Rays prospects and minor leagues: Sullivan hits for cycle in Biscuits win

In the Midwest League, eight Hot Rods were named to the All-Star Game. Wander Franco, Chris Betts, and Roberto Alvarez are starters, and Grant Witherspoon will be a reserve. Pitchers Shane McClanahan, Easton McGee, Caleb Sampen, and Alan Strong will join them.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (34-25)

A couple big innings sunk Durham in a 7-2 loss to Norfolk. Joey Rickard was a culprit again, first hitting a three-run homer that gave the Tides a 3-1 lead in the fourth. He then hit an RBI single in the four-run eighth. Arturo Reyes allowed three runs in seven innings, but Colin Poche’s streak of six straight scoreless appearances ended.

1B Nate Lowe: 0-for-3, 1 BB, 2 K (.834)
LF Nick Solak: 1-for-2, 2 BB (.880)
DH Brendan McKay: 0-for-3, 1 BB, 1 K (.708)
3B Emilio Bonifaco: 2-for-3, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 CS (.687)
CF Jake Smolinski: 3-for-4, 1 K (.771)
C Mac James: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 K (.562)

RHP Arturo Reyes: 7 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 3 K (3.20)
LHP Colin Poche: 1 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 1 K (6.26)

Durham’s site offers this recap.

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (35-23)

Brett Sullivan hit for the cycle in Montgomery’s 5-1 win over Tennessee. In the second, he singled and scored. In the third, he hit an RBI double. In the sixth, he tripled and scored, and in the eighth, he homered. Kenny Rosenberg was good again, striking out nine and only allowing a run in six innings.

CF Josh Lowe: 1-for-4 (.756)
RF Jesus Sanchez: 1-for-3, 1 BB (.805)
SS Lucius Fox: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 K (.660)
LF Brett Sullivan: 4-for-4, 3 R, 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 2 RBI (.751)

LHP Kenny Rosenberg: 6 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 9 K (2.56)

Class A-Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (31-28)

Joe Ryan was great again in Charlotte’s 2-0 win over Dunedin. For his second straight start, he held the opponent off the scoreboard, this time striking out eight in 5 ¹⁄₃ innings. He has eight strikeouts in four straight starts. Taylor Walls gave him an early run with an RBI single in the first, and Michael Perez drove in an insurance run in the eighth.

DH Michael Perez: 2-for-4, 1 RBI, 1 K
SS Taylor Walls: 2-for-4, 1 RBI, 1 CS (.765)
C Ronaldo Hernandez: 0-for-4, 2 K (.649)
LF Moises Gomez: 0-for-4, 2 K (.691)
RF Garrett Whitley: 1-for-4, 1 K (.733)
2B Zach Rutherford: 3-for-4, 1 2B, 1 K (.510)

RHP Joe Ryan: 5 ¹⁄₃ IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 8 K (2.33)

Charlotte’s site offers this recap.

Class-A Bowling Green Hot Rods (34-25)

Shane McClanahan was good, but he didn’t get a lot of support in a 2-1 loss to South Bend. The lefty allowed two early runs, but he struck out six in five innings and only issued one walk. The Hot Rods had just four hits, including Wander Franco’s RBI single in the ninth.

SS Wander Franco: 2-for-4, 1 RBI (.918)

LHP Shane McClanahan: 5 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K (3.40)

Bowling Green’s site offers this recap.

CLICK HERE FOR ALL BOX SCORES

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

Durham @ Gwinnett 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
TBA vs. Kolby Allard (4-3, 4.58)

Montgomery vs. Tennessee 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
Josh Fleming (5-3, 3.48) vs. TBA

Charlotte @ Dunedin 1 p.m. ET (radio stream)
Tobias Myers (5-1, 2.83) vs. Turner Larkins (4-3, 2.63)

Bowling Green @ South Bend 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
TBA vs. Riley Thompson (3-3, 2.45)

*Listed as TBA on milb.com

Scouting the opposition

Gwinnett Stripers (Atlanta)
34-25 (T-1st in IL South)
Offense: 339 R (1st) .844 OPS (2nd)
Pitching: 4.18 ERA (1st) 1.32 WHIP (1st)
Top-30 prospects: RHP Kyle Wright (4), RHP Bryse Wilson (6), LHP Luiz Gohara (10), RHP Patrick Weigel (13), LHP Kolby Allard (14), RHP Huascar Ynoa (19), RHP Chad Sobotka (22), C Alex Jackson (23), RHP Wes Parsons (24)

Tennessee Smokies (Cubs)
28-30 (4th in SL North)
Offense: 228 R (3rd) .687 OPS (4th)
Pitching: 4.21 ERA (10th) 1.30 WHIP (7th)
Top-30 prospects: SS Nico Hoerner (1), RHP Cory Abbott (8), LHP Justin Steele (9), RHP Oscar De La Cruz (21), RHP Thomas Hatch (22), 1B Jared Young (24), C Jhonny Pereda (26), RHP Keegan Thompson (29)

Dunedin Blue Jays
35-23 (1st in FSL North)
Offense: 249 R (1st) .706 OPS (2nd)
Pitching: 3.01 ERA (3rd) 1.21 WHIP (4th)
Top-30 prospects: OF Ryan Noda (14), OF Cal Stevenson (16), SS Logan Warmoth (25)

South Bend Cubs
32-25 (4th in MWL East)
Offense: 219 R (14th) .683 OPS (9th)
Pitching: 3.76 ERA (7th) 1.33 WHIP (8th)
Top-30 prospects: LHP Brailyn Marquez (3), OF Cole Roederer (4), OF Brennen Davis (5), OF Nelson Velazquez (13), RHP Jose Albertos (15), OF Edmond Americaan (16), RHP Riley Thompson (20)

Daily news and links

The FanGraphs prospect team had quite a bit of coverage, first with written thoughts on each team’s Day 1 draft and a podcast with thoughts on each team.