The minor leagues provided another mixed bag of results, with several nice performances throughout the system. Overall, the Rays’ affiliates went 3-4 on the night.

Norfolk Tides 7, Durham Bulls 6 (12)

Luis Exposito hit a walk off home run with two out in the bottom of the twelfth inning to give the Tides the victory. Durham plated 4 in the top of the second against Brian Matusz, only to watch Norfolk respond with 5 runs of their own in the bottom of the frame. Durham retook the lead in the top of the seventh, pushing across runs on an Evan Longoria single and a Henry Wrigley fielder’s choice. Norfolk retied the game in the bottom of the inning, before winning in walk off fashion. Longoria ended 1-3 with a walk and an RBI. Will Rhymes and Cole Figueroa each had three hits in the loss.

Mississippi Braves 14, Montgomery Biscuits 5

Mississippi exploded for 12 runs over the final three frames to take a victory against the Biscuits. Leading 3-2 heading into the seventh inning, the Biscuits bullpen imploded, as the Braves scored 2 runs in the seventh, 7 in the eighth, and 3 more in the ninth. Chris Rearick, Marcus Fleming, and Scott Shuman combined to give up 10 runs (9 earned) on 10 hits and 4 walks in only 2.2 innings of work. Philip Gosselin provided much of the damage for the Braves, going 405 with a home run and 3 RBI, while scoring 3 runs.

Tampa Yankees 6, Charlotte Stone Crabs 2

The Stone Crabs and Yankees were tied at 2-2 heading into the top of the seventh. The Yankees then scored twice in the top of the seventh, and twice more in the top of the eighth to come away with the 6-2 victory in the first game of a four game series. Jimmy Patterson allowed 4 runs, with only 2 of them earned, in four innings of relief to take the loss. Enny Romero started, but only lasted 4 innings, giving up 2 runs on 2 hits and 4 walks while striking out 5 batters. Riccio Torrez went 2-4 with an RBI for the Stone Crabs.

Bowling Green Hot Rods 3, West Michigan Whitecaps 1

Ryan Carpenter was dominant over his 8 innings of work, as Bowling Green swept the three game series from the Whitecaps. He scattered 4 hits and a walk over his 8+ innings, giving up 1 earned as an inherited runner scored in the top of the ninth. Carpenter also struck out 4 batters. Josh Sale hit his first home run since June 10th, giving him 9 on the year. Juniel Querecuto went 2-3 with an RBI and a double.

Hudson Valley Renegades 7, Williamsport Crosscutters 4

The Renegades started out hot, scoring all seven runs in the first three innings, then held on to complete the sweep against the Crosscutters. After the Crosscutters went up 1-0 in the top of the first, the Renegades put up 5 in the bottom of the frame, highlighted by an error, a wild pitch, and a two run double from Geoff Rowan. Joey Rickard, Luke Maile, Joel Caminero, and Rowan all had two hits on the nighT. Williamsport starter Josh Warner was tagged for all 7 runs, with only 4 being earned, on 8 hits over 4 innings. Matthew Spann picked up the win, lasting 6 innings and giving up 3 unearned runs on 7 hits while striking out 2 batters.

Princeton Rays 8, Burlington Royals 2

The Rays jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead after three innings, and never looked back, coming away with an 8-2 win over the Burlington Royals. Alex Keudell picked up the victory, going 5 innings and allowing only 2 hits while striking out 3 batters. The only blemish on his night was a solo home run by Bubba Starling in the fourth inning. Colin Rodgers took the loss, giving up 5 runs (3 earned) over 5 innings on 5 hits and 2 walks, while striking out 2 batters. James Harris went 2-4 with a double, a triple, and 2 RBI. Brandon Martin chipped in with a home run and 2 RBI.

