Rays prospects and minor leagues: Seasons winding down

In August, Kyle Manzardo continued his rapid ascent through the organization, reaching Double A in his first full professional season. Facing tougher competition did not slow him down. In 23 games across two levels, he led with a 1.154 OPS thanks to five homers, 12 extra-base hits, and more walks than strikeouts. Shane Sasaki was right behind him with a 1.148 OPS in 22 games, and he also tied for the organizational lead with nine steals. Heriberto Hernandez led comfortably in home runs with nine.

Anthony Molina was sharp in August. Although he was charged with 10 runs in 25 innings, only three were earned. He struck out 19 and walked just two. After some early control struggles in Double A, Mason Montgomery walked just three and struck out 23 in 26 ¹⁄₃ August innings. Logan Workman joined Molina with a sub-2.00 ERA in five August starts.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (73-56, 1st out of 10)

Durham hangs on to beat Charlotte
Chirinos throws 3 scoreless innings in loss
Bulls beat Myers, Knights
Durham sweeps doubleheader
Bulls prevail in 10 innings
Bradley solid, Franco returns in series finale

Wander Franco: 2-for-4, 1 RBI, 1 BB
Jonathan Aranda: 0-for-3, 1 R, 2 BB, 3 K (.915)
Xavier Edwards: 9-for-23, 4 R, 1 HR, 6 RBI, 3 BB, 1 K (.735)
Rene Pinto: 5-for-22, 2 R, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 1 BB, 7 K (.831)
Miles Mastrobuoni: 6-for-21, 8 R, 3 HR, 4 RBI, 2 BB, 4 K, 1-for-1 SB (.832)
Alika Williams: 2-for-14, 1 R, 2 RBI, 6 BB, 3 K, 0-for-1 SB (.143)

Nick Anderson: 3 IP, 6 H, 3 R (2 ER), 0 BB, 1 K
Yonny Chirinos: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K
Taj Bradley: 6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 6 K (4.50)

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (35-22, 1st out of 4)

Hunley, Biscuits shut out Barons
Montgomery sharp in narrow win
Biscuits fall in 11 innings
Montgomery wastes solid Doxakis start
Biscuits edge Barons
Montgomery falls in slugfest

Kyle Manzardo: 2-for-7, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 4 BB, 1 K (1.094)
Greg Jones: 1-for-8, 2 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 4 K (.710)
Osleivis Basabe: 9-for-14, 5 R, 4 2B, 1 3B, 3 RBI, 3 BB, 1 K, 4-for-4 SB (.913)
Kameron Misner: 2-for-20, 1 R, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 4 BB, 5 K, 1-for-1 SB (.810)
Brett Wisely: 6-for-21, 4 R, 2 2B, 1 3B, 1 RBI, 4 BB, 7 K, 1-for-1 SB (.829)

Mason Montgomery: 6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K (3.20)
Sean Hunley: 10 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K (3.09)
Jose Lopez: 3 ²⁄₃ IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 9 K (2.87)

High-A Bowling Green Hot Rods (33-27, clinched playoff berth)

Munoz, Hot Rods start series with win
Bats quiet in loss to Tourists
Bowling Green swept in doubleheader
Hot Rods lose in 9th
Murray homers twice in slugfest win
Bats quiet in loss to Tourists
Bowling Green crushed by Asheville

Mason Auer: 10-for-24, 4 R, 2 2B, 1 3B, 3 RBI, 3 BB, 5 K, 4-for-4 SB (.852)
Heriberto Hernandez: 7-for-28, 2 R, 2 2B, 5 RBI, 3 BB, 9 K, 0-for-1 SB (.864)
Tanner Murray: 5-for-17, 3 R, 1 2B, 3 HR, 7 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K (.715)

Ben Peoples: 5 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 K (3.60)
Graeme Stinson: 3 ¹⁄₃ IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K (4.58)
Kyle Whitten: 3 ²⁄₃ IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K (3.96)

Low-A Charleston RiverDogs (37-23, 1st out of 6)

Ayala sharp in doubleheader opener
Unearned runs sink Wilcox, RiverDogs
Goss, Charleston prevail in 10 innings
Bitsko throws 3 scoreless innings in loss
Sasaki, Jones lead rally with 2 homers each
Charleston allows 6 unanswered runs in series finale

