Under is an evaluation of the prospects within the farm system of the Tampa Bay Rays. Scouting reviews have been compiled with info offered by business sources in addition to our personal observations. That is the fifth yr we’re delineating between two anticipated reduction roles, the abbreviations for which you’ll see within the “place” column beneath: MIRP for multi-inning reduction pitchers, and SIRP for single-inning reduction pitchers. The ETAs listed usually correspond to the yr a participant must be added to the 40-man roster to keep away from being made eligible for the Rule 5 draft. Guide changes are made the place they appear acceptable, however we use that as a rule of thumb.
A fast overview of what FV (Future Worth) means may be discovered right here. A a lot deeper overview may be discovered right here.
All the ranked prospects beneath additionally seem on The Board, a useful resource the positioning provides that includes sortable scouting info for each group. It has extra particulars (and up to date TrackMan information from numerous sources) than this text and integrates each crew’s checklist so readers can evaluate prospects throughout farm programs. It may be discovered right here.
Different Prospects of Observe
Grouped by kind and listed so as of choice inside every class.
Strikeout-Heavy Bats
Ryan Cermak, CF
Brock Jones, CF
Angel Mateo, RF
Jones and Cermak have been the sixty fifth and 71st total picks within the 2022 draft, two school outfielders with large energy and questionable hit instruments. Each are putting out a ton as professionals. Mateo, 20, is a power-hitting Dominican outfielder with ridiculous hand velocity. He takes a ton of off-balance hacks.
Depth Arms with Aid Profiles
Alfredo Zarraga, RHP
Adam Boucher, RHP
Gerlin Rosario, RHP
Keyshawn Askew, LHP
Garrett Acton, RHP
Haden Erbe, RHP
Derrick Edington, RHP
Andy Rodriguez, RHP
Acquired from the Cubs for Miles Mastrobuoni, Zarraga is a robust little reliever with upper-90s arm power. He spent most of 2024 at Double-A Montgomery and completed in Durham, combining for a 30.4% Ok% and 12.8% BB% throughout 57 innings. Although he hasn’t been throwing fairly as arduous throughout 2025 Cactus League play, Zarraga sat 95-96 final yr and was often touching 97. He wants that velocity to return. Boucher, a latest tenth rounder out of Duke, peppers the highest of the strike zone with mid-90s fastballs and cutters. He’s minimize his walks since school, albeit it largely in opposition to Low-A hitters in 2024. Rosario is a 23-year-old lengthy reliever who spent most of final yr at Low-A. He has a magic trick splitter and a median slider, which he would possibly be capable of pitch backwards with in reduction to take strain off his 91-mph fastball. He’s in that Devin Candy-y, fringe 40-man space. Askew is a sidearm lefty reliever with a median sinker/slider combo and below-average management. Acton is a former A’s prospect who debuted after which was launched in 2023. He was on the complete season injured checklist all of 2024 and is again this spring. At his finest, he has an increase/run mid-90s fastball that performs up due to his violent, misleading supply. Erbe is a hulking 6-foot-3 righty with mid-90s warmth, an sometimes good slider, and 30-grade management. He served in a late-inning reduction capability at Double-A final yr. The 6-foot-8, 25-year-old Edington has mid-90s velocity and struck out 10.16/9 IP in 2024. A extra constant slider will give him extra comfy large league projection. David Laurila talked with him about his distinctive journey right here. Rodriguez is a lightning-armed righty with mid-90s warmth and slider. His fastball’s motion causes it to minimize, and Rodriguez’s measurement and max-effort supply create threat that he gained’t maintain it as he climbs the minors
Catching Depth
Ricardo Genovés, C
Raudelis Martinez, C
Tatem Levins, C
J.D. Gonzalez, C
Genovés, 25, is a bodily catcher with an important arm and a sluggish bat. He’ll pop sub-1.9 pretty usually however struggles some with ball-blocking, and whereas Genovés’ swing is geared for elevate, his bat velocity is manner beneath large league requirements. He’s a pleasant depth choice due to his hose. Martinez is a slender, athletic catcher with superior bat-to-ball really feel and an above-average arm. He’s approaching age 23 and has struggled so as to add related weight and power. Levins, 25, is a lefty-hitting catcher whose swing has pretty pure elevate. He’s had some A-ball success, however is much less bodily than the standard large league catcher. Gonzalez was a projectable Puerto Rican highschool catcher with trying swing who the Padres gave $550,000 to within the 2023 draft earlier than buying and selling him to Tampa Bay within the Jason Adam deal. He’s putting out an excessive amount of to have prospect worth in the intervening time.
Early-Yr Movers?
