2023 DRaysBay Community Prospect List No. 24

Previous Winner

SS/OF Greg Jones (5’11” 175, 25 in 2023)

Greg Jones was the Rays first round selection out of the University of North Carolina - Wilmington in 2019. Jones struggled with his promotion to AA last year putting up a .238/.318/.392 line and 88 wRC+. His strikeout rate surged to 35.8% while his walk rate fell to 7.5%. He did steal 37 bags while being caught five times. Many expect his ultimate defensive home is likely in centerfield where his elite speed will play better.

2023 DRaysBay Community Prospect List

Greg Jones (7 votes) wins the race ahead of Ryan Cermak (5 votes), Tristan Peters (3 votes), and Austin Vernon (3 votes).

Rules

There will be a selection of players listed in the comments. To vote, reply to the player’s name with a +1 in the comment. For the best voting experience, filter the comment section by Oldest.

Please vote using whichever criteria you prefer! If you like stats, use stats. If you like scouting reports, reference those reports. There’s no one right way to do this — that’s what makes this exercise fun.

If you want to vote for a player who is not listed, there will be an “Others” comment. Reply to that comment with the name of your selection. This is incredibly rare because there will eventually be up to 10 players to choose from, but it’s possible a player you feel strongly about slipped through the cracks.

If you want to nominate a player to be included in the next poll, reply to the “Testers” comment with that player’s name. We will often limit the number of players accepted for the next poll to prevent the list from becoming cumbersome. All players in one poll who do not win the vote are automatically included in the next poll — there is no need to renominate.

Full rules and how tie breaks will be determined can be found in this post by Daniel Russell.

Voting will take place on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday each week.

Candidates

OF Ryan Cermak (6’1” 205, 22 in 2023)

Ryan Cermak was the Rays second round selection in the 2022 draft out of Illinois State. He posted a .301/.386/.600 line during his college career. He has significant swing and miss, but does hit for power. Has the required speed and arm strength to be a plus defender in a corner or potentially fake it in center if needed.

2B/3B Cooper Kinney (6’3” 200, 20 in 2023)

Cooper Kinney was the Rays competitive round A draft pick (34th overall) in the 2021 draft out of high school. Unfortunately Kinney missed the entire 2022 season after tearing his labrum during spring workouts. He’s a hit over game power hitter for the time being but has shown raw power in batting practice.

OF Tristan Peters (6’0” 180, 23 in 2023)

Tristan Peters was acquired for the Rays in a trade with the San Fransisco Giants on rule 5 draft deadline day for Brett Wisely. Peters had a solid start to the season in the Milwaukee Brewers system hitting .306/.386/.485 and putting up a 141 wRC+ in A+. After the trade to the Giants he struggled when promoted to AA hitting .212/.302/.303 and putting up a 71 wRC+. He draws more than his fair share of walks (10%+) while limiting his strikeouts (below 20%). There isn’t expected to be much power in his profile but he does show a strong hit tool.

RHP Austin Vernon (6’8” 256, 24 in 2023)

Austin Vernon was the Rays tenth round pick out of North Carolina Central University in 2021. He sits in the mid 90s and has a four pitch mix including a slider, curveball, and changeup as a reliever. He threw 78.2 innings split between A and A+ ball in 2022. He struck out 35.6% of batters faced while walking 12.8%.