2019 MLB Prospect Report: Tampa Bay Rays

Most teams love having a good farm system to provide both trade pieces and to bring a few guys up to supplement the rest of the roster. The Rays on the other hand need to have a strong system as a life-blood of their small-market, smaller-budget organization in order to construct their roster in the first place. It has paid off for much of the last decade as they have a World Series appearance from it and six 90-win seasons in the last 11 including last year’s 90-72 season that finished third in the loaded AL East and nearly got them a Wild Card berth. The Rays are famous for dealing players as they are getting closer to the end of their team control and so having top-flight guys that can come up and contribute to winning immediately is very important to them. That strategy is in peak form right now with one of the top-five systems in the league.

Minor League Affiliates

Rankings

Top-100 Prospects – 6

Organization Rank – 4^th

Divisional Rank – 1^st

Top Prospects in the System

1. Wander Franco (SS) – The Rays signed Franco to a huge $3.8-million deal in the 2017-18 international signing period out of the Dominican Republic and placed him in the Appalachian League at just 17 years of age. He had such a good season in the league that not only did he jump all the way up to the 13^th-ranked prospect in baseball, but he also won the Appalachian League MVP with a stat line of .351/.418/.587 with 11 home runs, 57 RBI, 46 runs, and four steals in 61 games. Franco walked more than he struck out (27-19) and showed advanced plate discipline against much older competition while also playing a very good brand of defense at shortstop. The wunderkind possesses 70-grade hit, 55-grade power, 60-grade run, 55-grade arm, and 50-grade fielding tools packed into a 5’10”, 189 lbs. frame that has room to grow and mature as he gets older. One thing that he can work on as he moves through the system is adding more loft to his swing. In 2018, granted a small sample size in Rookie-ball, he had just a 15.8-percent line drive rate compared to a 42.8-percent and 41.4-percent ground ball and fly ball rate respectively. Tampa is generally very patient with their top prospects, but Franco may just push the pace based on his performance much like some other teenagers recently across the league. It should tell you something that he is the top prospect in a system ranked this highly and with this many Top-100 guys amongst its ranks.

ETA: 2021

2. Brent Honeywell (RHP) – Honeywell was unheralded when the Rays drafted him at 72^nd overall in the 2014 draft. That didn’t last for long though as his five-pitch repertoire took the minor leagues by storm and dominated hitters at every level. In the last two full seasons on the mound (2016-17), Honeywell combined for a 2.96 ERA, 2.88 FIP, 1.14 WHIP, 10.32 K/9, 2.14 BB/9, and a .237 BAA in 252 innings split between High-A, Double-A and Triple-A. The 6’2”, 195 lbs. right-hander works with a late-sinking fastball that sits 92-94 mph but touches 95-96, a trademark screwball that is his highest graded pitch at 65 on the 20-80 scale, a plus changeup, and two distinct breaking pitches in a mid-80s slider and a change-of-pace curveball that is a quality above average pitch. A fluid delivery and repeatable mechanics keep his arm slot the same from pitch-to-pitch and makes his already great arsenal play up that much more. There is no doubt that he is the next great arm to come through the Tampa system just like David Price and Chris Archer and Blake Snell have been before him, he just needs time to get over the Tommy John surgery that kept him out for the entire 2018 season. Honeywell is expected to restart pitching in May and then could be ready for a taste of the majors late in the 2019 season.

