Rays Minor League Roundup: Week 1

Chandler Simpson ran, Ian Seymour fanned, and the minor league began

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

Technically, the first week of minor league play is over as the Durham Bulls played three games this past weekend. The Bulls will continue to play throughout this week while the rest of the full season teams in the organization will commence their seasons on Friday.

According to FanGraphs (which factors in age and proximity to the big leagues), the overall top hitter in the Rays farm system is Tanner Murray, who hit .500/.500.786 with 1 HR over 14 PA.

Meanwhile, the top pitcher is Ian Seymour, who threw five scoreless innings on Friday, yielding four hits but with five strikeouts and one walk.

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

• Dominic Keegan, Logan Driscoll, and Tre’ Morgan are all on the Injured-List in Triple-A.
• Mason Auer has abandoned his hopes of being a hitter and is now a pitcher within the Rays system. Baseball America wrote a glowing review of the former outfield prospect.

A two-way player who was up to 97 mph on the mound during his draft summer out of high school, Auer possesses loud stuff. On the backfields this spring, he was sitting 93-95 mph while mixing in a mid-80s slider. His fastball shape is excellent, boasting 19-20 inches of induced vertical break with cut. In one of Baseball America’s looks this offseason, Auer missed several bats in a High-A game against his fastball.

Tampa Bay Rays

Durham Bulls

Team Offensive Leaders:
AVG: .500, Tanner Murray
OBP: .500, Tanner Murray & Carson Williams
SLG: .786, Tanner Murray
HR: 1, Tanner Murray
wRC+: 228, Tanner Murray
SB: 2, Chandler Simpson

Team Pitching Leaders:
ERA: 0.00, Ian Seymour
FIP: 2.93, Ian Seymour
K%: 26.3%, Ian Seymour
BB%: 4.8%, Joe Rock
WHIP: 1.00, Ian Seymour & Logan Workman
AVG: .077, Logan Workman
WHIFF%: 15.6%, Ian Seymour

Top 10 Prospects

• Carson Williams:
  AAA: .364/.500/.364 | 14.3 K% | 21.4 BB% | 0 HR | 1 SB | 148 wRC+
• Chandler Simpson
  AAA: .231/.313/.231 | 6.3 K% | 12.5 B% | 0 HR | 2 SB | 52 wRC+ | 16 PA