Checking in on Rays Top Prospects One Month Into Season
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Over on the big league side, the Tampa Bay Rays are off to a flying start.
A switch in hitting philosophy has taken them from a pull-heavy, power-seeking approach to a contact-oriented, small-ball style. This change in offense pairs nicely with a pitching staff full of both young talent and veteran presence.
As with Tampa Bay more than other teams, though, minor league depth will be paramount in lasting with the big boys of the American League East all season long. It’s currently a roster hinging heavily on Yandy Diaz, Junior Caminero and Jonathan Aranda in the heart of the lineup and arms like Drew Rasmussen and Shane McClanahan atop the rotation.
Injuries have the chance to weaken the Rays more than others, and the development and progress of several young farmhands could make or break their ability to weather an injury storm.
Here’s a look at the prospect development across Tampa Bay’s minor league systems.
Triple-A Durham Bulls
The last stop before the majors contains some intriguing names that have the best shots at meaningful playing time this season. Notably, top prospects Carson Williams and Brody Hopkins reside there, with both players at different points in their young careers.
Williams has been brought up and optioned two separate times now. One was to make his debut in an all but lost 2025 Rays season, and the other was to fill in for an injured Taylor Walls to start this year.
Still 22 years old with a lot to learn about being a big leaguer, Williams hasn’t latched on to the starting shortstop position the way Tampa Bay was hoping for. He walks the awkward line as a top prospect with enormous tools, but also big enough gaps in swing decisions and plate discipline that he is always a project player.
While not lighting up the International League in the first month, Williams is showing the power and glove work that will inevitably get him called back up to the major league squad.
Brody Hopkins has the makings of an ace but is starting the season in a worrying direction. Peek under the hood, and there are serious command and hard hit problems that the Rays are hoping can be corralled.
His stuff is still playing spectacularly, especially his fastball and curveball, but it is the cutter, which the Rays introduced into his arsenal last year to tremendous effect, that has been getting rocked. It’s a small sample, but making sure the cutter is in its best shape should be the natural last progression of Hopkins’ profile before getting the call to the Big Leagues.
As for the lesser-known names, offseason trade pickup Victor Mesa Jr. has been a savvy addition for team depth. Swing adjustments in the Marlins system last season saw him break out to the tune of his best minor league season yet. The Rays took notice, picked him up in a trade over the offseason, and have since watched him take a step further in their system.
This new look Mesa Jr. is slashing .323/.417/.565 in 16 games with major approach changes that suggest more than a fluke start. A near 5% drop in ground balls and an increase in line drives and flyballs have Mesa Jr. taking more of his contact outside the infield for extra base hits. It’s an extremely encouraging start that could soon lead to him earning a call-up if the hitting breakout continues.
Double-A Montgomery Biscuits
The greatest concentration of Tampa Bay pitching talent plays in Montgomery, with many of the arms in the 21-24 years old range on the brink of moving up to Triple-A. TJ Nichols, Santiago Suarez, Michael Forret, and Jackson Baumeister all represent arms with potential to stick in a major league rotation, some with higher ceilings than others.
The best of that bunch is Nichols, the Rays' 2025 Minor League Pitcher of the Year. He was recently placed on the 7-day IL with an undisclosed injury, but will look to continue his steep ascent to the Rays rotation in no time.
Nichols is so far a proud success story of the Rays' pitching development, who turned the sixth-rounder with questionable control into a hard strike throwing top-end starter. His fastball and slider are both big league-ready and are thrown in the zone at some of the highest rates in the minors. That quick turnaround in command issues has propelled him into a candidate for rotation turns sooner rather than later.
Suarez is younger but equally as intriguing. Control has never been an issue for him; if anything, it is his defining tool. Traded for at 17 years old, freshly signed out of Venezuela, Suarez has been the prize of the deal that saw Xavier Edwards head to Miami.
Still young at only 21, Suarez’s development has been fast-tracked as of late. A minuscule 3.8 walk percentage across his 2025 minor league season will do that when convincing the Rays to pitch him above the league average.
The control takes nothing away from his ability to throw a fastball up to 97 mph with a strong cutter to boot. He is still learning, as his curveball and changeup to deal with lefties are not formed fully.
The best news to come out of Montgomery this season has been Xavier Isaac’s seamless transition back to the field. What was thought to be a case of dehydration over the offseason turned into a discovered brain tumor that was operated on to save his life.
