Rays prospects and minor leagues: Schnell makes Bowling Green debut

Nick Schnell has had a bit of a stop-and-start beginning to his pro career after being drafted with the No. 32 pick last year. Injuries — including to a wrist — have contributed to his limited plate appearances so far, but once he was on the field this season, he had been pretty good. His .865 OPS was significantly higher than the Appalachian League average of .724. At 30.7%, he could cut down on his strikeout rate, but perhaps that’ll happen with better health.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (68-56)

Durham allowed seven unanswered runs in a 9-2 loss to Buffalo. After a couple strong outings, Anthony Banda was less effective Saturday. In addition to allowing two inherited runners from Luis Santos to score, he gave up two runs to start the Bisons’ run a half inning after Kean Wong’s solo home run tied the game at two. He finished with four runs allowed in 3 ²⁄₃ innings.

1B Nate Lowe: 0-for-3, 1 BB, 1 K (.927)
2B Kean Wong: 2-for-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI (.872)

LHP Anthony Banda: 3 ²⁄₃ IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 3 K

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (36-19)

Montgomery battled for an 8-7 win over Jackson. The Generals took an early 4-0 lead, but the Biscuits scored four in the fourth to tie it, capped by Jim Haley’s three-run homer. Jackson scored the next three runs, but Montgomery again responded with four runs in an inning. Haley started that rally with an RBI single, and the go-ahead run scored on an error. Jason Garcia allowed seven runs — five earned — in five innings.

3B Lucius Fox: 1-for-4, 1 BB (.687)
2B Vidal Brujan: 2-for-4, 1 R, 1 HBP (.740)
SS Taylor Walls: 2-for-4, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 HBP (.796)
LF Jim Haley: 2-for-4, 2 R, 1 HR, 4 RBI (.711)

RHP Jason Garcia: 5 IP, 9 H, 7 R (5 ER), 4 BB, 7 K (4.00)

Class A-Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (41-17)

Tobias Myers had another solid outing in Charlotte’s 8-1 win over St. Lucie. For the third straight outing, he pitched five innings and allowed one or fewer runs. Charlotte jumped out to an early lead on Ronaldo Hernandez’s RBI double in the first, and it blew the game open with four runs in the sixth and two in the seventh. With the win, the Stone Crabs inched closer toward clinching a playoff berth, and they set a franchise record for second-half wins.

3B Joey Wendle: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 SB
2B Brandon Lowe: 0-for-3, 1 BB
SS Wander Franco: 1-for-4, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 CS (.864)
DH Ronaldo Hernandez: 2-for-5, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI (.700)
RF Moises Gomez: 1-for-4, 1 R (.702)
LF Garrett Whitley: 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 1 BB (.765)

RHP Tobias Myers: 5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K (2.47)

Charlotte’s site offers this recap.

Class-A Bowling Green Hot Rods (32-22)

Bowling Green was edged by Fort Wayne, 3-2. Grant Witherspoon’s RBI double and Osmy Gregorio’s sacrifice fly in the third gave the Hot Rods a 2-1 lead, but they only had three hits the rest of the game. In 5 ²⁄₃ innings, Easton McGee was charged with three runs in 5 ²⁄₃ innings.

RF Ruben Cardenas: 1-for-3, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 CS (.793)
CF Nick Schnell: 1-for-4, 3 K (.500)
SS Ford Proctor: 0-for-1, 3 BB, 1 K (.790)

RHP Easton McGee: 5 ²⁄₃ IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K (3.70)

Bowling Green’s site offers this recap.

Short-Season Hudson Valley Renegades (36-25)

Hudson Valley dropped a rain-shortened game to Staten Island, 4-3. In the eighth, K.V. Edwards homered, and another run scored on an error to cut the Renegades’ deficit to one. However, inclement weather kept them from batting again. Rodolfo Sanchez allowed two runs in 4 ²⁄₃ innings.

SS Greg Jones: 1-for-4, 1 SB (.878)
LF K.V. Edwards: 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI (.635)
C Jordyn Muffley: 1-for-3, 2 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI (.422)

RHP Rodolfo Sanchez: 4 ²⁄₃ IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K (3.51)

Rookie Princeton Rays (26-30)

Princeton fell to Bristol, 7-2. When Jhosner Vargas singled in the Rays’ first run of the game in the sixth, they already trailed by six. No Princeton pitcher threw more than two innings, led by starter Seth Johnson, who was charged with an unearned run.