ETA: 2019

3. Brendan McKay (LHP/1B) – Before Shohei Ohtani took the baseball world by storm last year with his two-way ability, McKay was drafted fourth overall in the 2017 draft out of Louisville as a two-way player. It’s been an interesting road in just the year and a half since becoming a pro as he’s succeeded in some parts of his game but has lacked in others and had injuries along the way. In the six games he started at Low-A in 2017, McKay posted a 1.80 ERA and 4.03 FIP, 0.75 WHIP, 9.45 K/9, 2.25 BB/9, .147 BAA in 20 innings, then in 2018 he backed that performance up with a 2.41 ERA, 1.96 FIP, 11.8 K/9, 1.6 BB/9, 1.01 WHIP, and a .190 BAA in 78.1 innings between Rookie-ball, Class-A and High-A. McKay’s four-pitch mix of a 92-95 mph fastball, a cutter, a curveball, and changeup have been wreaking havoc with the hitters in the lower levels because they are all above-average or better offerings and his plus-control allows them to play up to both sides of the plate. The other side of his game has been a bit lacking in that same span as he slashed .232/.349/.376 with four home runs, 22 RBI, 16 runs, and two steals in 36 games in 2017 and then posted a .214/.368/.359 with six home runs, 39 RBI, and 32 runs, in 56 games throughout 2018 and was slowed by two oblique injuries as well. Going forward, at least for 2019, the Rays are going to move him to strictly DH on offense to simplify his pre-game routine and to try and keep him healthy in the hopes that his bat comes around. He has a patient approach at the plate as evidenced by his healthy OBP but so far, the contact made with the bat has been lacking for the 6’2”, 212 lbs. lefty. Tampa has stated they have no plans to curtail his hitting and make him strictly a pitcher, yet, but if the bat doesn’t come around soon, they may have to consider it to fast track the 23-year-old southpaw to the majors to help on the mound.

ETA: 2020

4. Matthew Liberatore (LHP) – A prep pitcher out of Arizona was the Rays pick at 16^th overall in last June’s draft. By all accounts he was the best left-handed pitcher in the draft class and it was a bit of a surprise that he fell as far as he did, but it was mainly due to fears about signability given his college commitment already in hand. He is a lanky 6’5”, 200 lbs. southpaw that uses a four-pitch to attack hitters with the main pitch being a fastball that sits in the low-90s but touches 95 and plays up due to the deception in his delivery. The Curveball is a true out pitch thrown from a three-quarters arm slot with good spin rate and works against both righties and lefties while the slider is the newest addition to his arsenal, having been introduced in his Senior season, but it’s already proven to be an effective pitch, especially against left-handed hitters. Lastly is his changeup, which has the most projection left. Despite grading as a 55 right now, it’s thrown from the same arm slot as the fastball and dives when it gets to the plate. The southpaw pitched 32.2 innings between two Rookie league affiliates and compiled a 1.38 ERA, 2.91 FIP, 10.2 K/9, 3.6 BB/9, 1.04 WHIP, and .189 BAA in nine starts. That’s not much to go on for sure but he has the makings of a future ace-caliber pitcher in a couple of years once the workload builds up in the upper levels. Between Honeywell, McKay, Liberatore, and another guy further down on this list, the Rays have a frighteningly good rotation coming their way in 2021.

ETA: 2021

5. Jesus Sanchez (OF) – Sanchez was signed for $400,000 out of the Dominican Republic in July of 2014 and since then has really started moving through the system starting in 2017. The two years prior he spent at multiple stops at Rookie ball but then in 2017 he played a full year at Class-A, 117 games, and hit .305/.348/.478 with 15 home runs, 82 RBI, 81 runs and seven steals. The 2018 season saw a bump up to Advanced-A for 90 games and a 27-game stint at Double-A after another impressive stat line in the first stop of the year with a .301/.331/.462 slash line, 10 HR, 64 RBI, 56 runs, and six steals. Sanchez did run into trouble at Double-A with a .214/.300/.327 line and just one homer, 14 runs, 11 RBI and one steal in those 27 games. He was four years younger than the average player in the Southern League though and still had a .263 BABIP and .289 wOBA. Defensively, Sanchez is an above-average defender in right field but has a plus-arm that contributed to his 11 outfield assists in 2017 and six in 2018. Ultimately, he projects as a middle-of-the-order right fielder who throws right-handed and hits left-handed and will grab 5-8 steals a season as well.

