Rays add LHP Ian Seymour and LHP Joe Rock, designate 1B/3B Austin Shenton

Shenton had a respectable Rays debut in 2024.

The Tampa Bay Rays have selected Minor League Pitcher of the Year LHP Ian Seymour and fellow southpaw LHP Joe Rock to the 40-man roster ahead of tomorrow’s Rule 5 roster deadline.

Neither pitcher’s addition should come as a great surprise, both are Top-30 prospects pitching at a high level in Triple-A Durham, and are important parts of the team’s depth in the starting rotation.

To make room on the 40-man roster, corner infielder Austin Shenton has been designated for assignment. Typically a player with his profile would have a longer run — a left handed hitting corner infielder with a 120ish wRC+ sounds projectable at age 25 across his cups of coffee. But some early injury history and some underwhelming tools apparently have him as the odd man out, particularly given the strong depth the Rays have on the infield in the system.

An early announcement on the Rule 5 finalization may seem odd, but it could also be a kindness. By making this move a day early, it should be noted Shenton will now get a healthy look from the other 29 franchises as they consider how to finalize their own 40-man rosters over the next 24-hours, a luxury he might not have had if the Rays held out until the deadline.

Here is the skinny on the newly minted 40-man pitchers from the Rays press release:

Seymour, 25, was named Tampa Bay’s Minor League Pitcher of the Year after going 9-4 with a 2.35 ERA (145.1IP, 38ER), .187 opponent average (97-for-518), 0.95 WHIP and 162 strikeouts in 27 starts between Double-A Montgomery (17GS) and Triple-A Durham (10GS). He went 5-3 with a 2.36 ERA (91.1IP, 24ER) and 99 strikeouts for the Biscuits, earning Organizational Pitcher of the Month honors for both April and May after going 4-2 with a 2.35 ERA (53.2IP, 14ER) and 70 strikeouts across 10 starts. He was named Southern League Pitcher of the Week (June 3-9) after throwing 7.0 scoreless innings on June 5 at Biloxi, allowing one hit and two walks with three strikeouts.

Following a July 23 promotion to Durham, Seymour went 4-1 with a 2.23 ERA (54.0IP, 14ER) and 63 strikeouts with the Bulls. He led all Rays minor leaguers in ERA, innings, strikeouts and WHIP while ranking highly in starts (T1st), opponent average (3rd) and wins (T3rd). His 2.35 ERA was also 10th lowest among all full-season minor league pitchers. Selected in the second round of the 2020 First-Year Player Draft out of Virgina Tech, Seymour is rated the Rays No. 17 prospect by MLB.com.

Rock, 24, was acquired from the Rockies on March 21 in exchange for outfielder Greg Jones. The left-hander went 7-8 with a 4.58 ERA (139.2 IP, 71 ER) and 132 strikeouts in 27 games (23 starts) after spending the entire 2024 season with Triple-A Durham. Rock is rated by MLB.com as the Rays No. 22 overall prospect.