Rays Minor League Baseball Blog

Here’s the top ten Rays prospects as picked by Baseball America

1)  Matt Moore  LHP
2)  Hak-Ju Lee  SS
3)  Chris Archer  RHP
4)  Taylor Guerrieri  RHP
5)  Alex Colome  RHP
6)  Alex Torres  LHP
7)  Tim Beckham  SS
8)  Enny Romero  LHP
9)  Drew Vettleson  OF
10)  Mikie Mahtook  OF

Matt Moore.  I could have finished my column with that name but Moore is the stud in the organization.  He went 8-3 with a 2.20 ERA and 131 strikeouts and 28 walks in 102 1/3 innings.  His batting average against was .187 and he’s only 22.  Stud.

Marquis Fleming – With 104 strikeouts in 80 1/3 innings. Fleming was one of the best relievers out of the pen.  He walked 42 though and that’s a little high but he was able to limit the damage with a .204 batting average against.

Matt Bush – Bush is another hard thrower with 77 strikeouts in 50 1/3 innings. Oddly, hitters belted him for a .251 average.  The former top pick has bounced around and he’ll now be 26.  It’ll be interesting to see what the Rays do with him in 2011.

Montgomery finished in the bottom half of the standings but they had their share of hitting standouts.  Here are the best hitters on the team this past season.

Stephen Volgt – Volgt had a solid .301 batting average and that helped  push his OPS to the top of the hitters who played in more then 75 games.  He had 13 home runs and a solid 51/30 strikeout to walk ratio.

Henry Wrigley – Wrigley led the team in home runs (17), doubles (34) and he was second to Volgt with 84 RBIs.   Oddly, Wrigley was much better against right handed pitching then left handed pitching so we’ll see if this carries over as he moves up the ladder.

Tim Beckham – Beckham led the team with 82 runs and his 15 steals were second on the team.  He also had his share of walks with 39.  He could turn out to be a nice offensive shortstop, similar to what Reid Brignac should have been.

The Bulls had another nice year and while they’re mostly known for their pitching, the Bulls had their share of solid hitters as well.  Here were the best hitters on the 2011 team.

Russ Canzler – Canzler led the team in just about everything.  He hit 18 home runs, drove in 83 and he scored 78 runs.  With his home runs came 40 doubles and that was all good for a .930 OPS in 131 games.  He also led the team with 67 walks.  Of course Canzler is blocked by Evan Longeria so it’ll be interesting to see what the Bulls do with Canzler.

Brandon Guyer – Guyer was almost as good as Canzler, he just didn’t play in as many games.  He had fourteen  home runs and he was tied with Canzler with 78 runs.  He struck out less then Canzler, but he also walked less and it all worked into a .905 OPS.  He does have some speed and he finished with sixteen steals and five triples.  Guyer struggled with the big league club but he should compete for an outfield job with the Rays next year.

Dan Johnson – Johnson is no longer a prospect but he’s turned into a Four-A player.  Still, he had a solid season with thirteen home runs in 93 games.  He did walk 58 times and struck out just 65 times which was a nice rate and he finished with an .842 OPS.

John Sickels put out his Tampa Bay Rays Top 20 prospect list and there’s some studs at the top.    Sickels uses a grade ranking and at the of the list is Matt Moore with an A.  This guy is an ace in waiting and he’s major league ready and having this guy in the rotation is just going to make the Rays better.

Number two is Hak-Ju Lee who got a B+.  The shortstop has moved up the chain and he’s getting closer and closer to making his big league debut.  Alexander Torres (B, LHP), Alex Colome (RHP, B) and Taylor Guerrieri (RHP, B) round out the top five.

The Bulls have their share of pitching prospects and while some of these guys have already graduated to the Rays, the Bulls still had their share of pitching stars.

Alexander Torres – Topping the list is the soon to be 24 year old Alexander Torres.  He struck out 156 in 146 1/3 innings but the walks are still a concern.  He finished with 83 walks.  He did have a 9-7 record with a very nice 3.08 and it all got him a short stint with the Rays in 2011.