Alex Cook dinner, RHP
Mason Auer, RHP
Jeremy Pilon, LHP
Cook dinner regarded like an “arrow up” reduction prospect early in 2024, as he was having success as a starter on the again of a fastball-heavy method. He received damage and missed the remainder of the season with damage, and is at present a camp NRI who hasn’t thrown in a giant league sport but. Auer was a two-way highschool prospect (as much as 97 at Space Codes) who entered professional ball as an outfielder and had low-level success earlier than struggling on the higher ranges. Now 23, he’s moved again to the mound and is once more buzzing within the mid-90s. Pilon, 19, is a misleading French Canadian southpaw who threw practically 70% fastballs in 2024 and struck out greater than a batter per inning in Charleston. He struggled with walks and is usually unpolished, however there’s positively one thing occurring along with his fastball that makes it extra playable than a 91-mph pitch.
Depth Starters and Outfielders
Duncan Davitt, RHP
Cole Wilcox, RHP
Ty Cummings, RHP
Tristan Peters, OF
Matthew Etzel, OF
Davitt was a cool low-slot man at Iowa who has efficiently been was a backend starter prospect in professional ball. His arm slot has been raised some, and he’s throwing strikes with an increase/run fastball and sweeper; each play as common due to Davitt’s capacity to cover the ball. He’ll have a sneaky 40-man case 9 months from now if he can discover a third viable pitch. Wilcox hasn’t been in a position to reclaim his peak upper-90s velocity and pitched like a slider-heavy depth starter choice in 2024, working 143.2 innings mixed between Double- and Triple-Some time putting out simply 18.3% of opponents. Cummings was supposedly acquired from Seattle because the PTBNL within the Randy Arozarena deal, however his MiLB participant web page hasn’t been up to date to replicate that. He’s a thin low-slot righty starter with a low-90s fastball and common slider, a Davitt starter package who seems like a possible no. 6-9 starter. Peters and Etzel are smaller, contact-oriented nook outfielders on the higher ranges with out significant energy.
Rays Specials
Narciso Polanco, 3B
Nicandro Aybar, 3B
Jose Monzon, SS
Jose Tovar, C
The Rays have a tendency towards numerous smaller, contact-oriented hitting prospects, and listed here are some extra. Polanco is a 20-year-old Dominican third baseman who had a 100 wRC+ at Low-A final yr. Aybar, 20, and Monzon, 19, had bat-to-ball success on the advanced. Tovar is a smaller lefty-hitting catcher who, in his second DSL season, was among the many org leaders in touch charge, and likewise stings the ball properly for his measurement.
System Overview
That is among the many finest handful of farm programs in baseball, and it is likely to be probably the most enjoyable. There are gamers ranked fifteenth or so on this checklist who may feasibly rank inside the highest 5 in lesser programs (a pleasant reminder that the grades are extra illustrative than the ordinal rankings), and a number of other of those prospects are distinctive gamers. There simply aren’t many Chandler Simpsons, or Brayden Taylors, or Ian Seymours, or Xavier Isaacsizz… we may go on. The Rays have seemingly leaned into their long-held organizational modus operandi of Voltron’ing collectively element elements to create a better large league entire, and it’s now mirrored of their farm system. There are incomplete gamers on the roster who’ve one or two elite, standout instruments, and Tampa Bay’s crew development permits them to be deployed in such a manner that these instruments are those that influence the sport. Chandler Simpson goes to be a giant deal, and doubtless quickly. Brayden Taylor’s aggro launch hitting fashion and protection are going to be enjoyable to observe, even when he strikes out a ton. Gary Gill Hill and Santiago Suarez are pitchability maestros, whereas Jackson Baumeister and Ty Johnson are pitch design science tasks. Once more, it’s a enjoyable group.
A part of the rationale the system is so deep is due to the Rays’ method to the commerce market. They’re all the time getting again two or three gamers for each one they commerce, and this snowballs expertise, helps fight damage attrition, and diversifies their threat of going completely bust on any given deal. This was very true in 2024, as the massive league crew wasn’t aggressive for the primary time shortly and the Rays made a number of seller-style trades. Twenty of the gamers on this checklist have been initially with different orgs, and there are much more latest graduates (like Hunter Bigge, Jonny DeLuca, Joe Boyle, and so forth.) from the final 12 months of offers.
Internationally, the Rays have alternated a depth-driven method (like they did in 2025) with an eggs-in-one-basket method (like with Brailer Guerrero and Carlos Colmenarez). Actually solely Yoniel Curet may be touted as a near-ready large league contributor from the Latin American market. Brailer Guerrero is proficient, however he’s nonetheless extra of a “we’ll see” prospect as a consequence of damage.
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We’d additionally prefer to take the chance to welcome James Fegan, who will likely be becoming a member of FanGraphs as a prospect contributor. James is a Chicago native who has been writing about baseball on the web since 2010, showing throughout quite a few retailers together with Baseball Prospectus, ESPN, FanSided, The Athletic, The Chicago Solar-Instances, Baseball America and elsewhere. A BBWAA member, James has coated the White Sox as a beat author since 2017, which has concerned monitoring a variety of prospect success tales and lots of extra failures. As a longtime appreciator of how FanGraphs’ prospect protection blends an understanding of the statistical indicators of profitable main leaguers with the outlier bodily qualities that drive them, James is worked up to investigate and proceed studying about all issues prospects going ahead.