Rays prospects and minor leagues: Franco hits 1st Charlotte homer

A big promotion was reported Thursday night. Another one didn’t receive as much coverage. Vidal Brujan was quietly promoted from Class A-Advanced Charlotte to Double-A Montgomery. Dating back to last season, he only had 71 games with Charlotte, but they were very good. He batted .310/.385/.456 with 36 steals in 45 attempts.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (48-31)

Durham erased a 5-0 deficit, but it still fell short in a 7-6 loss to Norfolk. The Tides scored five in the top of the first, but Jake Smolinski’s three-run homer in the bottom half of the inning cut the Bulls’ deficit to two. They tied the game in the second, but they never took the lead. Ricardo Pinto allowed six runs in five innings.

2B Nick Solak: 0-for-3, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 HBP (.889)
1B Nate Lowe: 1-for-3, 2 BB, 2 K (.888)
DH Jake Smolinski: 4-for-5, 2 R, 1 2B, 2 HR, 4 RBI (.848)

RHP Ricardo Pinto: 5 IP, 12 H, 6 ER, 1 BB, 1 K (3.46)
RHP Jake Faria: 4 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K (4.59)

Durham’s site offers this recap.

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (4-4)

Paul Campbell and two relievers outdueled Jacksonville in a 1-0 win over the Jumbo Shrimp. He struck out four and didn’t walk any in five innings, and Blake Bivens and Phoenix Sanders finished the game with two innings apiece. Tristan Gray’s RBI double in the fifth decided the game.

2B Vidal Brujan: 0-for-4, 2 K (.000)
SS Taylor Walls: 0-for-3, 2 K (.282)
CF Josh Lowe: 0-for-3, 3 K (.745)
RF Jesus Sanchez: 1-for-3, 1 K (.769)

RHP Paul Campbell: 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K (3.00)

Class A-Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (7-3)

Wander Franco and Shane McClanahan teamed up to lead Charlotte to a 2-1 win over Fort Myers. Franco’s first homer in the Florida State League accounted for the Stone Crabs’ only offense, and McClanahan had another effective outing. In seven innings, he struck out three, walked one, and allowed two hits, including a solo home run.

SS Wander Franco: 2-for-5, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI (1.532)
C Ronaldo Hernandez: 0-for-4 (.709)
DH Moises Gomez: 0-for-3, 1 BB, 1 K (.665)
LF Garrett Whitley: 0-for-3, 1 BB, 2 K (.725)
CF Carl Chester: 2-for-4, 1 R, 1 BB (.718)

LHP Shane McClanahan: 7 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K (0.48)

Class-A Bowling Green Hot Rods (4-2)

Bowling Green won the resumption of its suspended game against Great Lakes, 4-3, in 10 innings. Ford Proctor accounted for all of the Hot Rods’ runs in the first nine innings with a homer, sacrifice fly, and single, but the Loons tied the game in the ninth. In the 10th, Proctor moved Osmy Gregorio to third with a groundout, and Seaver Whalen hit a sacrifice fly. Caleb Sampen struck out six and allowed two runs in five innings.

The regularly scheduled game was suspended.

DH Chris Betts: 0-for-3, 1 BB, 2 K (.764)
SS Ford Proctor: 3-for-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI (.764)
2B Kevin Santiago: 1-for-2, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 CS, 1 HBP (.743)

RHP Caleb Sampen: 5 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K (3.50)

Short-Season Hudson Valley Renegades (6-7)

Hudson Valley was edged by Staten Island in 10 innings, 3-2. The Yankees scored once in each of the first two innings, but the Renegades tied the game in the third when Jacson McGowan and Cristhian Pedroza hit RBI singles. However, they only had two hits the rest of the game. Rodolfo Sanchez allowed two runs in five innings.

DH Greg Jones: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 3B, 1 BB, 2 K (.728)

RHP Rodolfo Sanchez: 5 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K (3.14)
LHP Joe LaSorsa: 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K (0.00)

Rookie Princeton Rays (4-5)

Princeton needed more offense in a 5-1 loss to Pulaski. Diego Infante’s solo homer accounted for the Rays’ only offense, and they were already down by five. Starter Jose Lopez allowed two runs in just two-thirds of an inning.

