Rays Minor League Roundup: Week 3

Some strong early season performances are gaining players notice

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

This third week of minor league play with all of the Rays full season minor league teams having completed their first full week of play.

According to FanGraphs (which factors in age and proximity to the big leagues), the overall top hitter in the Rays farm system is Chandler Simpson, who is hitting .300/.317/.333 with 1 extra base hit, registering a 81 wRC+ with 8 stolen bases over 14 games played.

Meanwhile, the top pitcher is Ian Seymour, continuing right where he left off in 2024. He now has a 2.40 ERA | 3.83 FIP with a 38.3 K% & 5.0 BB% over 15 IP.

Seymour and Simpson were the Rays top players for most of the 2024 minor league season as well.

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

• Richie Palacios will move onto Triple-A Durham on Tuesday to resume his rehab assignment.
• Evan Reifert has officially rejoined the Rays organization and is pitching for the Triple-A Durham Bulls
• Several notable players have been placed on the Injured List, here are several of them: Xavier Isaac, Theo Gillen, Owen Wild, Jeremy Pilon, and Mason Auer
• Plenty of Baseball America Rays related content
• Ian Seymour was featued in the Statcast Standouts weekly feature. The 2020 2nd round pick has a repertoire that’s considered below average but he is able to flummox opposing hitters and prospect gurus alike.
• The player selected after Carson Williams in the 2021 draft, Cooper Kinney, is getting some attention from Baseball America. The oft-injured infielder has performed well when healthy, but that has been a rarity.
• Aidan Smith, a polarizing top prospect to some, is now on MLB Pipeline’s top 100.

TEAM LEADERS

• (minimum of 20 PA for hitters and 20 TBF for pitchers)
• Baseball America top ten prospects are featured below each team they’re currently assigned to.

Tampa Bay Rays

Durham Bulls

Team Offensive Leaders:
AVG: .333, Tres Barrera & Tanner Murray
OBP: .400, Tres Barrera
SLG: .815, Tres Barrera
HR: 4, Tres Barrera
wRC+: 225, Tres Barrera
SB: 8, Chandler Simpson

Team Pitching Leaders:
ERA: 0.00, Jacob Waguespack
FIP: 1.28, Connor Seabold
K%: 42.3%, Jacob Waguespack
BB%: 3.7%, Joey Krehbiel
WHIP: 0.44, Connor Seabold
AVG: .069, Connor Seabold
WHIFF%: 19.4%, Ian Seymour

Top 10 Prospects

• Carson Williams:
  AAA: .209/.358/.349 | 34.0 K% | 17.0 BB% | 1 HR | 3 SB | 107 wRC+ | 53 PA
• Chandler Simpson
  AAA: .300/.317/.333 | 9.4 K% | 3.1 BB% | 0 HR | 8 SB | 81 wRC+ | 64 PA
• Tre’ Morgan
  AAA: Currently on the Injured List

Montgomery Biscuits

Team Offensive Leaders:
AVG: .348, Matthew Etzel
OBP: .400, Matthew Etzel
SLG: .556, Cooper Kinney
HR: 2, Cooper Kinney & Brayden Taylor
wRC+: 161, Matthew Etzel
SB: 4, Brock Jones

Team Pitching Leaders:
ERA: 1.93, Brody Hokpins
FIP: 5.10, Ty Cummings
K%: 27.6%, Jacob Watters
BB%: 4.8%, Ty Cummings
WHIP: 1.00, Ty Cummings
AVG: .188, Brody Hopkins
WHIFF%: 13.6%, Jackson Baumeister

Top 10 Prospects

• Brayden Taylor:
  AA: .231/.310/.500 | 37.9 K% | 10.3 BB% | 2 HR | 1 SB | 126 wRC+ | 29 PA
• Xavier Isaac:
  AA: Currently on the Injured List

Bowling Green Hot Rods

Team Offensive Leaders:
AVG: .500, Noah Myers
OBP: .606, Noah Myers
SLG: .917, Noah Myers
HR: 2, Noah Myers, Hunter Haas, & Tony Santa Maria
wRC+: 287, Noah Myers
SB: 5, Aidan Smith

Team Pitching Leaders:
ERA: 1.80, Gerlin Rosario
FIP: 2.34, Hayden Snelsire
K%: 36.7%, Hayden Snelsire
BB%: 2.6%, Marcus Johnson
WHIP: 0.82, Santiago Suarez
AVG: .148, Santiago Suarez
WHIFF%: 18.8%, Gerlin Rosario

Top 10 Prospects

• Gary Gill Hill
  A+: 2.00 ERA | 4.78 FIP | 21.6 K% | 5.4 BB% | .206 AVG | 9.0 WHIFF% | 9 IP
• Santiao Suarez
  A+: 3.68 ERA | 3.98 FIP | 34.5 K% | 6.9 BB% | .148 AVG | 13.6 WHIFF% | 7 ¹⁄₃ IP

Charleston River Dogs

Team Offensive Leaders:
AVG: .412, Angel Mateo
OBP: .459, Angel Mateo
SLG: .559, Angel Mateo
HR: 1, Angel Mateo
wRC+: 181, Angel Mateo
SB: 5, Angel Mateo

Team Pitching Leaders:
ERA: 1.13, Ryan Andrade
FIP: 3.28, Trevor Harrison
K%: 28.6%, Trevor Harrison
BB%: 0.0%, Dominic Niman
WHIP: 1.13, Jonalbert Rumbol
AVG: .192, Ryan Andrade
WHIFF%: 16.5%, Garrett Gainey

Top 10 Prospects

• Trevor Harrison
  A: 7.36 ERA | 3.28 FIP | 28.6 K% | 14.3 BB% | .333 AVG | 14.1 WHIFF% | 7 ¹⁄₃ IP
• Theo Gillen
  A: Currently on the Injured List