Rays prospects and minor leagues: McKay dominant again

For the season, Brendan McKay now has a 1.82 ERA and 0.88 WHIP in 29 ²⁄₃ innings for Montgomery with a 41.6% strikeout rate. Maybe it’s too early for a promotion — especially because he’s not hitting right now — but it only took 24 ²⁄₃ innings last season for him to be promoted, albeit with better numbers on the mound.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (20-14)

Durham took advantage of the MLB baseball in an 11-8 win over Rochester. Christian Arroyo started the scoring with a solo home run in the second, and Jake Cronenworth hit a grand slam later in the inning. Later in the game, Mike Brosseau homered twice, and Mac James also went deep to add insurance. Despite allowing six runs — five earned — in five innings, Aaron Slegers earned a win against his old organization.

1B Nate Lowe: 0-for-4, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K (.946)
2B Nick Solak: did not bat — entered game late (.789)
SS Jake Cronenworth: 3-for-6, 1 R, 1 HR, 5 RBI (.998)
3B Christian Arroyo: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 BB — did not complete game (.830)
2B Mike Brosseau: 4-for-5, 2 R, 2 HR, 3 RBI (.935)
C Mac James: 2-for-4, 3 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 BB (.547)

RHP Aaron Slegers: 5 IP, 10 H, 6 R (5 ER), 1 BB, 4 K (6.15)

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (20-13)

With another strong Brendan McKay start, Montgomery topped Biloxi, 2-0, in Game 1. For the fifth straight start, the star lefty allowed one run or fewer. In five scoreless innings, he struck out seven batters. Jesus Sanchez drove in both runs with run-scoring outs.

The Biscuits’ pitching was just as effective in Game 2, a 4-0 win over the Shuckers. This time, it was Kenny Rosenberg throwing five scoreless innings, and in relief, Benton Moss struck out three in two innings of work. Montgomery only had four hits, but one of them was a three-run homer by Josh Lowe to start the scoring in the third.

CF Josh Lowe (1): 0-for-1, 1 BB
CF Josh Lowe (2): 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 K (.821)
RF Jesus Sanchez (1): 0-for-2, 2 RBI
RF Jesus Sanchez (2): 1-for-3, 1 K (.745)
SS Lucius Fox (1): 0-for-3
SS Lucius Fox (2): 0-for-2, 1 BB, 1 K (.688)

LHP Brendan McKay (1): 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 7 K (1.82)
LHP Kenny Rosenberg (2): 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 3 K (1.74)

Class A-Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (17-18)

For a second straight day, Charlotte earned a 3-1 win over St. Lucie. After some early struggles — including allowing a home run to the second batter of the game — Tobias Myers settled in and even had a stretch of 13 batters retired in a row. He finished with a run allowed in 6 ²⁄₃ innings. Seaver Whalen’s RBI single in the fifth tied the game, and Carl Chester’s RBI single an inning later put the Stone Crabs ahead.

SS Vidal Brujan: 0-for-4, 1 BB, 1 K (.724)
C Ronaldo Hernandez: 2-for-5, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 K, 1 SB (.542)
LF Moises Gomez: 1-for-4, 3 K (.661)
CF Tanner Dodson: 1-for-3, 1 BB, 1 CS (.536)

RHP Tobias Myers: 6 ²⁄₃ IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K (3.27)

Charlotte’s site offers this recap.

Class-A Bowling Green Hot Rods (20-15)

Shane McClanahan was sharp again in Bowling Green’s 3-2 win over Clinton. For the second straight start, the lefty had improved control, issuing just two walks in 5 ¹⁄₃ innings. He gave up a run and tied a season high with nine strikeouts. After losing a 2-0 lead, the Hot Rods took the lead for good in the bottom of the seventh on Kaleo Johnson’s sacrifice fly.

C Chris Betts: 2-for-3, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 K (.721)

LHP Shane McClanahan: 5 ¹⁄₃ IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 9 K (3.45)
RHP Chris Muller: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K (1.65)

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

Durham @ Rochester 1:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
TBA vs. TBA

Montgomery vs. Mississippi 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
TBA vs. TBA

Charlotte @ St. Lucie 6:30 p.m. ET (radio stream)
Tommy Romero (1-1, 1.69) vs. TBA

Bowling Green vs. Clinton 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
TBA vs. George Soriano (0-2, 5.64)

*Listed as TBA on milb.com

Scouting the opposition

Rochester Red Wings (Minnesota)
13-18 (4th in IL North)
Offense: 160 R (9th) .778 OPS (8th)
Pitching: 5.77 ERA (13th) 1.51 WHIP (10th)
Top-30 prospects: OF Brent Rooker (6), SS Nick Gordon (15), LHP Lewis Thorpe (17), LHP Stephen Gonsalves (18), OF LaMonte Wade (21), RHP Zack Littell (23), OF Luke Raley (24)

Mississippi Braves
17-16 (2nd in SL South)
Offense: 113 R (7th) .651 OPS (7th)
Pitching: 3.00 ERA (2nd) 1.29 WHIP (5th)
Top-30 prospects: RHP Ian Anderson (2), OF Drew Waters (7), OF Cristian Pache (8), LHP Kyle Muller (11), LHP Joey Wentz (12), RHP Patrick Weigel (13), 3B CJ Alexander (18), RHP Huascar Ynoa (19), LHP Tucker Davidson (21), SS Ray-Patrick Didder (30)

St. Lucie Mets
18-15 (4th in FSL South)
Offense: 136 R (4th) .670 OPS (5th)
Pitching: 3.78 ERA (9th) 1.33 WHIP (9th)
Top-30 prospects: OF Desmond Lindsay (11), RHP Jordan Humphreys (16), 2B Carlos Cortes (19), RHP Tony Dibrell (24), LHP Kevin Smith (30)

Clinton LumberKings (Miami)
17-16 (4th in MWL West)
Offense: 139 R (6th) .678 OPS (7th)
Pitching: 3.14 ERA (4th) 1.25 WHIP (4th)
Top-30 prospects: OF Connor Scott (6), C Will Banfield (10), IF Christopher Torres (28)

Daily news and links

Baseball America subscribers can read its latest mock draft.

MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo also published a mock draft.