ETA: 2020

6. Ronaldo Hernandez (C) – The final prospect of Tampa’s on the Top-100 list is Hernandez, as well as being one of the top catching prospects in the minors as a whole. The 21-year-old backstop from Colombia is new to catching after growing up an infielder in his native country before the Rays moved him behind the plate after signing in 2014. In his first taste of ball in the states, he slashed .332/.382/.507 with five long balls, 42 runs, 40 RBI and two steals in 54 games in the Appalachian League. Last season he moved up to A-ball in the Midwest League and slashed .284/.339/.494 with 21 homers, 79 RBI, 68 runs, and 10 steals in 109 games with a .374 wOBA and .292 BABIP. Clearly the bat is there to be a threat in the majors at the plate, the thing that he needs to work on is his blocking and receiving. In 163 games between 2017 and 2018 he had 31 passed balls and 13 errors behind the plate. He did however throw out nearly 43-percent of would-be base stealers (47-of-110) indicating the strong arm and quick pop times Hernandez possesses. The defense should be fixed with more reps and more experience and if he gets a hold of some of the finer points of catching, Hernandez should be an average defender behind the plate. The bat should make up for any shortcomings he displays defensively and getting that bat at a premium position is a big plus.

ETA: 2021

Others To Watch In The System

Vidal Brujan (2B)

• Led the Minors in runs scored (112) and was second in steals (55) in his first year at full-season ball in 2018 split between the Midwest and Florida State Leagues while slashing .320/.403/.459 with 41 extra-base hits.
• Brujan has been a quick riser since getting stateside in 2017 not only on the offensive side but defensively as he’s showed he’s an above-average defender at the keystone with great range.
• The 21-year-old should start 2019 at Double-A Montgomery and will continue to use his 60-grade hit tool and 70-grade speed to work his way through the system as the likely next leadoff hitter for the Rays big club.

ETA: 2020

Nate Lowe (1B)

• Taken in the 13^th round of the 2016 draft out of Mississippi State, Lowe had a decent first full season in pro ball in 2017 with a .274/.373/.388 slash and seven homers, 59 RBI, 55 runs, and a steal in 115 games.
• Lowe broke out in 2018 following an adjustment to his swing in the offseason and smashed through three levels of the system hitting .330/.416/.568 with 27 HR, 102 RBI, 93 runs, 32 doubles and a steal in 130 games (51 each at High-A and Double-A and 28 at Triple-A).
• Drew 68 walks compared to 90 Ks in 2018 and held down first base defensively as he demonstrated he should be considered the next starting first baseman in Tampa.

ETA: 2019

Brandon Lowe (2B/OF)

• Lowe, not related to Nate, got the call up in August of last season after two very convincing seasons in the minors including an MVP award in the Florida State League in 2017.
• In the minors in 2018, across two levels and 100 games, Lowe hit .297/.391/.558 with 22 homers, 76 RBI, 73 runs, and eight steals before the Rays called him up.
• In 129 at bats, still counts as a prospect, he slashed .233/.324/.450 with six home runs, 25 RBI, 16 runs, and two steals after an 0-for-19 start in Tampa. He hit 30-for-110 not counting the start and hit .272 instead of .233. Lowe should contend for the starting second base job this year.

ETA: 2019

Shane Baz (RHP)

• Baz was a key piece in the Chris Archer trade last season as he came from Pittsburgh with Tyler Glasnow and Austin Meadows after being a first-round pick of the Pirates in 2017.
• Still just 19 years old and possessing a five-pitch mix with three plus pitches in it already, Baz has frontline starter projection all over him as long as he’s patient and lets the Rays work their magic.
• A 92-96 mph running, sinking fastball anchors the arsenal, he has a cutter/slider combination that are both plus-offerings, a curveball that’s above-average, and a changeup that is a developing pitch gives him all the tools he needs to get hitters out.

ETA: 2021

Nick Solak (2B/OF)

• Solak was a second-round pick of the Yankees in 2016 and was acquired by the Rays in a three-team trade involving the Diamondbacks in 2017.
• He spent the whole of the 2018 season at Double-A Montgomery and hit .282/.384/.450 with 19 homers, 91 runs, 76 RBI, and 21 steals in 126 while leading the Southern League in hits (135), runs (91), and OBP (.384).
• He will be at Triple-A Durham to start the season in 2019 and will continue working at both second base and outfield in order to make a path for him to the majors with the depth they have at middle infield ahead of him.

ETA: 2019