Dane De La Rosa – Dane was one of the better relievers for the Rays.  He had a 3.20 ERA and he struck out 83 in 70 1/3 innings.  He also struggled in his short time with the Rays and he’s well past the point of being a prospect but you always want a guy or two like this hanging in Triple A in the event the pen has a rash of injuries.

Rob Delaney – Delaney led the team with thirteen saves and he had a very nice 1.86 ERA.  He struck out 57 in 67 2/3 innings and while he only gave up three home runs, he didn’t have a great ground ball ratio.

Durham Bulls – 80-62, first place in the International League
Montgomery Biscuits – 31-38, 15 1/2 games back of first place Mobile
Charlotte Stone Crabs – 34-36, 11 1/2 games back of first place Bradenton
Bowling Green Hot Dogs – 36-34, twelve games back of first place Dayton
Hudson Valley Renegades – 37-39, 9 1/2 games back of first place Staten Island
Princeton Rays – 30-38, ten games back of first place Blue Field
GCL Rays – 24-36, fourteen games back of the first place GCL Orioles

Durham’s playoff run ended pretty quickly as they were swept at the hands of the Columbus Clippers.  Alexander Torres had a mixed bag start in his loss.  He gave up three runs on seven hits and four walks with five strikeouts in six innings.

Stephen Vogt went three for four with double in the 5-2 loss.  Leslie Anderson went two for three with a run.

Charlotte lost to Bradenton 4-3 in ten innings in a tough game.  Matthew Stabelfeld gave up an unearned run in the tenth and he took the loss.  Albert Suarez gave up two runs in four innings and he gave up the run that put the game into extra innings.

Omar Luna went three for five with a run.  Tyler Bortnick went two for four with a home run and two RBIs.

Their final game ended with a rain out but the last six games the played were all losses.  The finale wa sa 10-5 beat down by the Lookouts.  Alexander Colome gave up four runs on five hits and two walks with four strikeouts in five innings.  The loss dropped him to 3-4.

Henry Wrigley went three for five with a double and two RBIs.  Shawn O’Malley went three for five with a double and a run.

Montgomery dismantled the Birmingham Barons 11-0 and just about everyone pitched in on this one.  Eight of the nine starters scored runs and Henry Wrigley drove in three runs.

Alexander Colome had a nice start and he improved to 3-2.  He gave up two hits and three walks with four strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings.

Matt Tora improved to 3-1 on the season with a nice start in the Bulls 2-0 win over the Yankees.  He gave up just four hits and a walk with three strikeouts in six shutout innings.  Rob Delaney threw two shutout innings and he picked up his seventh save of the season.

Matt Carson hit a solo home run in the win.  Dan Johnson doubled and drove in a run.

Chris Archer improved to 5-6 on the season with a great start in the Biscuits 4-0 win over the Smokies.  He gave up four hits and four walks with two strikeouts in seven shutout innings. Zachary Quate got the final two outs of the game and he picked up save number 17.

Kyeong Kang hit a solo home run, drew a walk and he scored twice.  John Shelby went three for four with a double and two runs.

Matt Moore improved to 1-0 on the season with a really nice start in the Bulls 4-0 win over the Braves. He gave up three hits and two walks with thirteen strikeouts in eight shutout innings.

Reid Brignac went three for four with a run.  Ray Olmedo went two for four with a double and a run.

Alexander Torres improved to 3-5 on the season with a really nice start in the Bulls 8-1 win over the Braves.  He gave up a run on three hits and three walks with seven strikeouts in five innings.

Desmond Jennings went one for four with a walk, two RBIs and two runs.  Russ Canzler went doubled and drove in two runs.

Matt Moore improved to 5-3 on the season with a no-hitter.  He struck out eleven and walked two in the 8-0 win.

Stephen Vogt went three for five with a double, three RBIs and a run.  Shawn O’Malley went three for four with a walk, two runs and an RBI.

