Tampa Bay Rays 2026 Minor League Roundup: Week 22

This was the 22nd week of full minor league play (stats are entering play on Tuesday, September 8th).

According to FanGraphs (which factors in age and proximity to the big leagues), prospect Theo Gillen tops the system and might just find himself in the running for Minor League Player of the Year. Gillen ranks 3th among all minor leaguers while Caden Bodine ranks 7th.

Meanwhile, Aidan Cremarosa remains the top hurler in the system despite spending several weeks on the Injured List. Thus far in his first professional season, Cremarosa has a 2.82 ERA | 3.02 FIP with a 29.8 K% & 6.0 BB% over 76.2 IP in Single-A. FanGraphs slotted the 22-year old as the 30th top prospect in the Rays system during their midseason rankings.

RUMBLINGS

• Ryan Cermak, the 71st overall selection in the 2022 draft, has been on a nice tear. Since August 26th, the 25-year old is hitting .389/.463/1.000 with 7 HR over 41 plate appearances in High-A
• Austin Slater was resigned.
• Jadher Areinamo has missed all of August due to injury. He was activated on September 2nd and then promoted to Triple-A on September 5th. He is now among the youngest players in Triple-A this season. Between AA/AAA thiseason, Areinamo is hitting .252/.296/.434 with 13 HR, registering a 90 wRC+ over 313 PA.
• Baseball America ranked the top 35 DSL prospects from this season; Rays are represented by Victor Valdez at number 16
• Baseball America looked into how each first round draft pick has fared thus far
• The Durham Bulls were on the wrong side of history last night as Thomas Pannone threw a perfect game against them while pitching for the Nashville Sounds, the Triple-A team for the Milwaukee Brewers

TEAM LEADERS

• Must currently be assigned to that team
• Baseball America’s top ten prospects are featured below each team they’re currently assigned to.
• (minimum of 230 TBF & PA)

Tampa Bay Rays

Top 10 Prospects

• None currently on active roster

Durham Bulls

Team Offensive Leaders:
AVG: .250, Blake Sabol
OBP: .336, Tatem Levins
SLG: .397, Blake Sabol
HR: 13, Logan Davidson
wRC+: 89, Tatem Levins
SB: 36, Homer Bush Jr

Team Pitching Leaders:
ERA: 2.48, Evan Reifert
FIP: 4.27, Evan Reifert
K%: 32.6%, Evan Reifert
BB%: 4.3%, Mason Englert
WHIP: 1.18, Evan Reifert
AVG: .177, Evan Reifert
WHIFF%: 14.8%, Evan Reifert

Top 10 Prospects

• #3 Brody Hopkins
  • AAA: 5.23 ERA | 4.87 FIP | 27.6 K% | 21.1 BB% | .207 AVG | 12.7 WHIFF% | 93 IP
• #5 Caden Bodine
  • AAA: .364/.395/.667 | 13.2 K% | 7.9 BB% | 2 HR | 1 SB | 160 wRC+ | 38 PA
  • AA: .316/.397/.447 | 6.7 K% | 11.2 BB% | 5 HR | 4 SB | 127 wRC+ | 179 PA
  • A+: .341/.411/.477 | 6.6 K% | 7.3 BB% | 4 HR | 3 SB | 133 wRC+ | 151 PA
  • A: .379/.433/.614 | 3.9 K% | 9.2 BB% | 5 HR | 1 SB | 176 wRC+ | 152 PA
    • 8/25: Promoted to Triple-A
    • 6/30: Promoted to Double-A
    • 5/19: Promoted to High-A

Montgomery Biscuits

Team Offensive Leaders:
AVG: .309, Austin Overn
OBP: .402, Theo Gillen
SLG: .565, Austin Overn
HR: 26, Will Simpson
wRC+: 151, Austin Overn
SB: 49, Mac Horvath

Team Pitching Leaders:
ERA: 4.35, Chris Clark
FIP: 4.44, Chris Clark
K%: 25.3%, Jackson Baumeister
BB%:  3.8%, Santiago Suarez
WHIP 1.22, Santiago Suarez
AVG: .221, Jackson Baumeister
WHIFF%: 14.1%, Jackson Baumeister

Top 10 Prospects

• #1 Theo Gillen
  • AA: .294/.402/.512 | 19.8 K% | 14.3 BB% | 9 HR | 16 SB | 142 wRC+ | 252 PA
  • A+: .342/.449/.589 | 23.8 K% | 14.3 BB% | 12 HR | 28 SB | 166 wRC+ | 265 PA
    • 6/23: Promoted to Double-A
• #10 Santiago Suarez
  • AA: 4.65 ERA | 4.95 FIP | 18.8 K% | 3.8 BB% | .266 AVG | 11.1 WHIFF% | 120 IP

Bowling Green Hot Rods

Team Offensive Leaders:
AVG: .291, Tony Santa Maria
OBP: .414, Ryan McCoy
SLG: .541, Ryan McCoy
HR: 21, Nathan Flewelling
wRC+: 145, Ryan McCoy
SB: 55, Tony Santa Maria

Team Pitching Leaders:
ERA: 3.76, Noah Beal
FIP: 4.13, Noah Beal
K%: 29.3%, Trevor Harrison
BB%: 5.2%, Dominic Niman
WHIP: 1.27, Dominic Niman
AVG: .230, Noah Beal
WHIFF%: 17.7%, Noah Beal

Top 10 Prospects

• #4 Nathan Flewelling
  • A+: .243/.364/.452 | 27.2 K% | 14.6 BB% | 21 HR | 8 SB | 112 wRC+ | 486 PA
• #9 Anderson Brito
  • A+: 3.34 ERA | 4.50 FIP | 28.8 K% | 14.4 BB% | .240 AVG | 13.4 WHIFF% | 32.1 IP
    • 5/23: Placed on 7-day Injured List

Charleston River Dogs

Team Offensive Leaders:
AVG: .298, Cooper Flemming
OBP: .389, Taitn Gray
SLG: .462, Taitn Gray
HR: 11, Cooper Flemming
wRC+: 131, Taitn Gray
SB: 41, Alberth Palma

Team Pitching Leaders:
ERA: 2.52, Jacob Kuhn
FIP: 3.02, Aidan Cremarosa
K%: 29.8%, Aidan Cremarosa
BB%: 5.5%, Aidan Haugh
WHIP: 0.90, Aidan Cremarosa
AVG: .182, Aidan Cremarosa
WHIFF%: 15.3%, Aidan Cremarosa

Top 10 Prospects

• #2 Grady Emerson
  • A: .176/.283/.216 | 21.7 K% | 13.3 BB% | 0 HR | 2 SB | 48 wRC+ | 60 PA
• #6 Cooper Flemming
  • A: .298/.379/.450 | 17.2 K% | 9.8 BB% | 11 HR | 16 SB | 126 wRC+ | 518 PA
• #7 Taitn Gray
  • A: .296/.389/.462 | 21.8 K% | 12.8 BB% | 8 HR | 13 SB | 131 wRC+ | 312 PA
  • CPX: .333/.400/.611 | 20.0 K% | 5.0 BB% | 1 HR | 0 SB | 140 wRC+ | 20 PA
    • 6/1: Placed on the 7-day IL
    • 7/14: Began rehab assignment
    • 7/28: Activated from the IL
• #9 Daniel Pierce
  • A: .252/.336/.390 | 28.6 K% | 7.9 BB% | 4 HR | 6 SB | 101 wRC+ | 140 PA
    • 4/22: Placed on the 7-day IL
    • 5/2: Activated from the IL
    • Hasn’t played since May 30th. Underwent shoulder surgery. Likely out for the year