DH Diego Infante: 1-for-4 (.845)

RHP Seth Johnson: 2 IP, 2 H, 1 R (0 ER), 1 BB, 1 K (7.20)

Rookie Gulf Coast League Rays (19-23)

The GCL Rays were on the wrong end of a big comeback in an 11-5 loss to the GCL Braves in Game 1 of their doubleheader. After the Rays scored in the seventh and eighth to take a 5-3 lead, the Braves piled up eight runs in the ninth, including three with two outs. Wilfry Urena was charged with all eight runs. Emilio Alfonzo started and threw four scoreless innings.

Game 2 didn’t start any better than Game 1 ended, resulting in a 5-2 GCL Rays loss. The Braves continued their momentum from the first game and scored all five of their runs in the first. Victor Munoz was charged with all of them and recorded just one out.

RF Niko Hulsizer (1): 0-for-2, 1 RBI, 1 BB
1B Freddvil Chevez (1): 3-for-5, 2 K (.823)
CF Shane Sasaki (2): 0-for-3, 1 K (.255)

LHP Ryan Sherriff (1): 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R (0 ER), 0 BB, 1 K
RHP Emilio Alfonzo (1): 4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 5 BB, 8 K (3.76)
RHP Victor Munoz (2): one-third IP, 1 H, 5 R (2 ER), 2 BB, 0 K (4.34)
RHP Carlos Garcia (2): 3 ²⁄₃ IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K (1.29)
RHP Audry Lugo (2): 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K (2.95)

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

Durham @ Buffalo 1:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
TBA vs. Conor Fisk (5-6, 4.90)

Montgomery vs. Biloxi 6:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
TBA vs. Dylan File (8-1, 2.40)

Charlotte vs. St. Lucie 12:30 p.m. ET (radio stream)
Michael Plassmeyer (6-2, 2.26) vs. TBA

Bowling Green @ Fort Wayne 3:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
TBA vs. Ryan Weathers (3-5, 3.59)

Hudson Valley vs. Staten Island 4:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
TBA vs. TBA

Princeton vs. Elizabethton 5 p.m. ET (radio stream)
TBA vs. Ben Gross (3-2, 4.68)

The GCL Rays are off.

Completion of suspended game.

*Listed as TBA on milb.com

Scouting the opposition

Buffalo Bisons (Toronto)
64-60 (2nd in IL North)
Offense: 574 R (12th) .774 OPS (9th)
Pitching: 4.85 ERA (8th) 1.42 WHIP (6th)
Top-30 prospects: LHP Anthony Kay (7), OF Anthony Alford (13), RHP T.J. Zeuch (24)

Biloxi Shuckers (Milwaukee)
35-19
Offense: 501 R (4th) .700 OPS (4th)
Pitching: 3.20 ERA (4th) 1.14 WHIP (1st)
Top-30 prospects: RHP Drew Rasmussen (12), RHP Dylan File (28), C Alexander Alvarez, 3B Patrick Leonard

St. Lucie Mets
35-22 (2nd in FSL South)
Offense: 480 R (3rd) .671 OPS (6th)
Pitching: 3.27 ERA (3rd) 1.28 WHIP (8th)
Top-30 prospects: LHP Thomas Szapucki (9), OF Desmond Lindsay (11), RHP Dedniel Nunez (15), RHP Jordan Humphreys (16), 2B Carlos Cortes (19), 1B Jeremy Vasquez (30)

Fort Wayne TinCaps (San Diego)
23-31 (T-6th in MWL East)
Offense: 509 R (7th) .683 OPS (8th)
Pitching: 4.11 ERA (11th) 1.29 WHIP (8th)
Top-30 prospects: SS CJ Abrams (6), LHP Ryan Weathers (13), 2B Tucupita Marcano (27)

Staten Island Yankees
33-28 (T-3rd in NYPL McNamara)
Offense: 233 R (3rd) .680 OPS (2nd)
Pitching: 3.22 ERA (5th) 1.11 WHIP (3rd)
Top-30 prospects: OF Everson Pereira (3), IF Josh Smith (23)

Elizabethton Twins
27-29 (4th in AL West)
Offense: 291 R (2nd) .776 OPS (1st)
Pitching: 4.38 ERA (4th) 1.41 WHIP (5th)
Top-30 prospects: OF Matt Wallner (11)

Daily news and links

The FanGraphs prospect team made some recent changes to their rankings.