Rays Minor League Roundup: Week 21

A battle for the minor league batting title will be on display in Montgomery

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

We are now 21 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 has started to see his production begin to droop, but still have solid numbers overall. His full statline is listed further below.

Meanwhile, the top pitcher is still 25-year old southpaw, Ian Seymour, who just received a promotion to Triple-A Durham. Over 17 starts in Double-A, Seymour had a 2.36 ERA | 2.77 FIP with a 28.3 K% and 6.3 BB% over 91 ¹⁄₃ innings pitched. Thus far in Durham, Seymour has made four starts and has a 2.57 ERA | 3.84 FIP with a 27.8 K% & 5.6 BB% over 21 innings pitched.

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

• Something to watch over the final weeks of the minor league season in the race for the minor league batting title between Chandler Simpson and Tre’ Morgan. Entering play on Thursday, Simpson and Morgan are TIED with a .358 average; If Simpson wins, he’ll be the first player in 40 years to have been both a NCAA D-I batting champ and MiLB batting champ.
• Another milestone to watch for with Chandler Simpson is how many stolen bases he’ll finish the season with. Entering the year, Simpson had a goal to reach 100 stolen bases; he is currently at 86.
• 26-year old INF Jonathan Aranda made his return to Triple-A Durham after a two month stint on the Injured List. Injuries have relegated Aranda to just 45 games this season between Triple-A and the MLB.
• 25-year old 1B Bob Seymour has been a homerun barrage since his promotion to Triple-A. He currently leads the organization with 22 HR this season and is hitting .246/.312/.605 with 13 HR in 125 Triple-A plate appearances.

Let’s break it down by team; the offensive players must still be at that level and have at least 200 plate appearances; the pitchers must have at least 175 batters faced. The DSL & FCL seasons are over.

Tampa Bay Rays

Top 10 Prospects

• Junior Caminero:
  MLB: .241/.353/.241 | 20.6 K% | 14.7 BB% | 0 HR | 0 SB | 78 wRC+ | 34 PA
  AAA: .276/.331/.498 | 21.2 K% | 6.8 BB% | 13 HR | 1 SB | 110 wRC+ | 236 PA
  CPX: .235/.409/.824 | 9.1 K% | 22.7 BB% | 3 HR | 0 SB | 199 wRC+ | 22 PA.

Durham Bulls

Team Offensive Leaders:
AVG: .314, Jake Mangum
OBP: .365, Austin Shenton
SLG: .484, Curtis Mead
HR: 14, Austin Shenton
wRC+: 116, Austin Shenton
SB: 17, Ronny Simon

Team Pitching Leaders:
ERA: 3.15, Erasmo Ramirez
FIP: 3.88, Michael Gomez
K%: 28.6%, Erasmo Ramirez
BB%: 6.3%, Erasmo Ramirez
WHIP: 1.25, Erasmo Ramirez
AVG: .215, Jacob Lopez
WHIFF%: 14.1%, Mason Montgomery

Montgomery Biscuits

Team Offensive Leaders:
AVG: .354, Chandler Simpson
OBP: .401, Chandler Simpson
SLG: .455, Carson Williams
HR: 15, Carson Williams
wRC+: 143, Chandler Simpson
SB: 55, Chandler Simpson

Team Pitching Leaders:
ERA: 1.66, Keyshawn Askew
FIP: 3.16, Austin Vernon
K%: 30.1%, Austin Vernon
BB%: 4.7%, Sean Hunley
WHIP: 0.93, Sean Hunley
AVG: .203, Sean Hunley
WHIFF%: 19.6%, Austin Vernon

