Rays prospects and minor leagues: Brujan leads Bulls to strong start

Again, this is the format I have in mind now, but if there are things you’d like to see changed, let me know, and I’ll evaluate the suggestions.

Rays affiliates got off to a fast start in their return to action. It took until the third day of the season for one of them to lose.

After one week, there are some positional assignments worth looking at:

Wander Franco: 3 games at SS, 2 games at 2B
Vidal Brujan: 2 games at 2B, 2 games at LF, 1 game at CF, 1 game at LF
Heriberto Hernandez: 4 games at LF, 1 game at RF

Stats in parenthesis are season-long OPS and ERA.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (5-1, T-1st out of 7)

Franco triples in Durham debut
Franco, Brujan homers back Ryan
Bulls defeat Liberatore
Lowe, Padlo each homer twice
Franco, Brujan lead home run barrage
Despite Lowe homer, Bulls fall short of sweep

Ji-Man Choi: 6-for-19, 4 R, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 3 BB, 5 K
Wander Franco: 7-for-23, 4 R, 1 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 2 BB, 4 K, 1/1 SB (1.080)
Vidal Brujan: 10-for-22, 8 R, 4 HR, 9 RBI, 6 BB, 3 K, 1/2 SB (1.571)
Brendan McKay: 1-for-8, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K (.347)
Taylor Walls: 7-for-18, 5 R, 2 RBI, 6 BB, 6 K, 1/2 SB (.931)
Josh Lowe: 6-for-23, 4 R, 2 2B, 3 HR, 8 RBI, 7 K (1.000)
Kevin Padlo: 7-for-26, 6 R, 4 HR, 7 RBI, 1 BB, 11 K (1.027)

Joe Ryan: 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 9 K (0.00)
Brent Honeywell: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K (0.00)
Trevor Richards: 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K (0.00)
Ryan Sherriff: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 4 K (0.00)

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (2-3, 2nd out of 4)

Biscuits survive no-hit bid in win
Rays affiliate finally loses game on third day of season
Biscuits homer four times in slugfest loss
Biscuits edged by Smokies
Biscuits rally with big 9th inning

Moises Gomez: 4-for-21, 4 R, 2 2B, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 8 K (.832)
Rene Pinto: 6-for-19, 5 R, 2 2B, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 2 BB, 5 K (.960)

Shane Baz: 4 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K (0.00)
Tobias Myers: 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K (0.00)

High-A Bowling Green Hot Rods (4-2, T-1st out of 7)

Fast start lifts Hot Rods to season-opening win
Ostberg homers twice in win
Hot Rods sweep doubleheader with blowout win
Murray, two relievers shut out Greenville
Hot Rods crushed by Drive
Big innings cost Bowling Green

Blake Hunt: 3-for-13, 3 R, 1 2B, 3 RBI, 4 BB, 8 K (.719)
Pedro Martinez: 2-for-18, 1 BB, 6 K, 1/4 SB (.269)
Erik Ostberg: 6-for-11, 3 R, 1 2B, 3 HR, 8 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K (2.038)

Peyton Battenfield: 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K (0.00)
Chris Gau: 3 ²⁄₃ IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K (0.00)

Low-A Charleston RiverDogs (4-2, 1st out of 4)

Charleston wins in return to organization
Wilcox impresses in pro debut
Brecht throws four scoreless in win
Hernandez double, homer not enough
Hernandez homer not enough again
Doxakis, RiverDogs earn series win

Alika Williams: 5-for-21, 2 R, 2 2B, 1 BB, 4 K, 0/1 SB (.606)
Nick Schnell: 3-for-19, 4 R, 1 2B, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 3 BB, 6 K, 2/2 SB (.799)
Heriberto Hernandez: 5-for-16, 5 R, 1 2B, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 5 BB, 5 K, 2/2 SB (1.250)
Logan Driscoll: 8-for-14, 2 R, 3 2B, 4 RBI, 2 BB, 4 K (1.411)

Cole Wilcox: 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K (0.00)
Seth Johnson: 3 IP, 4 H, 2 R (1 ER), 3 BB, 3 K (3.00)
Taj Bradley: 2 ¹⁄₃ IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, 3 K (19.29)
John Doxakis: 7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 13 K (0.00)
Colby White: 4 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 10 K (0.00)

Stats are courteous of Baseball Reference. Hopefully the issue where High-A affiliate stats don’t show up with the rest of the players is resolved by next week.

This week’s games

Durham

Tuesday, May 11 vs. Jacksonville 6:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Wednesday, May 12 vs. Jacksonville 1:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Thursday, May 13 vs. Jacksonville 6:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Friday, May 14 vs. Jacksonville 6:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Saturday, May 15 vs. Jacksonville 6:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Sunday, May 16 vs. Jacksonville 5:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)

Montgomery

Tuesday, May 11 vs. Chattanooga 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Wednesday, May 12 vs. Chattanooga 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Thursday, May 13 vs. Chattanooga 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Friday, May 14 vs. Chattanooga 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Saturday, May 15 vs. Chattanooga 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Sunday, May 16 vs. Chattanooga 4:33 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)

Bowling Green

Tuesday, May 11 vs. Asheville 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Wednesday, May 12 vs. Asheville 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Thursday, May 13 vs. Asheville 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Friday, May 14 vs. Asheville 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Saturday, May 15 vs. Asheville 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Sunday, May 16 vs. Asheville 3:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)

Charleston

Tuesday, May 11 @ Columbia 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Wednesday, May 12 @ Columbia 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Thursday, May 13 @ Columbia 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Friday, May 14 @ Columbia 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Saturday, May 15 @ Columbia 6:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Sunday, May 16 @ Columbia 5:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)

Scouting the opposition

Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (Miami)
4-2 (3rd out of 7)
Offense: 44 R (4th out of 20) .925 OPS (5th out of 20)
Pitching: 4.09 ERA (9th out of 20) 1.24 WHIP (6th out of 20)
Top-30 prospects: RHP Sixto Sanchez (1), RHP Edwar Cabrera (5), 1B Lewin Diaz (7), OF Jesus Sanchez (8), LHP Braxton Garrett (9), SS Jose Devers (10), OF Monte Harrison (11), RHP Nick Neidert (15), LHP Daniel Castano (27)

Chattanooga Lookouts (Cincinnati)
4-2 (2nd out of 4)
Offense: 42 R (1st out of 8) .934 OPS (2nd out of 8)
Pitching: 4.94 ERA (6th out of 8) 1.27 WHIP (3rd out of 8)
Top-30 prospects: SS Jose Garcia (1), RHP Hunter Greene (5), LHP Nick Lodolo (7), RHP Jared Solomon (25)

Asheville Tourists (Houston)
3-2 (3rd out of 7)
Offense: 44 R (2nd out of 12) .814 OPS (4th out of 12)
Pitching: 6.00 ERA (9th out of 12) 1.78 WHIP (12th out of 12)
Top-30 prospects: C Korey Lee (7), OF Colin Barber (9), RHP Tyler Brown (17), SS Freudis Nova (19), RHP Jose Alberto Rivera (27), RHP Blair Henley (30)

Columbia Fireflies (Kansas City)
3-3 (T-2nd out of 4)
Offense: 29 R (6th out of 12) .690 OPS (10th out of 12)
Pitching: 4.91 ERA (9th out of 12) 1.43 WHIP (6th out of 12)
Top-30 prospects: RHP Ben Hernandez (13), OF Darryl Collins (29)