Rays prospects and minor leagues: Miller begins rehab with Charlotte

All it took for Jake Cronenworth to pick up his first hit of the season was to get promoted to a higher level.

In Montgomery, Zach Lee had another nice outing. I certainly don’t believe he’s suddenly regained what made him a top prospect, but by game score, it was his best start since June 2013 in an earlier stint in the Southern League.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (4-7)

Durham’s offense was shut down by one-time Rays prospect Ryan Carpenter in a 2-1 loss to Toledo. The Bulls had just five hits — all of which were singles — and three of them came from the two newcomers, Andrew Velazquez and Jake Cronenworth. Starter Forrest Snow struck out six in five scoreless innings.

SS Willy Adames: 1-for-2, 2 BB
1B Jake Bauers: 0-for-4, 3 K
RF Justin Williams: 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K
3B Jake Cronenworth: 1-for-4, 1 RBI, 2 K
DH Jeremy Hazelbaker: 0-for-4, 4 K

RHP Forrest Snow: 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (3-8)

Montgomery faltered late in a 10-inning, 6-1 loss to Tennessee. Despite a failed sacrifice bunt to start the extra frame, the Smokies got the free baserunner to score and continued to pile on runs thanks to three walks, two steals, a wild pitch, and a hit batter. Over the final eight innings, the Biscuits had just three hits and wasted another solid outing from Zach Lee, who struck out five and allowed a run in seven innings.

2B Nick Solak: 0-for-5, 1 K
LF Brandon Lowe: 0-for-4
SS Jermaine Palacios: 0-for-4, 1 K
1B Mac James: 2-for-3, 1 RBI, 1 BB

RHP Zach Lee: 7 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K

Class A-Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (4-8)

Charlotte couldn’t sustain its offense in a 9-4 loss to Clearwater. After falling behind 4-0 through half an inning, the Stone Crabs scored three in the bottom of the first, but they were unable to add on to the same extent as the Threshers. Brock Burke struggled and was charged with seven runs — five earned — in four-plus innings despite striking out eight. Brad Miller began his rehab assignment and had a hit in four trips to the plate.

1B Brad Miller: 1-for-4, 1 R
SS Lucius Fox: 0-for-4, 1 BB
CF Josh Lowe: 1-for-4, 2 K
RF Jesus Sanchez: 3-for-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI
DH Nate Lowe: 3-for-4, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 BB

LHP Brock Burke: 4+ IP, 6 H, 7 R (5 ER), 3 BB, 8 K

Class-A Bowling Green Hot Rods (5-6)

Bowling Green’s game was postponed.

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Wednesday’s games (probables courtesy of milb.com)

Durham @ Toledo 6:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
Jose Mujica (1-1, 5.19) vs. Blaine Hardy (1-0, 0.00)

Montgomery vs. Tennessee 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
J.D. Martin (0-2, 10.29) vs. Thomas Hatch (0-0, 3.00)

Charlotte vs. Clearwater 6:35 p.m. ET (radio stream)
Brandon Lawson (0-1, 4.66) vs. Connor Seabold (0-1, 5.23)

Bowling Green @ West Michigan 12 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream) DOUBLEHEADER Resly Linares (0-0, 17.18) vs. Garett King (0-0, 4.15)
TBA vs. Burris Warner (1-0, 1.13)

Both games will be seven innings.

*Listed as TBA on milb.com

Scouting the opposition

Toledo Mud Hens (Detroit)
8-3 (1st in IL West)
Offense: 44 R (2nd) .753 OPS (5th)
Pitching: 3.76 ERA (10th) 1.18 WHIP (2nd)
Top-30 prospects: IF Dawel Lugo (8), OF Christin Stewart (9), OF Mike Gerber (14), RHP Bryan Garcia (16), OF Mikie Mahtook, LHP Ryan Carpenter

Tennessee Smokies (Cubs)
4-6 (4th in SL North)
Offense: 35 R (5th) .650 OPS (7th)
Pitching: 4.96 ERA (10th) 1.46 WHIP (8th)
Top-30 prospects: RHP Adbert Alzolay (2), RHP Oscar De La Cruz (6), RHP Thomas Hatch (8), RHP Trevor Clifton (17), RHP Dakota Mekkes (21), OF Charcer Burks (24), 3B Jason Vosler (25), RHP Michael Rucker (26), RHP Jake Stinnett (30)

Clearwater Threshers (Philadelphia)
3-9 (6th in FSL South)
Offense: 45 R (6th) .701 OPS (6th)
Pitching: 5.12 ERA (11th) 1.56 WHIP (12th)
Top-30 prospects: RHP Sixto Sanchez (2), RHP Adonis Medina (4), OF Adam Haseley (5), OF Mickey Moniak (9), SS Arquimedes Gamboa (19), RHP Mauricio Llovera (30)

West Michigan Whitecaps (Detroit)
6-2 (T-1st in MWL East)
Offense: 41 R (6th) .672 OPS (12th)
Pitching: 2.19 ERA (3rd) 1.34 WHIP (6th)
Top-30 prospects: RHP Matt Manning (3), RHP Wladimir Pinto (21), C Joey Morgan (31)

Daily news and links

Baseball America’s J.J. Cooper chatted about prospects and the 2018 debut of the site’s weekly Hot Sheet.

MLB.com also debuted a weekly feature, the prospect team of the week. It does include one Ray.

Former BA writer Josh Leventhal has a new blog about the business of minor league baseball.

Durham Bulls Athletic Park hosted rivals North Carolina and North Carolina State on Tuesday.

This is a couple days old now, but it’s worth seeing if you haven’t: