Rays prospects and minor leagues: Jones makes up for lost time with great week

Some of the Rays’ top-30 infielders are off to great starts.

Wander Franco: 1.056 OPS (league average .751)
Vidal Brujan: 1.088 OPS (league average .751)
Greg Jones: 1.571 OPS (league average .687)
Taylor Walls: 1.005 OPS (league average .751)

An exception Pedro Martinez. He’s off to a slow start, but he’s three years younger than the average player in the league. It was an aggressive assignment. Of course, we’re only two weeks into the season.

Alika Williams only played in one game this series, and Brent Honeywell didn’t pitch.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (7-5, 3rd out of 7)

Old friend Sanchez spoils home opener
Bulls drop doubleheader opener
Lowe, Strotman help earn split
Infielders continue hot starts in loss
Franco hits grand slam in lopsided win
Durham drops series to Jacksonville

Ji-Man Choi: 0-for-4, 2 K
Wander Franco: 9-for-25, 6 R, 2 2B, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 3 BB, 1 K, 0-for-1 SB (1.056)
Vidal Brujan: 6-for-29, 4 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 3 BB, 7 K, 2-for-2 SB (1.088)
Brendan McKay: 1-for-14, 2 BB, 6 K (.291)
Taylor Walls: 7-for-22, 4 R, 1 2B, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 5 BB, 9 K (1.005)
Josh Lowe: 6-for-13, 3 R, 2 2B, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K, 2-for-2 SB (1.081)

Joe Ryan: 7 ²⁄₃ IP, 9 H, 10 ER, 5 BB, 9 K (7.11)
Brian Moran: 4 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K (4.26)
Trevor Richards: 2 ¹⁄₃ IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K (0.00)

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (4-7, 3rd out of 4)

Baz outdueled by Greene
Romero strikes out 8 in 4 scoreless innings
Biscuits win with 4-run, 9th-inning rally
Biscuits lose lead late
Biscuits lose, 7-2
Baz strikes out 7 more in loss

Moises Gomez: 2-for-20, 1 R, 2 BB, 8 K (.564)
Miles Mastrobuoni: 10-for-24, 3 R, 5 2B, 3 RBI, 4 BB, 8 K, 0-for-1 SB (1.029)
Garrett Whitley: 3-for-14, 6 R, 1 2B, 1 3B, 4 BB, 6 K, 1-for-2 SB (.791)

Shane Baz: 8 ²⁄₃ IP, 10 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 13 K (2.13)
Tommy Romero: 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 8 K (1.13)
Simon Rosenblum-Larson: 2 ¹⁄₃ IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K (3.60)

High-A Bowling Green Hot Rods (9-3, 1st out of 7)

Battenfield pitches Hot Rods to win
Jones homers in season debut
Hot Rods’ rally falls short
Hot Rods use 4 pitchers to shut out Tourists
Jones hits walk-off grand slam
Battenfield leads Hot Rods in another shutout win

Greg Jones: 5-for-11, 3 R, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 3 BB, 4 K, 1-for-2 SB (1.571)
Blake Hunt: 5-for-15, 4 R, 2 2B, 1 HR, 2 BB, 7 K (.912)
Pedro Martinez: 6-for-21, 6 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 2 BB, 7 K, 2-for-4 SB (.493)
Grant Witherspoon: 4-for-16, 4 R, 2 2B, 2 HR, 10 RBI, 4 BB, 2 K, 1-for-1 SB (.933)

Peyton Battenfield: 8 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 16 K (0.00)
Evan McKendry: 7 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K (0.84)
Michael Mercado: 4 IP, 1 H, 2 R (1 ER), 1 BB, 6 K (8.53)

Low-A Charleston RiverDogs (7-5, 1st out of 4)

Wilcox throws second scoreless outing
Schnell, Leon homers not nearly enough
Bradley, bullpen shut out Fireflies
Johnson knocked out early in loss
Ovalles homers 3 times, drives in 10
RiverDogs earn series split

