Minor League Roundup: Week 16

Top prospect Junior Caminero already has three homeruns since beginning his rehab assignment last week.

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

We are now 16 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 currently sports the 4th highest batting average in the minor leagues as well as sporting the most stolen bases. Since his promotion to Montgomery, he is hitting .352/.393/.421 with 31 stolen bases registering a 139 wRC+; Simpson is also maintaining a 6.9 BB% and 5.7 K%. He now has a 62/73 (84.9%) over just 69 games between High-A and Double-A.

Meanwhile, the top pitcher is still Simpson’s 25-year old southpaw teammate in Montgomery, Ian Seymour. Despite delivering his worst start of the season on Thursday, Seymour’s overall line remains exceptional. Over 17 starts, Seymour has a 2.36 ERA | 2.81 FIP with a 28.3 K% and 6.3 BB% over 91 ¹⁄₃ innings pitched.

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

• 3B Junior Caminero began his rehab assignment last week. Thus far in five games in the Complex League, Caminero has 3 HR and is hitting .267/.353/.933 over 17 PA. Caminero has been on the IL since 5/29 with a quad strain.
• 1B Bob Seymour has had little trouble finding his power stroke in Triple-A Durham. Since his promotion last week, Seymour is hitting .256/.293/.641 with 5 HR over 41 plate appearances.
• LHP Jeffrey Springs continues to work his way back from Tommy John surgery. The southpaw has made seven appearances for the Durham Bulls, compiling a 4.09 ERA | 2.32 FIP with a 25.8 K% and 2.2 BB% over 22 innings pitched. Springs could rejoin the Rays shortly following the All-Star break.
• RHP Drew Rasmussen will begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Durham after the All-Star break. Marc Topkin speculates that Rasmussen’s path back to the Rays could be accelerated with a transition to the bullpen.
• RHP Marcus Johnson is being sent on a rehab assignment. Entering the season, Johnson was among the Rays top starting pitching prospects, but missed the start of the campaign due to elbow surgery to remove loose bodies.

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.

FUTURES GAME NOTES

Xavier Isaac went 0-4 with two strikeouts. Chandler Simpson grounded out in his lone plate appearance, but still clocked the fasted home-to-first time of the game, despite not running full speed; Simpson also committed an error in the outfield. Tre’ Morgan placed sixth of the eight participants in the Showcase event.

Durham Bulls

Team Offensive Leaders:
AVG: .325, Jake Mangum
OBP: .372, Jake Mangum
SLG: .500, Curtis Mead
HR: 15, Kameron Misner
wRC+: 115, Curtis Mead
SB: 24, Kameron Misner

Team Pitching Leaders:
ERA: 3.95, Jacob Lopez
FIP: 3.47, Michael Gomez
K%: 28.9%, Jacob Lopez
BB%: 4.0%, Tyler Alexander
WHIP: 1.20, Jacob Lopez
AVG: .192, Jacob Lopez
WHIFF%: 14.2%, Joe Rock

Top 10 Prospects

• Junior Caminero:
  AAA: .261/.333/.478 | 22.9 K% | 9.2 BB% | 8 HR | 1 SB | 107 wRC+ | 153 PA
  CPX: .267/.353/.933 | 11.8 K% | 11.8 BB% | 3 HR | 0 SB | 106 wRC+ | 17 PA.
  Placed on the 7-day IL on 5/29 with a quad strain. Currently on a rehab assignment in the Complex League.
• Shane Baz:
  AAA: 4.12 ERA | 3.94 FIP | 24.7 K% | 12.9 BB% | .257 AVG | 39 ¹⁄₃ IP
  MLB: 5.23 ERA | 4.13 FIP | 24.4 K% | 4.4 BB% | .302 AVG | 10 ¹⁄₃ IP

Montgomery Biscuits

Team Offensive Leaders:
AVG: .352, Chandler Simpson
OBP: .393, Chandler Simpson
SLG: .493, Carson Williams
HR: 14, Carson Williams
wRC+: 145, Carson Williams
SB: 31, Chandler Simpson

Team Pitching Leaders:
ERA: 2.03, Sean Hunley
FIP: 2.81, Ian Seymour
K%: 31.4%, Alfredo Zarraga
BB%: 3.9%, Sean Hunley
WHIP: 0.83, Ian Seymour & Sean Hunley
AVG: .169, Ian Seymour
WHIFF%: 16.7%, Alfredo Zarraga

