Rays prospects and minor leagues: Mead quickly settles in with Durham

Curtis Mead was the organization’s top hitter in June. In 25 games across two levels, he batted .333 with a .409 on-base percentage and .635 slugging percentage. His seven homers led the organization during the month, and his eight doubles were second. He also stole four bases in four tries.

Mason Auer hit nine doubles among his 13 extra-base hits in June, and he also had 10 steals in 12 tries. After missing a month and a half on the injured list, Ryan Spikes hit five homers in June with a 1.030 OPS in 15 games for Low-A Charleston.

Once again, Taj Bradley may have been the top pitcher for a month. In 24 ¹⁄₃ June innings, he struck out 29, walked five, and allowed five runs (three earned). Mason Montgomery led in strikeouts with 37 in just 21 ²⁄₃ innings, and his ERA for the month was just 1.66. Jayden Murray had another strong month with 27 strikeouts, seven walks, and a 2.00 ERA in 27 innings.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (42-36, T-1st out of 10)

Durham opens series with win
Bulls fall in slugfest
Mead, Durham hang on for narrow win
Bulls survive Knights comeback
Durham allows 5 unanswered runs in loss
Bulls drop back-and-forth, 12-inning finale

Curtis Mead: 5-for-20, 2 R, 2 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 5 BB, 2 K (.900)
Xavier Edwards: 6-for-19, 5 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 6 BB, 3 K, 0-for-1 SB (.897)
Jonathan Aranda: 10-for-22, 3 R, 1 2B, 2 HR, 10 RBI, 3 BB, 4 K, 1-for-1 SB (.931)
Ford Proctor: 2-for-14, 3 R, 9 BB, 5 K, 2-for-2 SB (.616)

Luis Patino: 3 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K
Tommy Romero: 6 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K (4.47)
Easton McGee: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K (4.31)

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (4-2, T-1st out of 4)

Hiott, bats back Murray
Offense quiet in loss to Pensacola
Bradley, Biscuits shut out Blue Wahoos
Montgomery shut out in doubleheader opener
Biscuits earn split
Hunley, bullpen lead Montgomery to series win

Greg Jones: 5-for-20, 5 R, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 6 K, 6-for-6 SB (.697)
Kameron Misner: 6-for-20, 6 R, 2 2B, 1 HR, 10 RBI, 4 BB, 8 K, 2-for-2 SB (.751)
Osleivis Basabe: 7-for-23, 3 R, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 4 K, 1-for-1 SB (.708)

Taj Bradley: 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 5 K (1.65)
Jose Lopez: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K (3.58)
Jayden Murray: 5 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 6 K (2.98)

High-A Bowling Green Hot Rods (4-4, clinched playoff berth)

Big inning carries Bowling Green
Hot Rods fall in slugfest
Bowling Green crushed by Asheville
Hot Rods’ rally falls short
Simon, Leon homers back Montgomery in finale

Heriberto Hernandez: 7-for-23, 4 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 2 BB, 6 K, 1-for-1 SB (.789)
Alexander Ovalles: 3-for-22, 3 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 3 BB, 6 K (.801)
Ronny Simon: 11-for-24, 11 R, 2 2B, 3 HR, 10 RBI, 2 BB, 4 K, 3-for-3 SB (.790)

Mason Montgomery: 5 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 9 K (1.95)
Patrick Wicklander: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K (9.00)
Audry Lugo: 3 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K (6.82)

Low-A Charleston RiverDogs (3-6, 4th out of 6)

Charleston edges Myrtle Beach in opener
RiverDogs drop pitchers’ duel
Charleston falls to Myrtle Beach
RiverDogs edged by Pelicans
Charleston unable to get out of early hole
RiverDogs rally for finale win

Carson Williams: 5-for-27, 4 R, 1 3B, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 14 K, 1-for-1 SB (.849)
Willy Vasquez: 10-for-24, 4 R, 3 2B, 1 3B, 6 RBI, 1 BB, 5 K, 2-for-2 SB (.605)
Oneill Manzueta: 10-for-24, 4 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 2 BB, 9 K (.780)

Sandy Gaston: 2 IP, 1 H, 1 R (0 ER), 0 BB, 3 K (5.20)
Neraldo Catalina: 3 ¹⁄₃ IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 4 K (5.08)
Christian Fernandez: 5 ²⁄₃ IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K (2.83)

