Rays prospects and minor leagues: Bradley, Montgomery among top performers in May

Grant Witherspoon was perhaps the top hitter in the organization last month, showing off power and speed. He had a 1.038 OPS with eight extra-base hits and six steals. Tristan Gray was the leading slugger with eight home runs, but Rene Pinto had 13 total extra-base hits.

He only had 17 innings, but Taj Bradley continued to dominate on the mound. He struck out 26 and allowed just six hits and six walks. Mason Montgomery continued to boost his stock with 41 more strikeouts to just six walks in 22 ²⁄₃ innings.

The Florida Complex League Rays began play Monday. Look for their stats starting next week.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (29-25, 4th out of 10)

Baz sharp despite Bulls loss
Durham hammers Nashville
Bulls top Sounds in Adames’ return to Durham
Adames, Nashville top Durham
Fleming, bullpen shut out Sounds
Bulls win series behind Baz’s 10 strikeouts

Josh Lowe: 6-for-23, 5 R, 2 2B, 1 HR, 6 RBI, 3 BB, 7 K, 1-for-1 SB (.843)
Xavier Edwards: 6-for-19, 3 R, 3 2B, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K, 0-for-1 SB (.851)
Jonathan Aranda: 6-for-20, 7 R, 1 2B, 3 HR, 4 RBI, 5 BB, 2 K, 1-for-1 SB (.948)
Rene Pinto: 1-for-12, 1 RBI, 3 K (.822)
Ford Proctor: 0-for-14, 2 R, 1 BB, 6 K (.592)

Andrew Kittredge: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
Shane Baz: 8 ¹⁄₃ IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 14 K
Tommy Romero: 2 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 1 K (5.88)
Calvin Faucher: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K (4.84)

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (20-24, 4th out of 4)

Biscuits end losing streak
Bradley pitches Montgomery to another win
Mead leads Montgomery over Mississippi
Biscuits’ rally falls short in 10-inning loss
Misner homer key in win
Hulsizer’s homers carry Biscuits

Curtis Mead: 7-for-25, 5 R, 1 HR, 9 RBI, 4 BB, 7 K, 1-for-1 SB (.875)
Greg Jones: 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K (.711)
Austin Shenton: 5-for-25, 5 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 11 K, 1-for-1 SB (.714)
Kameron Misner: 1-for-21, 2 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 4 BB, 10 K, 2-for-2 SB (.790)

Taj Bradley: 6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 9 K (2.20)
Jose Lopez: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K (5.03)
Jayden Murray: 5 ¹⁄₃ IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 4 K (3.96)

High-A Bowling Green Hot Rods (31-19, 1st out of 7)

Bowling Green shut out in opener
Hot Rods rebound with win
Bowling Green’s rally falls short
Montgomery dominates again in narrow win
Bowling Green crushes Rome
Hot Rods win series

Osleivis Basabe: 5-for-20, 3 R, 1 3B, 4 RBI, 1 BB, 4 K, 3-for-3 SB (.826)
Heriberto Hernandez: 7-for-18, 3 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 4 BB, 6 K (.802)
Alexander Ovalles: 2-for-14, 2 R, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 3 K (.812)

Mason Montgomery: 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 9 K (1.67)
Patrick Wicklander: 3 ¹⁄₃ IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 3 K (8.76)
Joe LaSorsa: 5 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 8 K (1.93)

Low-A Charleston RiverDogs (34-17, 2nd out of 6)

Schnell doubles in 2022 debut
RiverDogs pile on runs in rout
First-inning run not enough
Peoples, Charleston tops Down East
RiverDogs shut out by Wood Ducks
Williams homers again as Charleston splits series

Carson Williams: 2-for-20, 5 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 3 BB, 10 K, 1-for-1 SB (.916)
Willy Vasquez: 6-for-26, 3 R, 1 2B, 3 RBI, 2 BB, 7 K (.545)
Mason Auer: 11-for-27, 8 R, 3 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 1 BB, 8 K, 4-for-5 SB (.878)

Sandy Gaston: 3 ²⁄₃ IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 5 BB, 3 K (7.66)
Christian Fernandez: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K (2.30)
Ben Peoples: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K (3.00)

Stats are from Baseball Reference.

