Two weeks into the second half of the Southern League season and the North and South Divisions have flipped. In the South, it’s the long-suffering Mississippi Braves (Atlanta Braves) that have taken the early lead with a 5-5 record after Sunday. In the North, the Montgomery Biscuits (Tampa Bay Rays) sit at the top spot at 7-3.
The second half has seen a stark turnaround for the Tennessee Smokies (Chicago Cubs) as well. Thanks to a few roster upgrades, especially 2015 ninth overall MLB draft pick Ian Happ, the Smokies have opened the second half winning their first two series over the Pensacola Blue Wahoos (Cincinnati Reds) and the Jacksonville Suns (Miami Marlins). In that stretch Tennessee reeled off five straight wins, picking up just their third and fourth series wins of the season.
But no team has changed its fortunes more than the Biscuits. The Rays farm hands opened up their Southern League second half with an impressive 4-1 series win over the Biloxi Shuckers (Milwaukee Brewers). The Shuckers took the Blue Wahoos down to the wire in the first half in the south, so Montgomery’s emphatic win actually means something. The beat the Mobile BayBears (Arizona Diamondbacks) in their series 3-2.
Welcome to Riverwalk Stadium, Yonny!! Chirinos walks off to a standing ovation after his first start in Montgomery! pic.twitter.com/XsqWhx2r3I
— Montgomery Biscuits (@BiscuitBaseball) July 4, 2016
So who are these Biscuits? Shortstop Willy Adames is the No. 2-ranked prospect in the Rays’ system and he’s had a solid season in his first season in Double-A. He’s batting .264 with 22 doubles, three triples, eight home runs and 35 RBIs, but he’s been fanned 66 times so far and is currently riding a four-game hitless streak.
Starting pitcher and No. 3 Rays prospect Taylor Guerrieri (7-4, 4.32 ERA) didn’t drop a single game in the month of April, going 5-0 in six starts. For the former 2011 first round pick, this is a nice time to start peaking.
New @RaysRadio Prospect Spotlight features @TaylorG1201. Full episode: https://t.co/UfA7n6QwUx. #RaysOnDemandhttps://t.co/Busxeq8Yqy
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) June 16, 2016
Ryne Stanek, the No. 16 Rays prospect heading into the season, moved from the starting rotation to the bullpen in June and he’s been solid there. The Bicsuits are using him as a set up guy and he’s had six good outings to go with one bad one, a two-hit, two run, three walk showing against the Shuckers on June 23.
The Rays are keeping Chih-Wei Hu, their No. 19-ranked prospect, as a starter right now even though he’s had some tough luck. He hasn’t won a game since May 14 and while he’s getting his innings in, averaging six a game, he’s not done much with the shot. His ERA is still low at 2.56 and his walks are down so it looks like the Rays are just going to ride it out.
Preseason No. 7 prospect Jake Bauers hasn’t had any trouble adjusting to his first season in Double-A ball. He’s batting .283 with 15 doubles, 10 home runs and 44 RBIs. His strikeouts are also a little high at 49, but no where near the wind that Adames is generating.
Any chance the Rays go aggresive with Jake Bauers when Pearce goes on DL over lesser options Field/Varona/Goebbert https://t.co/xDDPO7g1mC
— Chris S (@Dbullsfan) June 21, 2016
Rays No. 11 prospect Casey Gillaspie is doing about the same work with his bat as Adames and Bauers, hitting .272 with 18 doubles, nine home runs and 30 RBIs. His strikeouts are high too at 65. These guys either connect or go sit down. Not a lot of middle ground.
The surprise of the second half for Montgomery is outfielder Cade Gotta. He was a 26th round draft pick out of San Diego Christian College in 2014 and, so far, he’s outperforming all their big-name prospects. After hitting .306 with nine doubles, two triples, two home runs and 17 RBIs in the High-A Florida State League for the Charlotte Crabs, he was promoted to Montgomery on June 9 without missing so much as a stroke. He’s batting .313 with six doubles, one triple and nine RBIs.
Starting pitcher Hunter Wood (4-1) didn’t show up on many preseason lists either, but he’s working on a pretty good start to his Double-A career since getting called up from Charlotte on May 29. His ERA is a little high at 3.38 thanks to an eight-run disaster against the Chattanooga Lookouts on June 17 for his only loss for the Biscuits so far. In his four wins he gave up runs in just one game, two to the Blue Wahoos on June 12. Every other game so far has been a nice big zero for the former 29th round pick out of Howard College in Texas.
