Shane Baz returned from Tommy John surgery and flashed glimpses of his former self
Over the offseason, the Draybay community takes part in an exercise in which we compile a list of 30 prospects in the Rays system based on popular vote.
Now that the 2024 season has concluded, we can look back at these rankings and see how each individual player performed.
Reminder, this is a review of the prospects ranked heading into the 2024 season. This is not an updated ranking. Draysbay will begin the voting for the 2025 community top prospects later this offseason.
We have already covered the following:
We resume the reviews at #3.
24 | 6’ 2” | 190
2023 DNP | Tommy John Surgery
2021-2022 MLB | 4.02 ERA, 40.1 IP (9 GS) 28.9 K%, 7.2 BB%
Tampa Bay’s top pitching prospect arguably could be left off prospect lists this offseason, but we prescribe to Baseball America’s eligibility, which differs from whether rookie eligibility has been exceeded. To date, thanks to recovery from Tommy John surgery while on the major league roster, Baz has two years and 14 days of service time, which means he’ll be arbitration eligible in 2025 and a free agent in 2028. The 24-year old may be able to join the major league starters in work outs at the start of Spring Training, but is expected to be on pitch counts and limits that will slot him for the Triple-A rotation to start the year. Prior to his surgery, Baz had an elite fastball, a plus slider, and a decent change up.
How it Went
25-year old Shane Baz made his return to game action in early May; it was his first time appearing on a box score since July, 2022. It was a slow buildup for Baz, but eventually he showed glimpses of his former self and performed very well during the month of June while still in Triple-A Durham. Baz joined the big league rotation in early July and performed quite well, while experiencing command issues at time. The most runs he allowed in a game was four, while he had 10 starts in which he yielded two runs or less. From August 13th through the end of the season, Baz had a 2.34 ERA | 4.35 FIP over 50 IP.
Final 2024 Statline:
AAA: 4.12 ERA | 3.98 FIP | 24.7 K% | 12.9 BB% | .257 AVG | 12.1 WHIFF% | 39 1⁄3 IP
MLB: 3.06 ERA | 4.07 FIP | 21.6 K% | 8.5 BB% | .198 AVG | 11.0 WHIFF% | 79 1⁄3 IP
Shane Baz has graduated and will no longer receive prospect consideration.