SS Jelfry Marte: 0-for-4, 2 K (.492)
RF Diego Infante: 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K (.944)

LHP Jose Lopez: two-thirds IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 1 K (3.18)

Rookie Gulf Coast League Rays (2-1)

The GCL Rays were off.

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

Durham @ Toledo 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
TBA vs. Tyler Alexander (2-8, 5.86)

Montgomery vs. Jacksonville 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
TBA vs. Edward Cabrera (0-0, -.--)

Charlotte @ Palm Beach 6:30 p.m. ET (radio stream)
TBA vs. TBA

Bowling Green vs. Great Lakes 5:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream) DOUBLEHEADER
TBA vs. TBA
TBA vs. TBA

Completion of suspended game followed by seven-inning game.

Hudson Valley @ Connecticut 7:05 p.m. ET (radio stream)
TBA vs. TBA

Princeton @ Bristol 6:30 p.m. ET (radio stream)
TBA vs. Dante Mendoza (0-0, 0.00)

GCL Rays @ GCL Braves 12 p.m. ET

*Listed as TBA on milb.com

Scouting the opposition

Toledo Mud Hens (Detroit)
35-43 (3rd in IL West)
Offense: 413 R (7th) .776 OPS (7th)
Pitching: 5.07 ERA (9th) 1.44 WHIP (7th)
Top-30 prospects: OF Daz Cameron (5), SS Willi Castro (9), C Jake Rogers (13), LHP Gregory Soto (15), RHP Kyle Funkhouser (16), IF Dawel Lugo (17), RHP Sandy Baez (19), RHP Bryan Garcia (22), LHP Matt Hall (23), OF Jacob Robson (24), OF Danny Woodrow (25), LHP Ryan Carpenter

Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (Miami)
5-3 (T-1st in SL South)
Offense: 227 R (10th) .598 OPS (10th)
Pitching: 3.34 ERA (4th) 1.18 WHIP (2nd)
Top-30 prospects: RHP Sixto Sanchez (1), RHP Jorge Guzman (7), OF Brian Miller (14), RHP Robert Dugger (22), SS Joe Dunand (23), SS Bryson Brigman (26)

Palm Beach Cardinals
3-6 (5th in FSL South)
Offense: 272 R (9th) .661 OPS (7th)
Pitching: 2.94 ERA (1st) 1.20 WHIP (3rd)
Top-30 prospects: 3B Nolan Gorman (4), RHP Griffin Roberts (18), 1B Luken Baker (23), OF Scott Hurst (27)

Great Lakes Loons (Dodgers)
3-3
Offense: 385 R (1st) .733 OPS (1st)
Pitching: 3.91 ERA (11th) 1.30 WHIP (10th)
Top-30 prospects: 3B Miguel Vargas (21), RHP Zach Willeman (22), LHP Robinson Ortiz (23), LHP John Rooney (27), SS Jacob Amaya (30)

Connecticut Tigers
4-9 (4th in NYPL Stedler)
Offense: 49 R (T-7th) .590 OPS (11th)
Pitching: 3.82 ERA (9th) 1.36 WHIP (11th)
Top-30 prospects: None

Bristol Pirates
3-6 (5th in AL West)
Offense: 24 R (10th) .535 OPS (10th)
Pitching: 5.45 ERA (10th) 1.52 WHIP (9th)
Top-30 prospects: RHP Tahnaj Thomas (15), RHP Santiago Florez (30)

GCL Braves
0-3 (6th in GCL South)
Offense: 13 R (12th) .587 OPS (14th)
Pitching: 7.62 ERA (18th) 2.00 WHIP (18th)
Top-30 prospects: OF Michael Harris

Daily news and links

It doesn’t sound like we’re going to have the Grand Junction Chubs in the Pioneer League any time soon.

Baseball America is changing how it covers the July 2 signing period, and Ben Badler explained why.

The Phillies no-hit their own organization this week.