Rays prospects and minor leagues: Mead off to another strong start

Who were the top players in the organization in April? Charleston’s Dru Baker was probably the best hitter. He batted .435/.552/.717 with three homers and eight steals. He was tied for third in homers and ranked fourth in steals. Among top-30 prospects, Curtis Mead is at it again. He had a 1.040 OPS with 12 extra-base hits in 17 games with as many walks as strikeouts.

On the mound, Taj Bradley’s 3.50 ERA is good compared to the league average of 4.38. He has 19 strikeouts and three walks in 18 innings. Charleston has a pair of pitchers off to a ridiculous start. Patrick Wicklander has 26 strikeouts and one walk in 14 ¹⁄₃ innings. Logan Workman has 26 strikeouts and three walks in 16 ¹⁄₃ innings.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (8-16, 10th out of 10)

Bulls blown out in series opener
Durham can’t climb out of early hole
Boldt’s 3 homers carry Bulls
Liberatore fires 7 scoreless against Durham
Pitching struggles late in loss
Bulls drop series finale

Vidal Brujan: 8-for-19, 4 R, 1 2B, 1 3B, 2 RBI, 3 BB, 3 K, 1-for-4 SB (1.005)
Jonathan Aranda: 9-for-21, 6 R, 2 2B, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 1 BB, 5 K (.822)
Ford Proctor: 3-for-21, 1 R, 1 RBI, 8 K (.574)

Ryan Yarbrough: 2 ²⁄₃ IP, 4 H, 2 R (0 ER), 2 BB, 4 K
Tommy Romero: 4 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K (2.53)
Calvin Faucher: 3 ²⁄₃ IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 4 K (4.73)

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (9-11, 2nd out of 4)

Montgomery falls in series opener
Biscuits prevail in slugfest
Late homers back Murray, bullpen
Mississippi rally sinks Montgomery
Biscuits edged in slugfest
Montgomery drops finale, series

Curtis Mead: 9-for-18, 6 R, 4 2B, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 5 BB, 1 K (1.024)
Greg Jones: 8-for-22, 2 R, 4 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 5 K, 4-for-4 SB (.731)
Austin Shenton: 3-for-19, 3 R, 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 4 BB, 8 K (.875)
Kameron Misner: 4-for-19, 4 R, 1 2B, 4 RBI, 5 BB, 9 K, 1-for-1 SB (.749)
Blake Hunt: 1-for-10, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 4 K (.556)

Taj Bradley: 4 IP, 6 H, 6 R (5 ER), 3 BB, 1 K (3.50)
Ian Seymour: 4 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 8 K (7.62)
Jayden Murray: 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K (2.16)

High-A Bowling Green Hot Rods (14-7, 1st out of 7)

Bowling Green allows 4 unanswered runs in opening loss
Trageton pitches Hot Rods to win
Bowling Green hangs on for narrow win
Hot Rods’ 1st-inning run not enough
Bowling Green falls in Brooklyn
Johnson, Hot Rods earn series split

Osleivis Basabe: 8-for-19, 3 R, 2 2B, 1 RBI, 2 BB, 1 K, 0-for-1 SB (.742)
Heriberto Hernandez: 2-for-18, 1 R, 2 2B, 7 K (.905)
Alika Williams: 4-for-16, 3 R, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 4 K, 1-for-1 SB (.653)

Seth Johnson: 7 ²⁄₃ IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 16 K (2.92)
John Doxakis: 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 K (2.89)
Zack Trageton: 6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K (1.59)

Low-A Charleston RiverDogs (13-8, 2nd out of 6)

Charleston crushed in series opener
Workman strikes out 11 in impressive outing
Late run not enough in loss to Fredericksburg
RiverDogs rally to even series
Charleston falls to Fredericksburg
RiverDogs split series behind Jimenez’s 4 no-hit innings

Carson Williams: 4-for-19, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 RBI, 11 K, 3-for-3 SB (.996)
Willy Vasquez: 2-for-24, 4 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 8 K, 1-for-1 SB (.491)
Freddvil Chevez: 4-for-15, 1 R, 2 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 4 K (.549)

JJ Goss: 3 IP, 2 H, 2 R (1 ER), 1 BB, 3 K (2.00)
Christian Fernandez: 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K (1.69)
Logan Workman: 5 IP, 2 H, 1 R (0 ER), 1 BB, 11 K (1.10)

Stats are from Baseball Reference.

This week’s games

Durham

Tuesday, May 3 @ Buffalo 6:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Wednesday, May 4 @ Buffalo 6:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Thursday, May 5 @ Buffalo 6:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Friday, May 6 @ Buffalo 6:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Saturday, May 7 @ Buffalo 1:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Sunday, May 8 @ Buffalo 1:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)

Montgomery

Tuesday, May 3 vs. Biloxi 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Wednesday, May 4 vs. Biloxi 12 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Thursday, May 5 vs. Biloxi 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Friday, May 6 vs. Biloxi 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Saturday, May 7 vs. Biloxi 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Sunday, May 8 vs. Biloxi 4:33 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)

Bowling Green

Tuesday, May 3 @ Wilmington 6:35 p.m. ET
Wednesday, May 4 @ Wilmington 6:35 p.m. ET
Thursday, May 5 @ Wilmington 6:35 p.m. ET
Friday, May 6 @ Wilmington 6:35 p.m. ET
Saturday, May 7 @ Wilmington 6:35 p.m. ET
Sunday, May 8 @ Wilmington 1:05 p.m. ET

Charleston

Tuesday, May 3 vs. Fayetteville 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Wednesday, May 4 vs. Fayetteville 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Thursday, May 5 vs. Fayetteville 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Friday, May 6 vs. Fayetteville 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Saturday, May 7 vs. Fayetteville 6:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Sunday, May 8 vs. Fayetteville 5:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)

Scouting the opposition

Buffalo Bisons (Toronto)
14-10 (1st out of 10)
Offense: 119 R (9th out of 20) .709 OPS (16th out of 20)
Pitching: 4.55 ERA (8th out of 20) 1.36 WHIP (7th out of 20)
Top-30 prospects: C Gabriel Moreno (1), IF Jordan Groshans (4), RHP Thomas Hatch (18), RHP Adrian Hernandez (29)

Biloxi Shuckers (Milwaukee)
12-9 (1st out of 4)
Offense: 92 R (7th out of 8) .680 OPS (7th out of 8)
Pitching: 3.11 ERA (1st out of 8) 1.30 WHIP (2nd out of 8)
Top-30 prospects: OF Garrett Mitchell (4), OF Joey Wiemer (8), SS Freddy Zamora (16), IF Felix Valerio (21), RHP Victor Castaneda (26)

Wilmington Blue Rocks (Washington)
10-11 (4th out of 6)
Offense: 96 R (9th out of 12) .681 OPS (9th out of 12)
Pitching: 3.83 ERA (4th out of 12) 1.26 WHIP (4th out of 12)
Top-30 prospects: LHP Mitchell Parker (21), C Israel Pineda (23), SS Jordy Barley (29)

Fayetteville Woodpeckers (Houston)
8-13 (5th out of 6)
Offense: 94 R (9th out of 12) .664 OPS (7th out of 12)
Pitching: 5.14 ERA (9th out of 12) 1.48 WHIP (8th out of 12)
Top-30 prospects: RHP Alex Santos (6), OF Tyler Whitaker (9)