Rays prospects and minor leagues: Top picks debut in FCL

I am aware the stats are incomplete this week, especially (maybe only?) for pitchers. Shane Baz did pitch, and Taj Bradley had two starts, for starters. For some reason, Baseball Reference didn’t pick up all the results for the last week, including no one in the FCL pitching. Hopefully whatever the problem is gets resolved by next week.

An important report last week came from Marc Topkin: Brendan McKay is likely done for the season due to a flexor strain. That’s roughly two seasons lost for McKay, but hopefully he’s able to make a full recovery to be ready for 2022.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (65-36, 1st out of 7)

Brosseau, Bulls outslug Knights
Honeywell turns in best start in years
Durham bested by Charlotte
Baz dominates in doubleheader opener
Bulls stunned by Knights rally
Kelly rallies Durham to series win

Vidal Brujan: 4-for-21, 3 R, 3 2B, 3 RBI, 2 BB, 5 K, 3-for-4 SB
Josh Lowe: 4-for-18, 5 R, 2 RBI, 3 BB, 8 K, 1-for-1 SB
Taylor Walls: 5-for-20, 4 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 4 BB, 8 K, 2-for-2 SB
Miles Mastrobuoni: 4-for-12, 1 R, 3 BB, 3 K, 0-for-1 SB

Nick Anderson: 1 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
Pete Fairbanks: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
J.P. Feyereisen: 1 ¹⁄₃ IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
David Robertson: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K
Tommy Romero: 5 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 7 K
Brent Honeywell Jr.: 6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (54-47, 2nd out of 4)

Solo home runs sink Biscuits
Montgomery rebounds in win over Birmingham
Bats don’t support Murray
Biscuits edge Barons behind Stevenson’s homer
Bats quiet in loss to Birmingham
Cardenas, Hulsizer power Biscuits to series split

Xavier Edwards: 3-for-20, 1 R, 3 RBI, 2 BB, 5 K
Greg Jones: 4-for-19, 3 R, 1 3B, 2 BB, 8 K, 3-for-3 SB
Blake Hunt: 2-for-9, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 BB, 4 K
Jonathan Aranda: 8-for-23, 1 R, 3 2B, 3 RBI, 4 BB, 3 K
Ruben Cardenas: 7-for-22, 2 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 5 K, 0-for-1 SB

High-A Bowling Green Hot Rods (69-33, 1st out of 7)

Hot Rods waste solid Bradley start
Bowling Green wins on Edwards’ 10th-inning homer
Martinez’s homer the difference in Hot Rods win
Bowling Green falls despite Seymour’s strong start
Bowling Green edged by Rome
Hot Rods waste strong Bradley start

Curtis Mead: 6-for-23, 3 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 5 K
Alika Williams: 4-for-23, 3 R, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 4 K, 1-for-1 SB

Taj Bradley: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K

Low-A Charleston RiverDogs (71-31, 1st out of 4)

RiverDogs drop opener to GreenJackets
Brecht sharp in Charleston win
Gason throws 5 scoreless innings in win
Charleston topped by Augusta
Jimenez solid in RiverDogs debut
Dacosta pitches Charleston to series win

Osleivis Basabe: 8-for-27, 6 R, 2 BB, 5 K, 2-for-2 SB

Florida Complex League Rays (28-13, 1st out of 8)

Luplow dominates FCL competition
Rays’ top picks debut in rout

Jordan Luplow: 4-for-5, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1-for-1 SB
Carson Williams: 1-for-1, 3 R, 1 2B, 3 BB, 1-for-1 SB
Cooper Kinney: 1-for-2, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 K
Ryan Spikes: 1-for-3, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1-for-1 SB

Stats are from Baseball Reference.

This week’s games

Durham

Tuesday, Aug. 31 @ Jacksonville 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Wednesday, Sept. 1 @ Jacksonville 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Thursday, Sept. 2 @ Jacksonville 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Friday, Sept. 3 @ Jacksonville 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Saturday, Sept. 4 @ Jacksonville 6:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Sunday, Sept. 5 @ Jacksonville 6:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)

Montgomery

Tuesday, Aug. 31 vs. Pensacola 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Wednesday, Sept. 1 vs. Pensacola 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Thursday, Sept. 2 vs. Pensacola 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Friday, Sept. 3 vs. Pensacola 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Saturday, Sept. 4 vs. Pensacola 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Sunday, Sept. 5 vs. Pensacola 4:33 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)

Bowling Green

Tuesday, Aug. 31 vs. Hickory 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Wednesday, Sept. 1 vs. Hickory 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Thursday, Sept. 2 vs. Hickory 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Friday, Sept. 3 vs. Hickory 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Saturday, Sept. 4 vs. Hickory 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Sunday, Sept. 5 vs. Hickory 3:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)

Charleston

Tuesday, Aug. 31 @ Columbia 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Wednesday, Sept. 1 @ Columbia 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Thursday, Sept. 2 @ Columbia 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Friday, Sept. 3 @ Columbia 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Saturday, Sept. 4 @ Columbia 6:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Sunday, Sept. 5 @ Columbia 5:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)

Florida Complex League Rays

Tuesday, Aug. 31 @ FCL Pirates Black 12 p.m.
Thursday, Sept. 2 vs. FCL Pirates Black 12 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 3 @ FCL Braves 12 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 4 vs. FCL Braves 10 a.m.
Monday, Sept. 6 vs./@ FCL Red Sox 5 p.m. DOUBLEHEADER

Scouting the opposition

Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (Miami)
58-44 (T-2nd out of 7)
Offense: 462 R (15th out of 20) .728 OPS (13th out of 20)
Pitching: 4.18 ERA (6th out of 20) 1.30 WHIP (5th out of 20)
Top-30 prospects: 1B Lewin Diaz (11), LHP Braxton Garrett (12), OF Monte Harrison (17), RHP Nick Neidert (21), RHP Jordan Holloway (24), C Payton Henry (29)

Pensacola Blue Wahoos (Miami)
50-47 (3rd out of 4)
Offense: 364 R (8th out of 8) .657 OPS (8th out of 8)
Pitching: 3.63 ERA (2nd out of 8) 1.22 WHIP (2nd out of 8)
Top-30 prospects: RHP Max Meyer (2), OF JJ Bleday (10), OF Peyton Burdick (16), OF Griffin Conine (19), OF Jerar Encarnacion (20), RHP Kyle Nicolas (23)

Hickory Crawdads (Texas)
45-54 (T-4th out of 7)
Offense: 558 R (5th out of 12) .749 OPS (6th out of 12)
Pitching: 4.87 ERA (9th out of 12) 1.34 WHIP (7th out of 12)
Top-30 prospects: 2B Ezequiel Duran (5), 2B Trevor Hauver (14), 1B Dustin Harris (19), LHP Avery Weems (20), C David Garcia (26), RHP Justin Slaten (28)

Columbia Fireflies (Kansas City)
47-55 (3rd out of 4)
Offense: 532 R (7th out of 12) .703 OPS (8th out of 12)
Pitching: 4.00 ERA (3rd out of 12) 1.33 WHIP (3rd out of 12)
Top-30 prospects: 2B Peyton Wilson (18), OF Darryl Collins (22)