Florida Complex League Rays (13-7, T-1st out of 6)

FCL Rays crush FCL Orioles
Kiermaier, FCL Rays edge FCL Twins in 10
Fairbanks’ rehab begins in loss
Cardenas’ rehab continues with pair of homers
FCL Rays erase early deficit

Kevin Kiermaier: 0-for-2, 1 R, 1 BB
Wilmer De La Cruz: 4-for-9, 3 R, 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 RBI, 5 BB, 1 K, 4-for-6 SB (.798)
Odalys Peguero: 4-for-13, 4 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 6 BB, 3 K, 2-for-3 SB (.880)

Pete Fairbanks: two-thirds IP, 2 H, 3 R (0 ER), 0 BB, 2 K
Nick Bitsko: 1 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 5 BB, 1 K (11.37)
Andri Tavarez: 3 IP, 0 H, 1 R (0 ER), 0 BB, 6 K (0.00)

Stats are from Baseball Reference.

This week’s games

Durham

Wednesday, July 6 vs. Memphis 6:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Thursday, July 7 vs. Memphis 6:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Friday, July 8 vs. Memphis 6:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Saturday, July 9 vs. Memphis 6:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Sunday, July 10 vs. Memphis 5:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)

Montgomery

Wednesday, July 6 vs. Biloxi 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Thursday, July 7 vs. Biloxi 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Friday, July 8 vs. Biloxi 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Saturday, July 9 vs. Biloxi 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Sunday, July 10 vs. Biloxi 4:33 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)

Bowling Green

Wednesday, July 6 vs. Hickory 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Thursday, July 7 vs. Hickory 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Friday, July 8 vs. Hickory 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Saturday, July 9 vs. Hickory 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Sunday, July 10 vs. Hickory 2:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)

Charleston

Wednesday, July 6 vs. Augusta 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Thursday, July 7 vs. Augusta 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Friday, July 8 vs. Augusta 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Saturday, July 9 vs. Augusta 6:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Sunday, July 10 vs. Augusta 5:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)

Florida Complex League Rays

Tuesday, July 5 vs. FCL Pirates 12 p.m. ET
Thursday, July 7 @ FCL Red Sox 12 p.m. ET
Friday, July 8 @ FCL Braves 12 p.m. ET
Saturday, July 9 vs. FCL Braves 10 a.m. ET
Monday, July 11 vs. FCL Red Sox 12 p.m. ET

Scouting the opposition

Memphis Redbirds (St. Louis)
43-35 (3rd out of 10)
Offense: 422 R (3rd out of 20) .782 OPS (2nd out of 20)
Pitching: 4.77 ERA (12th out of 20) 1.39 WHIP (10th out of 20)
Top-30 prospects: OF Alec Burleson (9), LHP Connor Thomas (21), RHP Kodi Whitley (23), RHP Angel Rondon (26)

Biloxi Shuckers (Milwaukee)
2-4 (T-3rd out of 4)
Offense: 398 R (3rd out of 8) .772 OPS (3rd out of 8)
Pitching: 4.75 ERA (6th out of 8) 1.47 WHIP (6th out of 8)
Top-30 prospects: OF Sal Frelick (2), OF Joey Wiemer (4), OF Garrett Mitchell (5), IF Felix Valerio (11), RHP Victor Castaneda (23), RHP TJ Shook (28)

Hickory Crawdads (Texas)
5-4 (T-3rd out of 6)
Offense: 440 R (1st out of 12) .770 OPS (3rd out of 12)
Pitching: 4.39 ERA (8th out of 12) 1.32 WHIP (6th out of 12)
Top-30 prospects: OF Evan Carter (3), SS Luisangel Acuna (10), OF Aaron Zavala (12), RHP Tekoah Roby (15), RHP Ricky Vanasco (17), LHP Larson Kindreich (20), 2B Trevor Hauver (22)

Augusta GreenJackets (Atlanta)
2-7 (T-5th out of 6)
Offense: 409 R (5th out of 12) .723 OPS (5th out of 12)
Pitching: 4.00 ERA (4th out of 12) 1.34 WHIP (6th out of 12)
Top-30 prospects: RHP AJ Smith-Shawver (11), OF Brandol Mezquita (20), SS Cal Conley (21)