Rays prospects and minor leagues: Robertson begins rehab with Charlotte

All three short-season affiliates are now in action as Princeton played its opener on Tuesday. Wander Franco, one of the team’s top prospects, made his pro debut for Princeton. Born on March 1, 2001, I would not be surprised if he’s the youngest player in the Appalachian League.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (38-30)

Durham blew the game open with a five-run eighth in an 8-4 win over Louisville. Already leading 3-2, the Bulls got the inning off to a fast start with doubles by Ji-Man Choi, Jason Coats, and Brandon Lowe, and Andrew Velazquez later drove in two with the fourth two-base hit of the inning. Kyle Bird opened with a scoreless inning, and Ryan Weber allowed two runs in 5 ¹⁄₃ innings.

RF Justin Williams: 0-for-5
2B Brandon Lowe: 2-for-5, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI
C Nick Ciuffo: 1-for-4, 1 RBI
1B Ji-Man Choi: 2-for-3, 1 R, 2 2B, 2 BB
CF Jason Coats: 1-for-3, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 2 BB

RHP Ryan Weber: 5 ¹⁄₃ IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (37-33)

The SL North All-Stars lost, 9-5.

2B Nick Solak: 0-for-5, 1 R, 2 K
C Brett Sullivan: 0-for-2
CF Nathan Lukes: 0-for-2
RF Ryan Boldt: 2-for-4, 1 2B, 2 RBI

LHP Genesis Cabrera: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K

Class A-Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (33-33)

Benton Moss was sharp in Charlotte’s 2-0 win over Lakeland in Game 1 of their doubleheader. In his second start since rejoining the Stone Crabs, the righty struck out four in five scoreless innings before Spencer Jones completed the shutout with two innings of work. Lucius Fox and Robbie Tenerowicz drove in runs in the fifth inning. Daniel Robertson started his rehab assignment and went 1-for-2 as the team’s second baseman.

In Game 2, the Stone Crabs fell, 3-2, in nine innings. After the Flying Tigers scored two in the top of the ninth, Kevin Padlo led off the bottom half with a run-scoring double. However, the next three batters all made outs, stranding the tying run in scoring position. Zack Mozingo opened with two scoreless innings, and Alexis Tapia allowed a run in five frames.

2B Daniel Robertson (1): 1-for-2, 1 HBP
SS Lucius Fox (1): 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 K
SS Lucius Fox (2): 1-for-3, 1 BB, 2 K
RF Jesus Sanchez (1): 0-for-3, 1 K
DH Jesus Sanchez (2): 1-for-4, 2 R, 1 2B
3B Jermaine Palacios (1): 1-for-3, 1 K
CF Josh Lowe (1): 1-for-3, 1 K
CF Josh Lowe (2): 0-for-4, 1 K
3B Kevin Padlo (2): 2-for-4, 2 2B, 1 RBI, 1 K

RHP Benton Moss (1): 5 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K
RHP Alexis Tapia (2): 5 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 3 K

Class-A Bowling Green Hot Rods (47-22)

The MWL East All-Stars walked off with a 3-2 win in 10 innings. Ronaldo Hernandez won the home run derby.

2B Vidal Brujan: 0-for-1, 1 K
SS Taylor Walls: 1-for-3, 1 RBI, 1 CS
LF Moises Gomez: 2-for-4, 1 K
C Ronaldo Hernandez: 0-for-2, 1 K
3B Zach Rutherford: 0-for-1

RHP Riley O’Brien: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
RHP Tommy Romero: one-third IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K

Short-Season Hudson Valley Renegades (2-3)

Hudson Valley could not contain Brooklyn in a 7-5 loss. The Cyclones scored in five different innings, including their last four as the Renegades were unable to maintain leads of 2-1 and 4-2. All three Renegades who pitched gave up at least a run, but starter Blake Pflughaupt only allowed an unearned run in four innings.

