Minor League Roundup: Week 17

Tre’ Morgan is nearly hitting .400 since his promotion to High-A over a month ago

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

We are now 17 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 one of the highest batting averages in the minor leagues as well as sporting the most stolen bases. Since his promotion to Montgomery, he is hitting .349/.387/.413 with 33 stolen bases registering a 135 wRC+; Simpson is also maintaining a 6.4 BB% and 5.9 K%. He is now 64 of 73 (85.3%) in stolen base attempts just 72 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 his seaso, 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.

• 1B Xaiver Isaac has not been in a game since the Futures Game on July 13th.
• LHP Jeffrey Springs continues to work his way back from Tommy John surgery. The southpaw has made eight appearances for the Durham Bulls, compiling a 4.32 ERA | 3.37 FIP with a 25.5 K% and 2.8 BB% over 25 innings pitched.
• RHP Drew Rasmussen began a rehab assignment with Triple-A Durham on Sunday. Marc Topkin speculates that Rasmussen’s path back to the Rays could be accelerated with a transition to the bullpen. Rasmussen touched 98mph and picked up a strikeout in a perfect inning of work.
• RHP Marcus Johnson is 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. Johnson has two appearances so far, allowing one hit, one walk, and garnering two strikeouts in 2 ²⁄₃ innings pitched.
• OF Heriberto Hernandez is back down in Double-A. The 24-year old hit .115/.283/.244 with 3 HR over 99 plate appearances in Triple-A.

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: .328, Jake Mangum
OBP: .378, Austin Shenton
SLG: .479, Junior Caminero
HR: 15, Kameron Misner
wRC+: 117, Austin Shenton
SB: 26, Kameron Misner

Team Pitching Leaders:
ERA: 4.57, Jacob Lopez
FIP: 3.46, Michael Gomez
K%: 28.4%, Michael Gomez
BB%: 6.0%, Joe Rock
WHIP: 1.24, Jacob Lopez
AVG: .205, Enmanuel Mejia
WHIFF%: 14.1%, Mason Montgomery

Top 10 Prospects

• Junior Caminero:
  AAA: .253/.323/.479 | 23.6 K% | 8.7 BB% | 9 HR | 1 SB | 103 wRC+ | 161 PA
  CPX: .235/.409/.824 | 9.1 K% | 22.7 BB% | 3 HR | 0 SB | 198 wRC+ | 22 PA.
• Shane Baz:
  AAA: 4.12 ERA | 3.94 FIP | 24.7 K% | 12.9 BB% | .257 AVG | 39 ¹⁄₃ IP
  MLB: 3.95 ERA | 4.83 FIP | 19.0 K% | 11.1 BB% | .304 AVG | 13 ²⁄₃ IP

Montgomery Biscuits

Team Offensive Leaders:
AVG: .349, Chandler Simpson
OBP: .387, Chandler Simpson
SLG: .588, Heriberto Hernandez
HR: 14, Carson Williams
wRC+: 173, Heriberto Hernandez
SB: 33, Chandler Simpson & Dru Baker

Team Pitching Leaders:
ERA: 1.84, Sean Hunley
FIP: 2.80, Ian Seymour
K%: 31.2%, Alfredo Zarraga
BB%: 4.8%, Sean Hunley
WHIP: 0.80, Sean Hunley
AVG: .169, Ian Seymour
WHIFF%: 16.5%, Alfredo Zarraga

Top 10 Prospects

• Carson Williams:
  AA: .257/.350/.489 | 27.2 K% | 10.9 BB% | 14 HR | 24 SB | 144 wRC+ | 331 PA
• Dom Keegen:
  AA: .273/.357/.402 | 19.7 K% | 11.1 BB% | 5 HR | 0 SB | 122 wRC+ | 314 PA
• Chandler Simpson
  A+: .364/.431/.372 | 10.9 K% | 10.2 BB% | 0 HR | 31 SB | 136 wRC+ | 147 PA
  AA: .349/.387/.413 | 5.9 K% | 6.4 BB% | 1 HR | 33 SB | 135 wRC+ | 187 PA

