Rays prospects and minor leagues: Franco exits game early

As of 10:45 Thursday night, I haven’t seen any information regarding Wander Franco’s exit. We’ll see if there are any updates Friday or if he’s in the lineup Friday night.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (2-5)

Durham was crushed by Columbus in its home opener, 12-4. Just three batters into the game, the Clippers owned a 3-0 lead thanks to extra-base hits from All-Stars Jason Kipnis and Carlos Gonzalez. Their lead expanded to 11-1 with back-to-back four-run innings in the fourth and fifth. Andrew Moore allowed eight runs in 3 ¹⁄₃ innings.

CF Andrew Velazquez: 0-for-4, 1 HBP (.988)
1B Nate Lowe: 0-for-2, 2 BB (.913)
LF Nick Solak: 0-for-3, 1 R, 1 K, 1 HBP (.914)
2B Kean Wong: 1-for-3, 1 R, 2 BB (.553)
DH Mike Brosseau: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 K (1.177)

RHP Andrew Moore: 3 ¹⁄₃ IP, 8 H, 7 ER, 1 BB, 2 K (18.90)

Durham’s site offers this recap.

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (2-3)

Montgomery shut down Biloxi in a 6-0 win over the Shuckers. Arturo Reyes threw six perfect innings, but a single off Tyler Zombro with two outs in the seventh finally ended the perfect game. The strong pitching performance was backed up by homers from Dalton Kelly and Josh Lowe, who each hit their first home run of the season.

SS Lucius Fox: 1-for-3, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 K, 1 HBP (1.081)
CF Josh Lowe: 1-for-3, 2 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 SB (1.026)
RF Jesus Sanchez: 0-for-4, 2 K (.681)
1B Dalton Kelly: 3-for-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 SB (.862)
LF Robbie Tenerowicz: 2-for-3, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 SB (.683)

RHP Arturo Reyes: 6 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K (3.00)

Class A-Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (3-5)

Charlotte’s rally fell short in a 4-3 loss to Bradenton. After singling in a run that cut the deficit to one in the eighth, Vidal Brujan stole second and third but was stranded on base. The Stone Crabs again got the tying run in scoring position in the ninth, but Jim Haley struck out to end the game. Resly Linares allowed two runs in just 1 ²⁄₃ innings, but Orlando Romero struck out five in 3 ¹⁄₃ scoreless innings of relief.

2B Vidal Brujan: 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 SB, 1 HBP (.952)
SS Taylor Walls: 1-for-4, 2 K (1.017)
RF Moises Gomez: 0-for-4, 2 K (.276)
C Ronaldo Hernandez: 0-for-3, 1 BB (.174)
CF Garrett Whitley: 1-for-3, 1 K, 1 CS, 1 HBP (.350)
1B Jim Haley: 3-for-4, 2 R, 2 2B, 1 K, 1 CS (.592)

LHP Resly Linares: 1 ²⁄₃ IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 1 K (5.79)
RHP Orlando Romero: 3 ¹⁄₃ IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K (5.79)

Class-A Bowling Green Hot Rods (3-5)

Wander Franco exited early in Bowling Green’s 2-1 loss to Lake County. After grounding out to the pitcher in the third inning, Ford Proctor took Franco’s place in the lineup the next half inning. The Hot Rods outhit the Captains, 7-5, but went just 2-for-16 with runners in scoring position. Joe Ryan allowed two runs in 4 ²⁄₃ innings.

SS Wander Franco: 0-for-2 (.653)
CF Michael Smith: 2-for-3, 1 BB, 1 SB (.917)

RHP Joe Ryan: 4 ²⁄₃ IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 3 K (5.87)
RHP Chris Muller: 3 ¹⁄₃ IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K (0.00)

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

Durham vs. Columbus 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
Aaron Slegers (0-0, 14.73) vs. Cody Anderson (0-0, 0.00)

Montgomery vs. Biloxi 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
TBA vs. Braden Webb (0-1, 4.50)

Charlotte vs. Palm Beach 6:30 p.m. ET (radio stream)
Tobias Myers (0-0, 1.08) vs. Perry DellaValle (0-0, 8.10)

Bowling Green vs. Fort Wayne 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
TBA v. Joey Cantillo (0-0, 4.15)

*Listed as TBA on milb.com

Scouting the opposition

Columbus Clippers (Cleveland)
5-3 (1st in IL West)
Offense: 28 R (10th) .633 OPS (13th)
Pitching: 3.95 ERA (5th) 1.35 WHIP (8th)
Top-30 prospects: 1B Bobby Bradley (7), SS Yu Chang (11), OF Oscar Mercado (16), C Eric Haase (25), RHP Chih-Wei Hu, C Dioner Navarro

Biloxi Shuckers (Milwaukee)
4-2 (T-1st in SL South)
Offense: 16 R (5th) .749 OPS (3rd)
Pitching: 2.08 ERA (4th) 1.15 WHIP (4th)
Top-30 prospects: RHP Trey Supak (11), RHP Braden Webb (14), RHP Marcos Diplan (20), OF Trent Grisham (28)

Palm Beach Cardinals
6-2 (T-1st in FSL South)
Offense: 35 R (2nd) .746 OPS (1st)
Pitching: 2.27 ERA (2nd) 1.07 WHIP (3rd)
Top-30 prospects: RHP Griffin Roberts (18), RHP Johan Oviedo (20), 1B Luken Baker (23)

Fort Wayne TinCaps (San Diego)
6-2 (T-1st in MWL East)
Offense: 44 R (T-1st) .717 OPS (3rd)
Pitching: 3.63 ERA (9th) 1.18 WHIP (2nd)
Top-30 prospects: LHP Ryan Weathers (13), SS Xavier Edwards (21)

Daily news and links

Minor League Baseball doesn’t always like it when you watch minor league baseball.

ESPN subscribers can see which Rays affiliate made Keith Law’s list of top minor league rosters.

MiLB.com covered Brendan McKay’s 2019 mound debut and kindly provided video.