Kyle Lobstein improved to 2-2 on the season with a nice start in the Stone Crabs 4-0 win over the Threshers.  He gave up a hit and three walks with nine strikeouts in seven shutout innings.  Josh Satow threw two shutout innings and he picked up his second save of the season.

Brett Nommensen went three for four with a solo home run.  Michael Sheridan went two for four with a double, a solo home run and two runs.

Nick Barnese improved to 2-4 on the season with a really nice start in the Biscuits 6-0 win over the Stars.  He gave up a hit and two walks with three strikeouts in five innings.  Frank De Los Santos gave up two hits with two strikeouts in four shutout innings and he picked up the save.

Shawn O’Malley went three for five with a double, a triple, an RBI and two runs.  Stephen Vogt went two for five with a double, a run and two RBIs.

Brian Baker improved to 1-2 on the season with a nice start in the Bulls 4-0 win over the Chiefs.  He gave up a hit and two walks with six strikeouts in six shutout innings.  Chris Bootcheck picked up the save with three shutout innings and he struck out four.

Ray Olmedo went one for two with two RBIs and a walk.  Russ Canzler went one for three with a run and an RBI.

The Durham Bulls top the Rays minor league affiliates and for them it’s been so far, so good with a 14-11 record.  That’s good for second place, just a half game behind the first place Braves.  Brandon Guyer has been one of the top hitters with a 1.040 OPS and he leads the team with five home runs.  Alexander Torres has been mowing down batters and he’s 2-2 with 33 strikeouts in 25 1/3 innings.

The Biscuits sit at 11-13 and they’re in third place in their division.  Stephen Vogt has been the best of the regular hitters.  He has 26 hits and 15 RBIs with a .914 slugging.  Pitching has been a problem because most of the starters have an ERA over 5.00.

Charlotte is just 9-15 on the season.  No hitter has more then two home runs but Greg Sexton has 22 RBIs.  Alex Koronis is 1-0 with 26 strikeouts and a 3.86 ERA in 25 2/3 innings.  Bowling Green is 13-10 and Lucas Bailey has been on of their top hitters.  C.J. Riefenhauser has been one of the better pitchers with a 2.74 ERA in 23 innings.

Here is a rundown of when the Rays’ full season minor league affiliates open up their season:

Durham Bulls – April 7 at Gwinnett
Montgomery Biscuits – April 7 against Birmingham at home
Charlotte Stone Crabs – April 7 against Broward at home
Bowling Green Hot Rods – April 7 at Dayton

And I know they’re not the hottest ticket, but I still have to pick out some Rays Tickets for this season.  I know they dumped some players but I still like their talent with all of the good young players they have.

Kevin Goldstein took a look at the Rays stacked system as his top eleven prospect series winds down.  Of course Jeremy Hellickson comes in at number one but he’s joined by two other five star prospects and a pair of four prospects.  Goldstein does hedge a little and he says the Rays lack their normal prospect depth but with all of the draft picks in the pipeline, the Rays are bound to do some restocking.

Number two is Matt Moore, the hard throwing lefty in the system.  Moore dominated High-A and he’ll face his biggest challenge yet with a full season at Double-A in 2011.  He also talked about his second half (130 strikeouts in 84 innings) and he projects Moore to be with the big league club in 2012.

Number three is Desmond Jennings.  It looked like Jennings was going to replace Carl Crawford in the outfield but now he could be relegated to a fourth outfielder with the signing of Johnny Damon.  There’s also a chance he spends the first month or so with Durham so he can get regular playing time.  Chris Archer (close to major league ready, right handed pitcher) and Jake McGee (lefty closer in waiting, should make the Rays out of camp) round out the top five.

A lot of top talent has left the Rays organization this off season and while the Rays are probably going to take a hit, it’s also likely the Rays will see some solid new talent enter the organization.  Kevin Goldstein wrote about this last week and the Rays are set to get 12 picks between numbers 24 and 89 in the draft.  They’ve done a nice job in the past with their draft picks so hopefully they’ll be able to keep it up.