Top 10 Prospects

• Carson Williams:
  AA: .259/.351/.493 | 27.3 K% | 10.7 BB% | 14 HR | 22 SB | 145 wRC+ | 319 PA
• Dom Keegen:
  AA: .280/.361/.413 | 19.9 K% | 10.9 BB% | 5 HR | 0 SB | 126 wRC+ | 302 PA
• Chandler Simpson
  A+: .364/.431/.372 | 10.9 K% | 10.2 BB% | 0 HR | 31 SB | 135 wRC+ | 147 PA
  AA: .352/.393/.421 | 5.7 K% | 6.9 BB% | 1 HR | 31 SB | 139 wRC+ | 174 PA

Bowling Green Hot Rods

Team Offensive Leaders:
AVG: .289, Cooper Kinney
OBP: .396, Brayden Taylor
SLG: .543, Xavier Isaac
HR: 14, Xavier Isaac
wRC+: 155, Brayden Taylor
SB: 24, Brayden Taylor

Team Pitching Leaders:
ERA: 1.69, Alex Cook (On the 7-day IL since 5/22)
FIP: 3.26, Owen Wild
K%: 28.9%, Owen Wild
BB%: 5.2%, T.J Fondtain
WHIP: 0.95, T.J Fondtain
AVG: .197, Alex Cook (On the 7-day IL since 5/22)
WHIFF%: 17.3%, Owen Wild

Top 10 Prospects

• Xavier Isaac:
  A+: .286/.375/.543 | 30.9 K% | 12.1 BB% | 14 HR | 13 SB | 151 wRC+ | 272 PA
• Brayden Taylor:
  A+: .279/.396/.531 | 24.2 K% | 15.7 BB% | 13 HR | 24 SB | 155 wRC+ | 351 PA
• Tre’ Morgan
  A: .320/.398/.440 | 11.3 K% | 8.7 BB% | 2 HR | 11.3 K% | 8.7 BB% | 149 wRC+ | 115 PA
  A+: .393/.471/.564 | 9.3 K% | 12.9 BB% | 2 HR | 7 SB | 187 wRC+ | 140 PA

Charleston River Dogs

Team Offensive Leaders:
AVG: .255, Noah Myers
OBP: .424, Noah Myers
SLG: .412, Angel Mateo
HR: 6, Angel Mateo
wRC+: 144, Noah Myers
SB: 40, Adrian Santana

Team Pitching Leaders:
ERA: 1.93, Chris Villaman
FIP: 2.13, Chris Villaman
K%: 32.7%. Adam Boucher
BB%: 3.6%, Santiago Suarez
WHIP: 0.84, Chris Villaman
AVG: .195, Chris Villaman
WHIFF%: 17.1%. Adam Boucher

Top 10 Prospects

• Gary Gill Hill
  A: 2.92 ERA | 3.47 FIP | 26.1 K% | 6.4 BB% | .228 AVG | 71 IP
• Santiago Suarez
  A: 4.25 ERA | 3.80 FIP | 26.0 K% | 3.6 BB% | .225 AVG | 72 IP

FCL Rays

Team Offensive Leaders (min. 100 PA):
AVG: .330, Brailer Guerrero
OBP: .468, Jose Perez
SLG: .470, Jose Perez
HR: 2, Brailer Guerrero
wRC+: 161, Jose Perez
SB: 13, Brailer Guerrero & Miguel Tamares

Team Pitching Leaders (min. 100 TBF):
ERA: 2.37, Joel Canizalez
FIP: 2.74, Michael Saturria
K%: 32.1%, Jeremy Pilon
BB%: 6.1%, Trevor Harrison
WHIP: 1.09, Joel Canizalez
AVG: .190, Joel Canizalez
WHIFF%: 19.9%, Michael Saturria

DSL Rays

Team Offensive Leaders (min. 80 PA):
AVG: .301, Alfonzo Martinez
OBP: .427, Kleiver Chauran
SLG: .436, Roosbert Tapia & Carlos Matias
HR: 2, Roosbert Tapia, Yohangel Moris, Carlos Matias, & Deinys Gonzalez
wRC+: 128, Leonard Pineda
SB: 11, Willian Trinidad & Angel Brachi

Team Pitching Leaders (min. 80 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