This week’s games

Durham

Tuesday, June 7 @ Memphis 8:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Wednesday, June 8 @ Memphis 8:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Thursday, June 9 @ Memphis 8:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Friday, June 10 @ Memphis 8:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Saturday, June 11 @ Memphis 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Sunday, June 12 @ Memphis 3:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)

Montgomery

Tuesday, June 7 vs. Chattanooga 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Wednesday, June 8 vs. Chattanooga 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Thursday, June 9 vs. Chattanooga 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Friday, June 10 vs. Chattanooga 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Saturday, June 11 vs. Chattanooga 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Sunday, June 12 vs. Chattanooga 4:33 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)

Bowling Green

Tuesday, June 7 vs. Hickory 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Wednesday, June 8 vs. Hickory 1:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Thursday, June 9 vs. Hickory 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Friday, June 10 vs. Hickory 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Saturday, June 11 vs. Hickory 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Sunday, June 12 vs. Hickory 2:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)

Charleston

Tuesday, June 7 vs. Salem 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Wednesday, June 8 vs. Salem 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Thursday, June 9 vs. Salem 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Friday, June 10 vs. Salem 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Saturday, June 11 vs. Salem 6:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Sunday, June 12 vs. Salem 5:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)

Florida Complex League Rays

Tuesday, June 7 @ FCL Orioles 12 p.m. ET
Thursday, June 9 @ FCL Twins 12 p.m. ET
Friday, June 10 @ FCL Braves 12 p.m. ET
Saturday, June 11 vs. FCL Braves 10 a.m. ET
Monday, June 13 vs. FCL Twins 12 p.m. ET

Scouting the opposition

Memphis Redbirds (St. Louis)
31-23 (3rd out of 10)
Offense: 313 R (1st out of 20) .799 OPS (1st out of 20)
Pitching: 4.67 ERA (12th out of 20) 1.39 WHIP (11th out of 20)
Top-30 prospects: LHP Matthew Liberatore (3), C Ivan Herrera (5), OF Alec Burleson (9), LHP Connor Thomas (21), RHP Kodi Whitley (23), RHP Angel Rondon (26)

Chattanooga Lookouts (Cincinnati)
27-24 (3rd out of 4)
Offense: 278 R (2nd out of 8) .766 OPS (3rd out of 8)
Pitching: 4.81 ERA (6th out of 8) 1.51 WHIP (7th out of 8)
Top-30 prospects: LHP Brandon Williamson (5), SS Matt McLain (6), LHP Andrew Abbott (9), RHP Carson Spiers (16), 2B Ivan Johnson (26)

Hickory Crawdads (Texas)
30-21 (2nd out of 6)
Offense: 310 R (1st out of 12) .786 OPS (1st out of 12)
Pitching: 4.59 ERA (8th out of 12) 1.30 WHIP (3rd out of 12)
Top-30 prospects: OF Evan Carter (3), RHP Owen White (8), SS Luisangel Acuna (10), OF Aaron Zavala (12), RHP Tekoah Roby (15), RHP Ricky Vanasco (17), 2B Trevor Hauver (22)

Salem Red Sox
28-23 (T-2nd out of 6)
Offense: 277 R (T-3rd out of 12) .744 OPS (2nd out of 12)
Pitching: 4.98 ERA (10th out of 12) 1.51 WHIP (10th out of 12)
Top-30 prospects: SS Marcelo Mayer (1), IF Blaze Jordan (8), RHP Wilkelman Gonzalez (13), SS Brainer Bonaci (19), C Nathan Hickey (23), SS Eddinson Paulino (28)