Bowling Green Hot Rods

Team Offensive Leaders:
AVG: .298, Cooper Kinney
OBP: .390, Brayden Taylor
SLG: .543, Xavier Isaac
HR: 14, Xavier Isaac
wRC+: 152, Xavier Isaac
SB: 25, Colton Ledbetter

Team Pitching Leaders:
ERA: 1.69, Alex Cook (On the 7-day IL since 5/22)
FIP: 3.19, Drew Sommers
K%: 28.9%, Owen Wild
BB%: 4.8%, T.J Fondtain
WHIP: 1.00, T.J Fondtain
AVG: .196, Jake Christianson
WHIFF%: 17.3%, Owen Wild

Top 10 Prospects

• Xavier Isaac:
  A+: .286/.375/.543 | 30.9 K% | 12.1 BB% | 14 HR | 13 SB | 152 wRC+ | 272 PA
• Brayden Taylor:
  A+: .270/.390/.513 | 24.2 K% | 15.9 BB% | 13 HR | 24 SB | 150 wRC+ | 364 PA
• Tre’ Morgan
  A: .320/.398/.440 | 11.3 K% | 8.7 BB% | 2 HR | 9 SB | 149 wRC+ | 115 PA
  A+: .395/.473/.589 | 8.8 K% | 12.8 BB% | 3 HR | 7 SB | 193 wRC+ | 148 PA

Charleston River Dogs

Team Offensive Leaders:
AVG: .249, Angel Mateo
OBP: .413, Noah Myers
SLG: .408, Angel Mateo
HR: 6, Angel Mateo
wRC+: 137, Noah Myers
SB: 40, Adrian Santana

Team Pitching Leaders:
ERA: 1.93, Chris Villaman
FIP: 2.10, Chris Villaman
K%: 30.8%, Chris Villaman
BB%: 3.6%, Santiago Suarez
WHIP: 0.84, Chris Villaman
AVG: .195, Chris Villaman
WHIFF%: 15.1%, Chris Villaman

Top 10 Prospects

• Gary Gill Hill
  A: 2.92 ERA | 3.44 FIP | 26.1 K% | 6.4 BB% | .228 AVG | 71 IP
• Santiago Suarez
  A: 4.04 ERA | 3.79 FIP | 26.4 K% | 3.6 BB% | .223 AVG | 78 IP

FCL Rays

Team Offensive Leaders (min. 100 PA):
AVG: .330, Brailer Guerrero
OBP: .452, Brailer Guerrero & Jose Perez
SLG: .479, Jose Perez
HR: 2, Brailer Guerrero, Jose Perez, & Jose Contreras
wRC+: 156, Jose Perez
SB: 14, Miguel Tamares

Team Pitching Leaders (min. 100 TBF):
ERA: 1.35, Maikel Hernandez
FIP: 3.04, Michael Saturria
K%: 31.3%, Jeremy Pilon
BB%: 5.8%, Maikel Hernandez
WHIP: 0.79, Maikel Hernandez
AVG: .158, Maikel Hernandez
WHIFF%: 19.6%, Michael Saturria

DSL Rays

Team Offensive Leaders (min. 100 PA):
AVG: .278, Roosbert Tapia
OBP: .427, Leonardo Pineda
SLG: .422, Roosbert Tapia
HR: 2, Roosbert Tapia, Carlos Matias, & Deinys Gonzalez
wRC+: 134, Leonard Pineda
SB: 13, Willian Trinidad

Team Pitching Leaders (min. 100 TBF):
ERA: 2.35, Yereny Teus
FIP: 3.45, Yereny Teus
K%: 35.8%, Yereny Teus
BB%: 2.9%, Jharold Clemente
WHIP: 1.04, Yereny Teus
AVG: .165, Ismael Cabral
WHIFF%: 45.8%, Yereny Teus