Tampa Bay Rays Minor League Roundup: Week 11

Ruben Cardenas, one of the Rays top minor league hitters, was traded for a $1

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 11 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 has been relentless since his promotion to Double-A. Thus far in his 16 games at Double-A, Simpson is hitting .371/.392/.457 with 16 stolen bases; Simpson is also maintaining a 4.1 BB% and 5.4 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 11 starts, Seymour has a 2.08 ERA | 2.87 FIP with a 32.0 K% and 5.7 BB% over 60 2/3 innings pitched.

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

• 3B Junior Caminero, 20, is on the Injured List following an injury to his quad suffered after running out a groundball; this is the same quad that afflicted him earlier this season. Caminero is expected to miss at least two months with the injury.
• Chandler Simpson has his first career professional homerun. Here is exactly how it happened: Simpson chopped a groundball straight down the left field line. There is a cut out along the left field foul line that the fielder thought would stop the ball, instead, the ball rolled all the way to the wall. Simpson raced around the bases and beat the throw home for an inside-the-park homerun.
• OF Ruben Cardenas, who had been one of the Durham Bulls top offensive performers, was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies for $1. Since joining the Phillies’ Triple-A team, Cardenas has 4 hits in 9 plate appearances, including two homeruns.

Let’s break it down by team; the offensive players must still be at that level and have at least 90 plate appearances; the pitchers must have at least 90 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: .281, Jake Mangum
OBP: .358, Tristan Peters
SLG: .495, Curtis Mead
HR: 8, Junior Caminero & Kameron Misner
wRC+: 119, Curtis Mead
SB: 18, Kameron Misner

Team Pitching Leaders:
ERA: 3.32, Joe Rock
FIP: 3.10, Michael Gomez
K%: 33.3%, Justin Sterner
BB%: 4.9%, Joe Rock
WHIP: 1.04, Justin Sterner
AVG: .204, Justin Sterner
WHIFF%: 15.9%, 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.
  Currently on the 7-day IL with a fractured wrist suffered on 4/16
• Shane Baz:
  5.33 ERA | 5.13 FIP | 19.7 K% | 14.5 BB% | .258 AVG | 25 1/3 IP

Montgomery Biscuits

Team Offensive Leaders:
AVG: .301, Dru Baker
OBP: .391, Kenny Piper
SLG: .527, Kenny Piper
HR: 8, Carson Williams
wRC+: 169, Kenny Piper
SB: 22, Dru Baker

Team Pitching Leaders:
ERA: 1.95, Sean Hunley
FIP: 2.87, Ian Seymour
K%: 32.0%, Ian Seymour
BB%: 3.8%, Sean Hunley
WHIP: 0.74, Ian Seymour
AVG: .155, Ian Seymour
WHIFF%: 19.8%, Austin Vernon

Top 10 Prospects

• Carson Williams:
  .286/.367/.519 | 27.9 K% | 9.8 BB% | 8 HR | 15 SB | 161 wRC+ | 215 PA
• Dom Keegen:
  .278/.373/.443 | 22.3 K% | 13.0 BB% | 5 HR | 0 SB | 141 wRC+ | 193 PA

Bowling Green Hot Rods

Team Offensive Leaders:
AVG: .305, Xavier Isaac
OBP: .403, Brayden Taylor
SLG: .583, Xavier Isaac
HR: 12, Xavier Isaac
wRC+: 166, Xavier Isaac
SB: 14, Brock Jones

Team Pitching Leaders:
ERA: 1.69, Alex Cook
FIP: 2.77, JJ Goss
K%: 31.2%, Trevor Martin
BB%: 5.5%, T.J. Fondtain
WHIP: 1.04, Alex Cook
AVG: .197, Alex Cook
WHIFF%: 17.1%, JJ Goss

Top 10 Prospects

• Xavier Isaac:
  .305/.392/.583 | 27.6 K% | 12.0 BB% | 12 HR | 13 SB | 166 wRC+ | 217 PA
• Brayden Taylor:
  .277/.403/.538 | 24.8 K% | 16.8 BB% | 8 HR | 13 SB | 160 wRC+ | 226 PA

Charleston River Dogs

Team Offensive Leaders:
AVG: .239, Angel Mateo
OBP: .423, Noah Myers
SLG: .394, Angel Mateo
HR: 5, Angel Mateo
wRC+: 140, Noah Myers
SB: 23, Adrian Santana

Team Pitching Leaders:
ERA: 1.11, Chandler Murphy
FIP: 3.20, Gary Gill Hill & Chandler Murphy
K%: 30.0%, Adam Boucher
BB%: 2.0%, Santiago Suarez
WHIP: 0.90, Chandler Murphy
AVG: .167, Chandler Murphy
WHIFF%: 16.8%, Hayden Snelsire

Top 10 Prospects

• Adrian Santana:
  .223/.301/.263 | 18.9 K% | 10.2 BB% | 0 HR | 23 SB | 73 wRC+ | 196 PA

FCL Rays

Team Offensive Leaders (min. 50 PA):
AVG: .431, Larry Martinez
OBP: .508, Larry Martinez
SLG: .569, Larry Martinez
HR: 2, Brailer Guerrero
wRC+: 192, Larry Martinez
SB: 8, Brailer Guerrero

Team Pitching Leaders (min. 25 TBF):
ERA: 0.00, Luis Hernandez
FIP: 2.37, Alexander Alberto
K%: 37.9%, Alexander Alberto
BB%: 3.8%, Luis Hernandez
WHIP: 0.75, Luis Hernandez
AVG: .138, Wander Ventura
WHIFF%: 20.5%, Jeremy Pilon

DSL Rays

Record: 15-7, (1st place in the Florida Coast League South)

Team Offensive Leaders (min. 10 PA):
AVG: .500, Leonardo Pineda
OBP: .508, Larry Martinez
SLG: .569, Larry Martinez
HR: 1, Leonardo Pineda, Yohangel Moris, & Deinys Gonzalez
wRC+: 248, Leonardo Pineda
SB: 4, Xavier Guillen & Alberth Palma

Team Pitching Leaders (min. 10 TBF):
ERA: 0.00, Baldermix Cabrera, Miguel Toscano, Jharold Clemente, & Alan Berbesi
FIP: 1.67, Alan Berbesi
K%: 40.0%, Alan Berbesi & Ricardo Ramirez
BB%: 0.0%, 6 tied (Yolvin Mesa leads with 4.1 IP)
WHIP: 0.50, Baldermix Cabrera & Miguel Toscano
AVG: .143, Miguel Toscano
WHIFF%: 50.0%, Alan Berbesi