• Dom Keegen:
  .284/.374/.433 | 21.0 K% | 12.3 BB% | 5 HR | 0 SB | 138 wRC+ | 243 PA

Bowling Green Hot Rods

Team Offensive Leaders:
AVG: .310, Xavier Isaac
OBP: .409, Brayden Taylor
SLG: .579, Xavier Isaac
HR: 12, Xavier Isaac
wRC+: 165, Xavier Isaac
SB: 20, Brayden Taylor

Team Pitching Leaders:
ERA: 1.69, Alex Cook
FIP: 2.39, Owen Wild
K%: 30.0%, Owen Wild
BB%: 4.6%, T.J. Fondtain
WHIP: 1.00, Duncan Davitt
AVG: .197, Alex Cook
WHIFF%: 17.2%, Alex Cook

Top 10 Prospects

• Xavier Isaac:
  .310/.395/.579 | 27.6 K% | 11.8 BB% | 12 HR | 13 SB | 164 wRC+ | 228 PA
  Hasn’t played since June 13th after reportedly injuring his wrist while sliding.
• Brayden Taylor:
  .293/.409/.539 | 24.2 K% | 16.0 BB% | 10 HR | 20 SB | 161 wRC+ | 281 PA

Charleston River Dogs

Team Offensive Leaders:
AVG: .247, Angel Mateo
OBP: .423, Noah Myers
SLG: .418, Angel Mateo
HR: 6, Angel Mateo
wRC+: 142, Noah Myers
SB: 28, Adrian Santana

Team Pitching Leaders:
ERA: 2.03, Chris Villaman
FIP: 2.18, Chris Villaman
K%: 29.0%. Adam Boucher
BB%: 1.8%, Chris Villaman
WHIP: 0.81, Chris Villaman
AVG: .197, Chandler Murphy
WHIFF%: 15.8%. Adam Boucher

Top 10 Prospects

• Adrian Santana:
  .215/.302/.262 | 17.4 K% | 10.7 BB% | 0 HR | 28 SB | 75 wRC+ | 242 PA

FCL Rays

Team Offensive Leaders (min. 60 PA):
AVG: .358, Larry Martinez
OBP: .452, Brailer Guerrero
SLG: .469, Larry Martinez
HR: 2, Brailer Guerrero
wRC+: 153, Brailer Guerrero
SB: 13, Brailer Guerrero

Team Pitching Leaders (min. 60 TBF):
ERA: 1.69, Joel Canizalez
FIP: 3.56, Michael Saturria
K%: 34.4%, Jeremy Pilon
BB%: 6.4%, Trevor Harrison
WHIP: 1.03, Trevor Harrison
AVG: .169, Joel Canizalez
WHIFF%: 19.2%, Jeremy Pilon

DSL Rays

Team Offensive Leaders (min. 40 PA):
AVG: .319, Roosbert Tapia
OBP: .500, Jean Santana
SLG: .532, Roosbert Tapia
HR: 2, Roosbert Tapia & Deinys Gonzalez
wRC+: 152, Jean Santana
SB: 9, Willian Trinidad

Team Pitching Leaders (min. 40 TBF):
ERA: 1.13, Yereny Teus
FIP: 2.05, Yereny Teus
K%: 38.6%, Yereny Teus
BB%: 1.5%, Jharold Clemente
WHIP: 0.81, Yereny Teus
AVG: .167, Chariel Radney
WHIFF%: 54.7%, Yereny Teus