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Baseball America's well respected prospect rankings found one Rays player to add to their mid-season listings.
Released this morning, the Top 50 features Rays pitcher Taylor Guerrieri at No. 29 with the following blurb:
Rays move pitching prospects slowly, but Guerrieri's 1.70 career ERA shows it's working for him.
Guerrieri had previously been ranked No. 62 to start the season by BA.
Baseball Prospectus's mid-season rankings ranked Guerrieri at No. 25 last week, rising from No. 48 pre-season.
Both publications note that he'll be on the slow track to the majors, as the Rays are notorious for in their development.
The stud right handed pitcher has been dominant in his first full-time season of minor league baseball, tearing through Class A Bowling Green. He owns 50 strikeouts and 11 walks over 65.0 IP this season, with only 15 earned runs in thirteen games, riding a 22.0 IP scoreless streak. He boasts incredible control, and probably the best curveball in the system (sorry Colome).
Guerrieri was ranked the top prospect in Michael and Scott's mid-season Rays prospect rankings, and will be ranked first overall on my list as well later this week (spoiler alert). Expectations are high for the 20 year old, even if his ETA is 2016.
Just as Guerrieri is not a surprise selection, the fact only one Ray that found his way onto Baseball America's list should not worry you.
The Rays only had one player ranked mid-season last year as well, Hak-Ju Lee at No. 47 (who dropped from the rankings after his devastating knee injury), but that's not a strong cause for concern. The Rays have rookies Chris Archer, Alex Torres, and trade developments Wil Myers (No. 3 mid-season in 2012) and Jake Odorizzi (No. 29) all playing successfully in the majors, and who were not listed under the Rays banner last seaon.
Guerrieri was one of two Rays pitchers named to the Futures Game in New York, but the Rays pulled the right hander last night, citing a need to give him extra rest until the All Star break is complete. Guerrieri has not pitched since July 1.
In his place, the Rays have named relief pitcher C.J. Riefenhauser, who was recently promoted to Triple-A Durham. Montgomery Biscuits pitcher Enny Romero is still scheduled to make his second appearance in the Future's show on Sunday.