Carson Williams: 3-for-14, 3 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 4 BB, 5 K, 2-for-3 SB (.820)
Willy Vasquez: 4-for-24, 4 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 8 K, 1-for-1 SB (.729)
Brock Jones: 2-for-15, 4 R, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 2 BB, 8 K, 1-for-1 SB (.869)
Junior Caminero: 9-for-21, 4 R, 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 3 K, 1-for-1 SB (.848)
Ryan Spikes: 2-for-16, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 4 BB, 8 K, 2-for-2 SB (.714)

Cole Wilcox: 3 IP, 4 H, 3 R (1 ER), 0 BB, 4 K (1.80)
Sandy Gaston: two-thirds IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 1 K (4.88)
JJ Goss: 5 IP, 7 H, 1 R (0 ER), 0 BB, 4 K (3.99)

Florida Complex League Rays (39-16)

The season is over.

Stats are from Baseball Reference.

This week’s games

Durham

Monday, Sept. 5 vs. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre 5:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Wednesday, Sept. 7 vs. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre 6:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Thursday, Sept. 8 vs. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre 6:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Friday, Sept. 9 vs. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre 6:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Saturday, Sept. 10 vs. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre 6:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Sunday, Sept. 11 vs. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre 5:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)

Montgomery

Tuesday, Sept. 6 vs. Rocket City 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Wednesday, Sept. 7 vs. Rocket City 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Thursday, Sept. 8 vs. Rocket City 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Friday, Sept. 9 vs. Rocket City 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Saturday, Sept. 10 vs. Rocket City 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Sunday, Sept. 11 vs. Rocket City 4:33 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)

Bowling Green

Tuesday, Sept. 6 vs. Greensboro 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Wednesday, Sept. 7 vs. Greensboro 12:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Thursday, Sept. 8 vs. Greensboro 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Friday, Sept. 9 vs. Greensboro 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Saturday, Sept. 10 vs. Greensboro 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Sunday, Sept. 11 vs. Greensboro 2:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)

Charleston

Tuesday, Sept. 6 @ Columbia 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Wednesday, Sept. 7 @ Columbia 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Thursday, Sept. 8 @ Columbia 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Friday, Sept. 9 @ Columbia 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Saturday, Sept. 10 @ Columbia 6:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Sunday, Sept. 11 @ Columbia 5:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)

Scouting the opposition

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (Yankees)
69-59 (T-2nd out of 10)
Offense: 583 R (17th out of 20) .749 OPS (10th out of 20)
Pitching: 3.99 ERA (2nd out of 20) 1.31 WHIP (3rd out of 20)
Top-30 prospects: SS Anthony Volpe (1), RHP Deivi Garcia (27)

Rocket City Trash Pandas (Angels)
34-23 (clinched playoff berth)
Offense: 631 R (3rd out of 8) .755 OPS (5th out of 8)
Pitching: 4.36 ERA (3rd out of 8) 1.31 WHIP (2nd out of 8)
Top-30 prospects: C Logan O’Hoppe (1), SS Zach Neto (2), LHP Ky Bush (3), RHP Sam Bachman (5), RHP Chase Silseth (7), RHP Landon Marceaux (10), RHP Mason Erla (13), SS Livan Soto (19), RHP Ben Joyce (20), SS Jeremiah Jackson (21), OF Jordyn Adams (23), LHP Luke Murphy (24), IF Kyren Paris (25)

Greensboro Grasshoppers (Pittsburgh)
30-28 (4th out of 6)
Offense: 616 R (7th out of 12) .745 OPS (6th out of 12)
Pitching: 5.29 ERA (10th out of 12) 1.50 WHIP (10th out of 12)
Top-30 prospects: RHP Jared Jones (9), C Abrahan Gutierrez (26), OF Hudson Head (28)

Columbia Fireflies (Kansas City)
33-26 (2nd out of 6)
Offense: 546 R (11th out of 12) .659 OPS (12th out of 12)
Pitching: 4.85 ERA (10th out of 12) 1.49 WHIP (11th out of 12)
Top-30 prospects: OF Gavin Cross (2), 3B Cayden Wallace (4), RHP Ben Kudrna (5), LHP Frank Mozzicato (11), C Carter Jensen (19), RHP Ben Hernandez (22), RHP Mason Barnett (28)