Rays prospects and minor leagues: Baz set for Durham debut

This was not particularly surprising. It was only 32 ²⁄₃ innings, but with a 40.8 % strikeout rate and 1.7% walk rate, it felt like he had mastered Double A. His strikeout rate ranks eighth among pitchers with 30-plus innings, and his walk rate is second.

It wasn’t all bad for Montgomery, though. Xavier Edwards made his 2021 debut. All five of his games were at second base.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (24-11, T-1st out of 7)

Durham hangs on with 7-run 4th inning
Franco homers in another big 4th inning
Lowe hits walk-off home run
Old friend Beckham beats Durham
Lukes’ homers back strong Patino start
Bats silent in 1-0 loss

Wander Franco: 6-for-21, 3 R, 1 2B, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 2 BB, 3 K, 0-for-1 SB (.933)
Vidal Brujan: 3-for-19, 2 R, 3 2B, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 2 K, 1-for-1 SB (.887)
Josh Lowe: 6-for-19, 5 R, 3 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 3 BB, 5 K, 2-for-2 SB (1.009)
Kevin Padlo: 3-for-18, 4 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 8 K (.987)

Luis Patino: 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K (4.35)
Joe Ryan: 4 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K (4.21)
Brent Honeywell: 2 ¹⁄₃ IP, 2 H, 3 R (0 ER), 0 BB, 1 K (0.00)
Drew Rasmussen: 3 ¹⁄₃ IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K (0.00)

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (16-19, 3rd out of 4)

Whitley hits for cycle as hot start continues
Baz faces 15, retires 15
Plassmeyer raises stock with 5 scoreless innings
Biscuits fall to Battenfield brother
Pinto hits walk-off home run
Extra innings get out of hand in loss

Xavier Edwards: 6-for-20, 1 R, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 3 BB, 1 K, 0-for-1 SB (.741)
Moises Gomez: 2-for-16, 5 R, 1 RBI, 3 BB, 5 K, 1-for-1 SB (.604)
Garrett Whitley: 10-for-23, 7 R, 3 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, 5 RBI, 2 BB, 6 K, 0-for-1 SB (1.008)

Shane Baz: 5 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K (2.48)
Tommy Romero: 5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K (1.96)
Alex Valverde: 6 ²⁄₃ IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 8 K (4.35)

High-A Bowling Green Hot Rods (24-12, 1st out of 7)

Hot Rods stall late
Qsar homers twice in win
Cardenas, Hulsizer stay hot
Hot Rods score 5 unanswered runs in win
Bowling Green edges Aberdeen in extra innings
Hulsizer slugs 2 homers in slugfest win

Greg Jones: 6-for-23, 5 R, 3 HR, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 5 K, 1-for-1 SB (.935)
Blake Hunt: 4-for-20, 3 R, 1 RBI, 2 BB, 7 K (.798)
Pedro Martinez: 4-for-18, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 7 K, 0-for-1 SB (.635)
Niko Hulsizer: 9-for-17, 10 R, 1 2B, 4 HR, 11 RBI, 6 BB, 5 K, 1-for-1 SB (1.068)

Peyton Battenfield: 5 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K (1.45)
Jacob Lopez: 3 ²⁄₃ IP, 1 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 7 K (2.96)
Mikey York: 2 ¹⁄₃ IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K (6.17)

Low-A Charleston RiverDogs (21-13, 1st out of 4)

Charleston limits Columbia to 2 hits in win
Wilcox sharp again
Charleston limits Columbia to 2 hits in win
Charleston limits Columbia to 2 hits in win

Nick Schnell: 4-for-13, 3 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 3 BB, 3 K, 1-for-1 SB (.709)
Heriberto Hernandez: 0-for-10, 1 R, 3 BB, 5 K (.807)
Alexander Ovalles: 6-for-13, 3 R, 1 2B, 1 3B, 3 RBI, 2 BB, 2 K (.721)

Cole Wilcox: 5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K (1.69)
Seth Johnson: 5 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K (3.00)
Taj Bradley: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K (3.28)
John Doxakis: 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K (2.43)

Stats are from Baseball Reference.

This week’s games

Durham

Tuesday, June 15 @ Norfolk 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Wednesday, June 16 @ Norfolk 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Thursday, June 17 @ Norfolk 12:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Friday, June 18 @ Norfolk 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Saturday, June 19 @ Norfolk 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Sunday, June 20 @ Norfolk 1:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)

Montgomery

Tuesday, June 15 @ Pensacola 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Wednesday, June 16 @ Pensacola 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Thursday, June 17 @ Pensacola 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Friday, June 18 @ Pensacola 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Saturday, June 19 @ Pensacola 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Sunday, June 20 @ Pensacola 5 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)

Bowling Green

Tuesday, June 15 @ Rome 7 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Wednesday, June 16 @ Rome 1 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Thursday, June 17 @ Rome 7:00 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Friday, June 18 @ Rome 7:00 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Saturday, June 19 @ Rome 6 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Sunday, June 20 @ Rome 2 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)

Charleston

Tuesday, June 15 @ Myrtle Beach 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Wednesday, June 16 @ Myrtle Beach 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Thursday, June 17 @ Myrtle Beach 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Friday, June 18 @ Myrtle Beach 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Saturday, June 19 @ Myrtle Beach 6:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Sunday, June 20 @ Myrtle Beach 6:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)

Scouting the opposition

Norfolk Tides (Baltimore)
13-20 (6th out of 7)
Offense: 154 R (13th out of 20) .724 OPS (11th out of 20)
Pitching: 5.15 ERA (16th out of 20) 1.48 WHIP (16th out of 20)
Top-30 prospects: OF Yusniel Diaz (7), RHP Kyle Bradish (12), 2B Jahmai Jones (17), LHP Zac Lowther (19), LHP Alex Wells (20), OF Ryan McKenna (25)

Pensacola Blue Wahoos (Miami)
21-15 (1st out of 4)
Offense: 135 R (8th out of 8) .662 OPS (7th out of 8)
Pitching: 3.65 ERA (2nd out of 8) 1.16 WHIP (1st out of 8)
Top-30 prospects: OF JJ Bleday (2), RHP Max Meyer (3), OF Peyton Burdick (16), OF Jerar Encarnacion (18), LHP Jake Eder (30)

Rome Braves
19-17 (T-3rd out of 7)
Offense: 155 R (6th out of 12) .665 OPS (8th out of 12)
Pitching: 3.88 ERA (4th out of 12) 1.44 WHIP (11th out of 12)
Top-30 prospects: LHP Jared Shuster (9), OF Michael Harris (11), RHP Bryce Elder (16), 1B Bryce Ball (18), RHP Freddy Tarnok (20), OF Jesse Franklin (24), RHP Kasey Kalich (25), C Logan Brown (28), SS Beau Philip (29)

Myrtle Beach Pelicans (Cubs)
17-18 (3rd out of 4)
Offense: 150 R (T-9th out of 12) .619 OPS (11th out of 12)
Pitching: 3.91 ERA (6th out of 12) 1.35 WHIP (6th out of 12)
Top-30 prospects: SS Ed Howard (5), IF Yeison Santana (17), SS Luis Verdugo (18), OF Jordan Nwogu (24), OF Yohendrick Pinango (26)