After weathering that storm, Isaac is back to playing with the health scare in the rearview and hitting the best he’s ever had. A 1.119 OPS to go along with six home runs and a .452 on-base percentage has given him a torrid start to the minor league season.
At 22 years old, he joins a deep pool of talented first base prospects in a Rays system that also sports Tre Morgan and Taitn Gray.
High-A Bowling Green Hot Rods
In Bowling Green, several projectable but far-off talents play. Of course, the No. 1 prospect in the Tampa Bay system and future of the center field position, Theo Gillen, warrants lots of monitoring.
Much like Isaac, his 181 wRC+ and .304 BA give the keen-eyed Texas-born slugger his best start to a minor league campaign, as his demolition of High-A pitching is proving that a promotion is in the near future.
Gillen has enough elite tools that the Rays will most likely see this hot start as a reason to test the star of their system even more. A taste of Double-A or even Triple-A level pitching is not a far-off idea for the 20-year-old five-tool wonder.
Gillen is not the only hitter in High-A with a well-rounded set of tools. Nathan Flewelling has gotten off to the start that several prospect evaluators had in mind for the promising Canadian catcher.
A third-round pick in 2024, Flewelling was an attractive steal of a pick for a Rays organization that has been devoid of catching talent throughout their franchise history.
His explosive left-handed power at just 18 gave the Rays several reasons to believe he could be the future of the position for years to come. He’s tapping into that power with five home runs through his first 19 games. Now, a centerpiece of his development will be sharpening dodgy catching and receiving skills that need major league coaching.
A fellow Hot Rod projected to rise from unranked to a top 100 prospect talent by FanGraphs is starter Gary Gill Hill. An athletic and well-built pitcher with a repeatable delivery, Gill Hill pitches heavily in the zone and does not give away free passes.
The strike-throwing ability with a couple of above-average pitches gives him a projectable floor to pitch from that not many other minor leaguers can match. That top-notch control makes him well-suited for a big league environment that eats pitchers up who cannot control their walks.
Finally, offseason trade acquisition Anderson Brito comes into this organization with high expectations. A fellow top prospect to go along with Jacob Melton in the Brandon Lowe trade, the Rays saw a lot to like in Brito’s deep arsenal that convinced them to swing this trade.
Scouts describe his 5-foot-10 frame as reason to believe he’s destined for bullpen duties, but the Rays are pushing back on that notion. Brito is going to be given the starter’s workload until he proves otherwise, and with the way he’s throwing the ball, it’ll be hard to stop him from starting.
The early returns are fantastic as his 12.89 strikeouts per nine and 1.98 FIP over 14.2 innings highlight an electric fastball that almost no other pitchers in High-A can match. The Rays don’t go out and trade top players for nothing, making the deal for Brito indicative of the fact that they see topline starter stuff in him.
Low-A Charleston River Dogs
Another offseason trade acquisition, Caden Bodine, is playing blinding baseball right now. A heavy favorite to win the college Golden Spikes award in 2025, the Coastal Carolina catcher played his way into a first-round pick for Baltimore that year.
Just as he was acclimating to his new organization, he was shipped to Tampa Bay in the Shane Baz trade. Elite contact skills from both sides of the plate and an above-average ability to handle behind the plate work give the Rays another option to supplement the catching position.
Those contact skills have never been more on display than his ridiculous .381 BA ranks among some of the highest of all the minor league levels.
10th-rounder from last year’s draft, Cooper Flemming is getting his first taste of pro ball to the tune of a .338 BA and 11.8% walk rate. Larger than most shortstops while still possessing a lankiness, Flemming was convinced by Tampa Bay’s signing bonus to back out of a Vanderbilt commitment.
Large projectable shortstops with plus arms and a still growing body are hard to find in the late rounds, making this pick look like a steal. There’s a chance that, as he continues to grow into his long limbs, third base might reveal itself to be better suited for him.
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Sam Hougham is an alumnus of UC Santa Barbara, who earned his degree in Communication. He is a passionate baseball writer and researcher who began his career at Diamond Digest, a platform for up-and-coming voices in baseball writing. Since then, he has launched his own website, The Daily Lineup Card, where he publishes long-form analytical pieces focused on scouting, drafting, and team analysis. A lifelong Tampa Bay Rays fan, Sam’s other sports interests include Aston Villa FC and the English Premier League, the NHL, and the NFL. You can follow him on X, @samuelhougham, or reach him via email at samhougham791@gmail.com.