Top 10 Prospects

• Carson Williams:
  AA: .253/.355/.455 | 27.8 K% | 12.1 BB% | 15 HR | 29 SB | 139 wRC+ | 431 PA
• Chandler Simpson
  A+: .364/.431/.372 | 10.9 K% | 10.2 BB% | 0 HR | 31 SB | 136 wRC+ | 147 PA
  AA: .354/.401/.420 | 7.3 K% | 7.7 BB% | 1 HR | 55 SB | 143 wRC+ | 286 PA
• Xavier Isaac:
  A+: .288/.380/.537 | 30.0 K% | 12.3 BB% | 15 HR | 14 SB | 153 wRC+ | 300 PA
  AA: .204/.333/.389 | 37.9 K% | 15.2 BB% | 2 HR | 0 SB | 117 wRC+ | 66 PA
• Brayden Taylor:
  A+: .271/.391/.516 | 24.4 K% | 16.0 BB% | 14 HR | 26 SB | 151 wRC+ | 381 PA
  AA: .207/.281/.414 | 35.4 K% | 9.2 BB% | 2 HR | 1 SB | 103 wRC+ | 65 PA
• Tre’ Morgan
  A: .320/.398/.440 | 11.3 K% | 8.7 BB% | 2 HR | 9 SB | 148 wRC+ | 115 PA
  A+: .371/.447/.558 | 7.8 K% | 11.3 BB% | 6 HR | 10 SB | 183 wRC+ | 231 PA
  AA: .600/.570/.600 | 0.0 K% | 12.5 BB% | 0 HR | 0 SB | 224 wRC+ | 8 PA

Bowling Green Hot Rods

Team Offensive Leaders:
AVG: .295, Cooper Kinney
OBP: .360, Cooper Kinney
SLG: .505, Cooper Kinney
HR: 17, Brock Jones
wRC+: 141, Cooper Kinney
SB: 33, Colton Ledbetter

Team Pitching Leaders:
ERA: 2.96, Owen Wild
FIP: 3.01, Drew Sommers
K%: 30.5%, Owen Wild
BB%: 5.4%, T.J Fondtain
WHIP: 1.01, T.J Fondtain
AVG: .190, Jake Christianson
WHIFF%: 18.1%, Owen Wild

Top 10 Prospects

• Dylan Lesko
  A+: 6.44 ERA | 5.97 FIP | 25.7 K% | 17.6 BB% | .210 AVG | 14.0 WHIFF% | 81 IP

Charleston River Dogs

Team Offensive Leaders:
AVG: .232, Adrian Santana
OBP: .352, Wooyeoul Shin
SLG: .381, Jhon Diaz
HR: 9, Jhon Diaz
wRC+: 109, Wooyeoul Shin
SB: 48, Adrian Santana

Team Pitching Leaders:
ERA: 2.03, Chris Villaman
FIP: 2.26, Chris Villaman
K%: 31.7%, Chris Villaman
BB%: 3.9%, Chris Villaman
WHIP: 0.84, Chris Villaman
AVG: .188, Dalton Fowler
WHIFF%: 15.6%, Chris Villaman & Samuel Mejia

Top 10 Prospects

• Gary Gill Hill
  A: 2.46 ERA | 3.11 FIP | 26.3 K% | 5.7 BB% | .217 AVG | 13.2 WHIFF% | 95 IP
• Santiago Suarez
  A: 4.24 ERA | 3.56 FIP | 25.9 K% | 4.3 BB% | .245 AVG | 14.6 WHIFF% | 93 ¹⁄₃ IP

FCL Rays

Team Offensive Leaders (min. 100 PA):
AVG: .330, Brailer Guerrero (out since 6/22)
OBP: .452, Brailer Guerrero (out since 6/22)
SLG: .466, Brailer Guerrero (out since 6/22)
HR: 2, Brailer Guerrero, Jose Perez, & Jose Contreras
wRC+: 155, Brailer Guerrero (out since 6/22)
SB: 14, Miguel Tamares

Team Pitching Leaders (min. 100 TBF):
ERA: 1.48, Maikel Hernandez
FIP: 3.01, Michael Saturria
K%: 30.7%, Jeremy Pilon
BB%: 6.7%, Maikel Hernandez
WHIP: 0.89, Maikel Hernandez
AVG: .174, Maikel Hernandez
WHIFF%: 19.6%, Michael Saturria

DSL Rays

Team Offensive Leaders (min. 100 PA):
AVG: .302, Alfonzo Martinez
OBP: .434, Domingo Batista
SLG: .482, Alfonzo Martinez
HR: 5, Alfonzo Martinez
wRC+: 143, Xavier Guillen
SB: 39, Israfell Bautista

Team Pitching Leaders (min. 100 TBF):
ERA: 2.50, Yereny Teus
FIP: 3.12, Yereny Teus
K%: 34.3%, Yereny Teus
BB%: 3.6%, Alexander Campos
WHIP: 0.96, Yereny Teus
AVG: .186, Yereny Teus
WHIFF%: 44.4%, Yereny Teus