SS Ford Proctor: 1-for-5, 1 RBI, 1 K
CF Tanner Dodson: 0-for-5
3B Trey Hair: 3-for-5, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 K, 1 CS
RF Marvin Malone: 2-for-4, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K
DH Erik Ostberg: 3-for-4, 1 R
2B Garrett Giovannelli: 2-for-3, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K

LHP Blake Pflughaupt: 4 IP, 3 H, 1 R (0 ER), 3 BB, 1 K
RHP Kyle Goodbrand: 2 ¹⁄₃ IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 2 K

Rookie Princeton Rays (0-1)

Princeton fell to Kingsport in its season opener by a 7-3 score. Jordan Qsar’s first professional home run tied the game at two in the second inning, but Kingsport scored the next five runs and eventually put the game away. Starter Miguel Lara allowed four runs on eight hits in 2 ¹⁄₃ innings.

SS Wander Franco: 1-for-4, 1 K
LF Jordan Qsar: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 K

RHP Miguel Lara: 2 ¹⁄₃ IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 2 K

Rookie Gulf Coast League Rays (0-2)

The GCL Rays’ first-inning run did not hold up in a 3-1 loss to the GCL Red Sox. With two outs, Russ Olive doubled and scored on Kaleo Johnson’s single. However, the GCL Rays had just four hits over the final eight innings. Starter Jose Lopez struck out three in 4 ²⁄₃ scoreless innings, but the GCL Red Sox scored three in the eighth off Angel Rodriguez.

SS Jelfry Marte: 1-for-4
DH Michael Berglund: 0-for-3, 3 K

LHP Jose Lopez: 4 ²⁄₃ IP, 5 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K
RHP Angel Rodriguez: 2 ¹⁄₃ IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 1 K

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

Durham @ Louisville 12 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
TBA vs. Justin Nicolino (2-4, 4.50)

Montgomery is at the All-Star break.

Charlotte vs. Lakeland 10:05 a.m. ET (radio stream)
Willy Ortiz (4-1, 4.33) vs. Anthony Castro (3-2, 3.38)

Bowling Green is at the All-Star break.

Hudson Valley @ Brooklyn 7 p.m. ET
TBA vs. Kyle Wilson (0-0, -.--)

Princeton @ Kingsport 6:30 p.m. ET (radio stream)
TBA vs. Jose Butto (0-0, -.--)

GCL Rays vs. GCL Red Sox 12 p.m. ET

*Listed as TBA on milb.com

Scouting the opposition

Louisville Bats (Cincinnati)
25-41 (4th in IL West)
Offense: 242 R (13th) .703 OPS (7th)
Pitching: 4.12 ERA (12th) 1.36 WHIP (10th)
Top-30 prospects: IF Nick Senzel (1), RHP Jimmy Herget (18), OF Phillip Ervin (19), RHP Tanner Rainey (20), RHP Jackson Stephens (24), RHP Jose Lopez (25)

Lakeland Flying Tigers
36-33
Offense: 258 R (9th) .653 OPS (10th)
Pitching: 3.74 ERA (6th) 1.23 WHIP (1st)
Top-30 prospects: IF Isaac Paredes (7), LHP Gregory Soto (10), RHP Anthony Castro (19), RHP Wladimir Pinto (21), RHP Jason Foley (23), OF Troy Montgomery (27), OF Derek Hill (28), LHP Austin Sodders (29)

Brooklyn Cyclones (Mets)
4-1 (1st in NYPL McNamara)
Offense: 21 R (6th) .760 OPS (3rd)
Pitching: 2.83 ERA (5th) 0.91 WHIP (1st)
Top-30 prospects: RHP Christian James (30)

Kingsport Mets
1-0 (T-1st in AL West)
Offense: Will update next series
Pitching: Will update next series
Top-30 prospects: Will update next series

GCL Red Sox
2-0 (T-1st in GCL South)
Offense: Will update next series
Pitching: Will update next series
Top-30 prospects: Will update next series

Daily news and links

Nate Lowe was featured on this week’s Hot Sheet at Baseball America.

Also at BA, Ben Badler previewed the Rays’ activity in this year’s international market.

At Bandbox News, Josh Leventhal chatted with Wool E. Bull.

From Friday to Sunday, I was hardly on the internet, which means I likely missed some good stories to share. Please let me know what I should check out from the weekend.