Minor League Roundup: Week 15

Tre’ Morgan is on an offensive tear since being promoted to High-A

This week’s minor league roundup will only feature the numbers accumulated prior to the start of play on Monday.

We are now 15 weeks into the 2024 minor league campaign campaign and several prospects have certainly continued their ascent up the organizational ladder while others have seen their stock continue to drop.

According to FanGraphs (which factors in age and proximity to the big leagues), the overall top hitter in the Rays farm system continues to be outfielder Chandler Simpson. The 23-year old is finally going through a slump, but still retains the top spot in the system. Simpson has played in 34 games for Montgomery and is hitting .342/.384/.418 with 27 stolen bases registering a 135 wRC+; Simpson is also maintaining a 6.9 BB% and 6.3 K%. He now has a 58/69 (84.1%) over just 66 games between High-A and Double-A.

Meanwhile, the top pitcher is still Simpson’s 25-year old southpaw teammate in Montgomery, Ian Seymour. After dealing with injuries throughout the start of his professional career, Seymour is finally healthy and continuing to be a model of consistency in Double-A. Over 16 starts, Seymour has a 2.13 ERA | 2.68 FIP with a 28.8 K% and 5.3 BB% over 88 2⁄3 innings pitched.

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

• 1B Tre’ Morgan, since being promoted to High-A, the 21-year old is hitting .384/.466/.563 with 2 HR and 6 SB over 29 games; Morgan has eight hits over his last 9 trips to the plate.
• 3B Junior Caminero is poised to begin a rehab assignment later this week. Caminero has been on the IL since 5/29 with a quad straing.
• LHP Jeffrey Springs continues to work his way back from Tommy John surgery. The southpaw has made five appearances for the Durham Bulls, compiling a 2.70 ERA | 1.87 FIP with a 36.5 K% and 1.9 BB% over 13 1⁄3 innings pitched. According to Marc Topkin on July 3rd, Springs is expected to remain with the Bulls until the All-Star break.
• RHP Drew Rasmussen threw a live batting practice session at the end of June with an indication that he’ll begin a rehab assignment sometime after the All-Star break. There has been no report on his status since that update.
• RHP Nick Bitsko returned to game action after more than a month away. It went poorly for the 22-year old 2020 1st round pick as he walked three batters and threw three wild pitches; he did pick up a strikeout, however it was the only out he recorded in the brief outing.
• RHP Trevor Harrison received a promotion to Single-A last week. The 18-year old performed well in the Complex League as he compiled a 3.58 ERA | 3.35 FIP with a 29.5 K% & 6.1 BB% over 32 2⁄3 innings pitched. In his first game with Charleston, Harrison allowed 2 runs on four hits, while he walked two and struck out eight over 3 2⁄3 innings pitched.

Let’s break it down by team; the offensive players must still be at that level and have at least 150 plate appearances; the pitchers must have at least 150 batters faced, excluding the FCL and DSL which just began play.

Durham Bulls

Team Offensive Leaders:
AVG: .314, Jake Mangum
OBP: .368, Austin Shenton
SLG: .517, Curtis Mead
HR: 13, Kameron Misner
wRC+: 124, Curtis Mead
SB: 24, Kameron Misner

Team Pitching Leaders:
ERA: 4.38, Carlos Garcia
FIP: 3.55, Michael Gomez
K%: 29.1%, Jacob Lopez
BB%: 5.8%, Joe Rock
WHIP: 1.29, Jacob Lopez
AVG: .212, Jacob Lopez
WHIFF%: 14.5%, Joe Rock

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. According to a report, it seems Caminero will return to game this week.
• Osleivis Basabe:
  AAA: .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 six games thus far and has 4 hits in 24 trips to the plate with 6 walks and 1 strikeout. Basabe last played on June 28th, in which he was removed from a game early. Marc Topkin reports that Basabe will return to his rehab this week.
• Shane Baz:
  AAA: 4.12 ERA | 3.94 FIP | 24.7 K% | 12.9 BB% | .257 AVG | 39 ¹⁄₃ IP
  MLB: 4.50 ERA | 1.67 FIP | 24.0 K% | 4.0 BB% | .292 AVG | 6 IP

