Rays Minor League Roundup: Week 5

The Rays added to their outfield depth with a minor league signing

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

This was the fifth 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 22-year old Cooper Kinney. The 2021 34th overall pick is an infielder that is hitting .353/.405/.676 with 5 HR over 74 PA in Double-A, registering a 216 wRC+.

Meanwhile, the top pitcher continues to be Ian Seymour, continues to be a model of consistency. He now has a 2.49 ERA | 4.04 FIP with a 33.3 K% & 6.7 BB% over 25 ¹⁄₃ IP.

Before we get to the statistical breakdowns. Here is some news or somethings I have noticed from around the Rays system.

• Outfield prospect Theo Gillen made his season debut on Sunday in Single-A.
• The Rays have signed a former Nationals top-10 prospect, Andrew Stevenson. The 30-year old outfielder has big league experience over five seasons with Washington and one season with the Minnesota Twins; most recently he played in Japan during the 2024 season.
• Owen Wild, an under-the-radar pitching prospect that dominated last season, made his season debut in Double-A. Thus far, he has thrown seven scoreless innings with a 30.4 K% and 8.7 BB% over two starts.
• Bob Nightengale of USA Today wrote about Chandler Simpson

TEAM LEADERS

• (minimum of 40 PA for hitters and 40 TBF for pitchers)
• Baseball America top ten prospects are featured below each team they’re currently assigned to.

Tampa Bay Rays

• Chandler Simpson
  AAA: .301/.325/.329 | 9.0 K% | 3.8 BB% | 0 HR | 8 SB | 77 wRC+ | 78 PA
  MLB: .400/.455/.433 | 12.1 K% | 9.1 BB% | 0 HR | 3 SB | 170 wRC+ | 33 PA | 0.4 fWAR

Durham Bulls

Team Offensive Leaders:
AVG: .292, Tres Barrera
OBP: .352, Kenny Piper
SLG: .667, Tres Barrera
HR: 5, Tres Barrera
wRC+: 162, Tres Barrera
SB: 3, Carson Williams & Tristan Peters

Team Pitching Leaders:
ERA: 0.75, Jacob Waguespack
FIP: 2.04, Jacob Waguespack
K%: 34.1%, Garrett Acton
BB%: 6.3%, Logan Workman
WHIP: 0.67, Jacob Waguespack
AVG: .114, Garrett Acton
WHIFF%: 17.6%, Ian Seymour

Top 10 Prospects

• Carson Williams:
  AAA: .171/.292/.317 | 39.6 K% | 13.5 BB% | 2 HR | 3 SB | 68 wRC+ | 96 PA
• Tre’ Morgan
  AAA: .235/.350/.324 | 25.0 K% | 10.0 BB% | 0 HR | 0 SB | 91 wRC+ | 40 PA

Montgomery Biscuits

Team Offensive Leaders:
AVG: .353, Cooper Kinney
OBP: .405, Cooper Kinney
SLG: .676, Cooper Kinney
HR: 5, Cooper Kinney
wRC+: 216, Cooper Kinney
SB: 11, Colton Ledbetter

Team Pitching Leaders:
ERA: 0.96, Austin Vernon
FIP: 1.82, Austin Vernon
K%: 34.1%, Austin Vernon
BB%: 3.8%, Duncan Davitt
WHIP: 0.75, JJ Goss
AVG: .135, JJ Goss
WHIFF%: 24.6%, Austin Vernon

Top 10 Prospects

• Brayden Taylor:
  AA: .156/.280/.328 | 28.0 K% | 14.7 BB% | 3 HR | 1 SB | 85 wRC+ | 75 PA
• Xavier Isaac:
  AA: .200/.368/.467 | 34.2 K% | 21.1 BB% | 1 HR | 0 SB | 148 wRC+ | 38 PA

Bowling Green Hot Rods

Team Offensive Leaders:
AVG: .419, Noah Myers
OBP: .544, Noah Myers
SLG: .674, Noah Myers
HR: 2, Noah Myers, Hunter Haas, Blake Robertson, & Tony Santa Maria
wRC+: 230, Noah Myers
SB: 8, Aidan Smith

Team Pitching Leaders:
ERA: 1.71, Gary Gill Hill
FIP: 2.07, Hayden Snelsire
K%: 39.3%, T.J. Nichols
BB%: 3.3%, T.J. Nichols
WHIP: 0.77, Hayden Snelsire
AVG: .134, Garrett Edwards
WHIFF%: 16.6%, T.J. Nichols

Top 10 Prospects

• Gary Gill Hill
  A+: 1.71 ERA | 4.29 FIP | 18.5 K% | 3.7 BB% | .208 AVG | 9.6 WHIFF% | 21 IP
• Santiago Suarez
  A+: 2.45 ERA | 3.47 FIP | 30.3 K% | 5.3 BB% | .208 AVG | 15.6 WHIFF% | 18 ¹⁄₃ IP

Charleston River Dogs

Team Offensive Leaders:
AVG: .304, Larry Martinez
OBP: .396, Larry Martinez
SLG: .424, Angel Mateo
HR: 2, Angel Mateo & Connor Hujsak
wRC+: 121, Larry Martinez
SB: 7, Narciso Polanco

Team Pitching Leaders:
ERA: 1.00, Jonalbert Rumbol & Ryan Andrade
FIP: 2.56, Jose Urbina
K%: 29.3%, Trevor Harrison
BB%: 2.3%, Andy Rodriguez
WHIP: 0.91, Jose Urbina
AVG: .169, Ryan Andrade
WHIFF%: 26.0%, Noah Beal

Top 10 Prospects

• Trevor Harrison
  A: 3.18 ERA | 3.36 FIP | 29.3 K% | 16.0 BB% | .206 AVG | 14.2 WHIFF% | 17 IP
• Theo Gillen
  A: .200/.200/.200 | 20.0 K% | 0.0 BB% | 0 HR | 0 SB | 15 wRC+ | 5 PA