Goldstein also talks about how much it’s going to cost to sign all of these guys and it’s not a small number.  Of course that’s the price of doing what the Rays have done (loading up and having a couple of good seasons then letting everyone go) so hopefully it turns out to be a good long term strategy.

I had a chance to read through the scouting reports for Baseball America’s top ten Rays prospects.  There’s no surprise that Jeremy Hellickson is number one.  He’s not only major league ready, he’s had some success at the big league level when he finished the season with the team.  The only thing that keeps people from penciling in Hellickson into the rotation is all of the arms the Rays have.  Still, he should start the season in the back of the rotation but he could be a future ace.

The hard throwing Matt Moore comes in at number two.  Moore struck out 208 145 innings and it’ll be interesting to see what this guy can do in Double-A.  Again, the big problem is too much pitching, which when you think about it, really isn’t a problem, it’s a luxury most teams wish they had.

Number three is top postion player, Desmond Jennings.  The outfielder put up solid numbers at Durham and got his cub of coffee.  If things work out right, Jennings will hopefully make people forget Carl Crawford in a few years.  Jake McGee (lefty, major league ready) and Josh Sale (Rays top pick in 2010) round out the top five.

It was a great season but the Durham Bulls fell just short of winning the Governors Cup as they lost to the Columbus Clippers 13-2 in game four of the International League finals.  Things got ugly pretty quickly and Paul Phillips gave up four runs before he was pulled in the second inning.  Darin Downs also gave up four runs.

Chris Richard led the way at the plate.  He went two for four with a double and an RBI.  J.J. Furmaniak went two for five with an RBI.

Durham lost to Rochester 5-2 and while the pitching wasn’t anything to write home about, the hitting was even worse.  Durham managed just two runs on six hits and Chris Nowack led the way.  He went two for four and he scored one of those two runs.

James Houser had a decent enough start and he gave up two runs in five innings before the pen lost it.  Chad Orvella continued his struggles and he gave up three runs in three innings an he fell to 0-1.

I’m torn.  Softball is in full gear and I need a new mitt.  I’m torn between a Rawlings glove and a Nokona baseball glove.  I found a good price for both at Baseball Rampage but can’t make up my mind as to which to pick up.

The Biscuits snatched victory from the jaws of defeat as they bested Huntsville in a winner take all game five for the Southern League championship.  Down to their final two outs. Sergio Pedroza belted a huge three run homer in the top of the ninth to turn a 3-1 deficit into a 4-3 win.  Chris Nowak went four for four with a run and Reid Brignac doubled and scored.

All three runs that Richard De Los Santos gave up were unearned, which would have made the loss particularly difficult.  Brian Henderson picked up the win with a shutout eighth and he struck out two of three batters he faced.

The Biscuits failed to win game four and lock up the Southern League championship so today we’ll have a winner take all game five.  The Biscuits had their share of hits with eight but they could push just one of those across the plate.  Fernando Perez singled, drew two walks and he scored that lone run.

Mike Prochaska took the loss although he was hardly horrible.  He gave up three runs on six hits and a walk with four strikeouts in seven solid frames.

The Devil Rays had two chances to win the Governers Cup today and they could pull of a win in either game.  Game one saw Richmond win 6-2 and all four Bulls pitchers that were used in the game gave up runs.  Justin Ruggiano belted a solo homerun and Evan Longoria went two for four with a double and a run.

The second game then turned into a winner take all one for the championship and that one was a 7-2 defeat.  Mitch Talbot was hammered for five runs in 2 1/3 innings and all the Bulls could manage was six hits.  Ruggiano hit his second homer of the day with a solo shot and Michel Hernandez went two for four with a double.

The Biscuits won a huge game three as they took a two games to one lead in their best of five game series with Huntsville. It was Christopher Mason who got it done on the mound with six shutout innings.  He gave up eight hits and three walks with six strikeouts in the win.  Equally as impressive was Evan Meek, who struck out six in three innings of relief.

Chris Nowak went two for four with a solo homer.  Fernando Perez went one for five but he drove in two runs.