Montgomery Biscuits

Team Offensive Leaders:
AVG: .342, Chandler Simpson
OBP: .384, Chandler Simpson
SLG: .522, Carson Williams
HR: 13, Carson Williams
wRC+: 160, Carson Williams
SB: 28, Dru Baker

Team Pitching Leaders:
ERA: 2.03, Sean Hunley
FIP: 2.68, Ian Seymour
K%: 28.8%, Ian Seymour
BB%: 3.9%, Sean Hunley
WHIP: 0.80, Ian Seymour
AVG: .171, Ian Seymour
WHIFF%: 15.7%, Ian Seymour

Top 10 Prospects

• Carson Williams:
  .277/.373/.522 | 26.4 K% | 11.3 BB% | 13 HR | 22 SB | 160 wRC+ | 292 PA
• Dom Keegen:
  .272/.357/.409 | 20.4 K% | 11.1 BB% | 5 HR | 0 SB | 124 wRC+ | 280 PA

Bowling Green Hot Rods

Team Offensive Leaders:
AVG: .293, Xavier Isaac
OBP: .399, Brayden Taylor
SLG: .550, Xavier Isaac
HR: 13, Xavier Isaac
wRC+: 157, Brayden Taylor
SB: 21, Brayden Taylor & Colton Ledbetter

Team Pitching Leaders:
ERA: 1.69, Alex Cook (On the 7-day IL since 5/22)
FIP: 3.39, Alex Cook (On the 7-day IL since 5/22)
K%: 27.9%, Owen Wild
BB%: 5.1%, Roel Garcia III
WHIP: 1.01, Duncan Davitt
AVG: .197, Alex Cook (On the 7-day IL since 5/22)
WHIFF%: 16.9%, Owen Wild

Top 10 Prospects

• Xavier Isaac:
  .293/.382/.550 | 29.3 K% | 12.4 BB% | 13 HR | 13 SB | 153 wRC+ | 259 PA
• Brayden Taylor:
  .285/.399/.539 | 24.5 K% | 15.8 BB% | 12 HR | 21 SB | 157 wRC+ | 323 PA

Charleston River Dogs

Team Offensive Leaders:
AVG: .252, Angel Mateo
OBP: .398, Noah Myers
SLG: .419, Angel Mateo
HR: 6, Angel Mateo
wRC+: 129, Noah Myers
SB: 35, Adrian Santana

Team Pitching Leaders:
ERA: 1.97, Gary Gill Hill
FIP: 2.30, Chris Villaman
K%: 31.5%. Adam Boucher
BB%: 3.6%, Santiago Suarez
WHIP: 0.83, Chris Villaman
AVG: .194, Chris Villaman
WHIFF%: 16.8%. Adam Boucher

Top 10 Prospects

• Adrian Santana:
  .206/.286/.253 | 17.4 K% | 9.8 BB% | 0 HR | 35 SB | 67 wRC+ | 287 PA

FCL Rays

Team Offensive Leaders (min. 100 PA):
AVG: .330, Brailer Guerrero & Nicandro Aybar
OBP: .452, Brailer Guerrero
SLG: .466, Brailer Guerrero
HR: 2, Brailer Guerrero
wRC+: 154, Brailer Guerrero
SB: 13, Brailer Guerrero

Team Pitching Leaders (min. 80 TBF):
ERA: 1.91, Joel Canizalez
FIP: 2.98, Michael Saturria
K%: 33.3%, Jeremy Pilon
BB%: 6.1%, Trevor Harrison
WHIP: 1.02, Joel Canizalez
AVG: .184, Joel Canizalez
WHIFF%: 19.5%, Michael Saturria

DSL Rays

Team Offensive Leaders (min. 70 PA):
AVG: .303, Roosbert Tapia
OBP: .432, Kleiver Chauran
SLG: .470, Roosbert Tapia
HR: 2, Roosbert Tapia & Deinys Gonzalez
wRC+: 140, Leonard Pineda
SB: 10, Willian Trinidad

Team Pitching Leaders (min. 70 TBF):
ERA: 2.50, Ismael Cabral
FIP: 3.04, Yereny Teus
K%: 33.3%, Yereny Teus
BB%: 2.8%, Alexander Campos
WHIP: 1.00, Yereny Teus
AVG: .154, Ismael Cabral
WHIFF%: 48.3%, Yereny Teus