Alika Williams: 0-for-4, 2 K (.511)
Nick Schnell: 6-for-20, 5 R, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 4 BB, 10 K, 2-for-2 SB (.835)
Heriberto Hernandez: 6-for-17, 5 R, 3 2B, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 4 BB, 7 K, 1-for-1 SB (1.216)
Alexander Ovalles: 5-for-17, 3 R, 3 HR, 10 RBI, 1 BB, 4 K, 1-for-1 SB (.794)
Curtis Mead: 8-for-19, 4 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 4 K, 0-for-2 SB (.899)

Cole Wilcox: 8 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 K (2.25)
Seth Johnson: one-third IP, 4 H, 5 ER, 4 BB, 0 K (16.20)
Taj Bradley: 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K (7.11)
John Doxakis: 5 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K (0.75)
Trevor Brigden: 4 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 10 K (3.86)

Stats are courteous of Baseball Reference.

This week’s games

Durham

Tuesday, May 18 vs. Charlotte 6:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Wednesday, May 19 vs. Charlotte 6:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Thursday, May 20 vs. Charlotte 6:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Friday, May 21 vs. Charlotte 6:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Saturday, May 22 vs. Charlotte 6:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Sunday, May 23 vs. Charlotte 5:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)

Montgomery

Tuesday, May 18 @ Birmingham 8:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Wednesday, May 19 @ Birmingham 8:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Thursday, May 20 @ Birmingham 8:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Friday, May 21 @ Birmingham 8:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Saturday, May 22 @ Birmingham 7:30 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Sunday, May 23 @ Birmingham 5 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)

Bowling Green

Tuesday, May 18 @ Rome 7 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Wednesday, May 19 @ Rome 7 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Thursday, May 20 @ Rome 7 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Friday, May 21 @ Rome 7 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Saturday, May 22 @ Rome 6 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Sunday, May 23 @ Rome 2 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)

Charleston

Tuesday, May 18 vs. Down East 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Wednesday, May 19 vs. Down East 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Thursday, May 20 vs. Down East 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Friday, May 21 vs. Down East 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Saturday, May 22 vs. Down East 6:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Sunday, May 23 vs. Down East 5:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)

Scouting the opposition

Charlotte Knights (White Sox)
6-6 (5th out of 7)
Offense: 68 R (5th out of 20) .801 OPS (7th out of 20)
Pitching: 5.71 ERA (16th out of 20) 1.79 WHIP (20th out of 20)
Top-30 prospects: RHP Jonathan Stiever (7), OF Luis Gonzalez (11), OF Blake Rutherford (14), RHP Jimmy Lambert (15), 3B Jake Burger (19), RHP Tyler Johnson (30)

Birmingham Barons (White Sox)
9-3 (1st out of 4)
Offense: 79 R (1st out of 8) .944 OPS (1st out of 8)
Pitching: 3.50 ERA (1st out of 8) 1.29 WHIP (4th out of 8)
Top-30 prospects: OF Micker Adolfo (18), RHP Kade McClure (20)

Rome Braves
7-5 (T-2nd out of 7)
Offense: 61 R (6th out of 12) .707 OPS (5th out of 12)
Pitching: 2.92 ERA (1st out of 12) 1.41 WHIP (8th out of 12)
Top-30 prospects: LHP Jared Shuster (9), OF Michael Harris (11), RHP Bryce Elder (16), 1B Bryce Ball (18), OF Jesse Franklin (24), RHP Kasey Kalich (25), C Logan Brown (28), SS Beau Philip (29)

Down East Wood Ducks (Texas)
9-3 (1st out of 4)
Offense: 50 R (9th out of 12) 6.28 OPS (6th out of 12)
Pitching: 2.57 ERA (2nd out of 12) 1.18 WHIP (2nd out of 12)
Top-30 prospects: SS Luisangel Acuna (8), OF Evan Carter (18), RHP Owen White (22)