Rays prospects and minor leagues: Padlo stays hot in Biscuits win

Anyone who reads the comments here every day knows I’m not the first person who’s made this observation, but Kevin Padlo has been swinging a hot bat for a while now. Through 18 games, he had a .521 OPS. Now, he’s batting .250/.386/.520. His .906 OPS is second in the Southern League, and he’s still a little younger than the average player in the league.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (42-27)

A pair of home runs from Rays great Erik Kratz sunk Durham in its 7-3 loss to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The RailRiders scored three times in the second, but Jake Cronenworth’s two-run homer in the third cut that lead to one. Over the next few innings, Kratz’s two homers extended the Bulls’ deficit to five runs. Cole Sulser opened and was charged with three runs in 1 ¹⁄₃ innings, and Ricardo Pinto struck out five and allowed a run in 4 ¹⁄₃ innings.

1B Nate Lowe: 1-for-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K (.871)
RF Joe McCarthy: 0-for-5, 3 K (.626)
2B Jake Cronenworth: 2-for-5, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI (1.009)
SS Kean Wong: 2-for-4, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 K (.950)
DH Michael Perez: 1-for-2, 1 2B, 3 BB, 1 K (1.153)
3B Emilio Bonifacio: 2-for-4, 2 R, 2 2B, 2 K (.773)

RHP Ricardo Pinto: 4 ¹⁄₃ IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K (2.82)

Durham’s site offers this recap.

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (44-26)

Montgomery closed with three unanswered runs in a 3-2 win over Chattanooga. Lucius Fox’s RBI single in the sixth cut the Biscuits’ deficit to 2-1. In the eighth, Kevin Padlo and Tristan Gray hit back-to-back homers to give them their first lead. Josh Fleming allowed a run in two innings, and Brian Shaffer allowed a run in five innings.

CF Josh Lowe: 0-for-3, 1 BB, 1 SB (.723)
DH Jesus Sanchez: 0-for-3, 1 R, 1 BB (.809)
SS Lucius Fox: 2-for-4, 1 RBI, 1 SB (.718)
3B Kevin Padlo: 2-for-3, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 BB (.906)
1B Tristan Gray: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI (.691)

RHP Brian Shaffer: 5 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K (2.45)
LHP Matt Krook: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K (4.45)

Class A-Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (35-31)

Charlotte is at the All-Star break.

Class-A Bowling Green Hot Rods (39-31)

Bowling Green needed more offense in its 2-1 loss to Lansing. The Hot Rods had just three hits, including Ford Proctor’s RBI single in the fifth. No Bowling Green pitcher threw more than two innings. Caleb Sampen started and struck out two in two frames.

3B Ford Proctor: 1-for-2, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K (.716)

RHP Caleb Sampen: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K (3.49)

Bowling Green’s site offers this recap.

Short-Season Hudson Valley Renegades (1-2)

Hudson Valley allowed five unanswered runs in a 5-2 loss to Lowell. Luis Trevino hit an RBI single in the second, and Garrett Hiott hit one in the fifth. However, the Renegades only had two more hits the rest of the game. Rodolfo Sanchez struck out nine in 4 ²⁄₃ scoreless innings, only giving up two singles and a walk.

3B Carlos Vargas: 1-for-4 (.385)

RHP Rodolfo Sanchez: 4 ²⁄₃ IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 9 K (0.00)

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

Durham is off.

Montgomery is at the All-Star break.

Charlotte @ Fort Myers 7 p.m. ET (radio stream)
TBA vs. TBA

Bowling Green is at the All-Star break.

Hudson Valley vs. Lowell 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
TBA vs. TBA

*Listed as TBA on milb.com

Scouting the opposition

Fort Myers Miracle (Minnesota)
39-27
Offense: 258 R (8th) .697 OPS (3rd)
Pitching: 3.05 ERA (3rd) 1.18 WHIP (1st)
Top-30 prospects: SS Royce Lewis (1), OF Trevor Larnach (5), RHP Jhoan Duran (7), RHP Blayne Enlow (8), C Ryan Jeffers (9), IF Jose Miranda (13), OF Akil Baddoo (19), RHP Jordan Balazovic (20), 2B Michael Helman (27), OF Aaron Whitefield (28)

Lowell Spinners (Boston)
2-1 (2nd in NYPL Stedler)
Offense: Will update next series
Pitching: Will update next series
Top-30 prospects: SS Antoni Flores (9), OF Nick Decker (16), 3B Nicholas Northcut (19)

Daily news and links

I was out most of the day and did not spend time searching for links. If you see anything worth sharing, please post it in the comments. Thanks!