GCL Twins 3, GCL Rays 1

The Twins jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first and held on, taking a 3-1 victory. Despite out-hitting the Twins 8 to 6, the Rays only pushed across a single run in the top of the fifth inning. With the score 2-1 and runners on second and third with one out, Kuo Hua Lo escaped further trouble, getting a strikeout and a groundball to the mound to prevent further damage. Lo picked up the victory in relief, going 3.2 innings, allowing the 1 earned run on 5 hits, while striking out 4 batters. Geisel De La Cruz took the loss, permitting the two first inning runs on 4 hits and 1 walk in his 5 innings of work, while striking out 2 batters. Leopoldo Correa went 3-4 for the Rays, with 2 doubles and a run scored.

27 of the Rays’ 40 picks were college players, 67.5%, the percentage of any draft in Rays history. The Rays selected 35 college players in 2011, but they had 20 more picks in that draft compared to 2012 because of all their supplemental picks as compensation for departed free agents and because the draft was shortened from 50 to 40 rounds in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement. 35 divided by 60 is 58.3%. And the number of college players that the Rays selected trails only 2011 in their history. Where are the Rays doing?

The fact that the players are coming out of college obscures the fact that the Rays still drafted a lot of them (12 of 27) for upside. And secondly,  as we touched upon after Day 2, this will allow the Rays to sign as many picks as possible. The Rays drafted just 7 high school players and they’re going to be able to do everything they can to sign all 7. For their 6 junior college selections, some are easier signs than others, but they’ll look to sign as many as possible of them as well. What the Rays did in this draft was maximize their efficiency. College upside picks, especially in the later rounds, can be signed on the cheap but still come with the potential for big reward. And signing those picks cheaply allows the Rays to focus their energies on the tougher high school and junior college players and the funds to potentially get most of them signed. There’s next to no chance that the Rays sign all 40 of their picks. But there’s a real chance they could sign 36 or 37 the way they allotted they picks. Let’s go pick by pick with quick thoughts on the player being selected where they were selected. We’ll give a grade to each pick as well (which has to do with the players based on their draft slots, not necessarily on the players’ abilities or their abilities compared to one another). For actual scouting information on the players, please click the links on each players name.

1st Round: 3B Richie Shaffer- Nice value pick as he could have gone earlier. Gives the Rays legitimate power and a relatively safe bet to make the big leagues as productive corner player. Nothing flashy, but good value. Grade: A-

2nd Round: SS/CF Spencer Edwards- High school shortstop who will likely move to the outfield but was announced as a shortstop. Nice upside as 5-tool prospect, although hitting is most questionable tool. Grade: A

3rd Round: CF Alvin Toles - JC product is speedster in center with 5-tool talent as well, although once again hitting is a little questionable. Grade: A

4th Round: RHP Nolan Gannon- Projectable HS righty with a nice sinker, shows flashes with 12-to-6 curve. Nice upside but will be a project. Grade: B+

5th Round: OF Braylin Jackson- HS outfielder with more hit tool questions, but nice power/speed potential. Grade: B+

6th Round: RHP Damion Carroll- HS arm with mid-90′s velocity, everything else in question. Grade: B

7th Round: CF Marty Gantt- Senior is a great story and has solid tools across the board. Definite potential to be big league contributor. Grade: A-

8th Round: C Luke Maile- Junior has power and plate discipline, too many defensive questions. Grade: B-

9th Round: CF Joey Rickard- Junior can run and play defense. Upside of a 4th outfielder. Grade: B-

10th Round: LHP Sean Bierman- 5th-year senior has injury questions, shifty but not great stuff. Money-saving pick. Grade: C+

11th Round: CF Clayton Henning- High school football wide receiver is extremely raw but shows flashes of 4 tools. Grade: B+

12th Round: C Taylor Hawkins- High school catcher with big-time present power. Hit tool in question but tools defensively as well. Grade: A

13th Round: RHP Dylan Floro- Junior’s stuff regressed since being drafted by Rays out of high school. If restored, has nice upside. Grade: B

14th Round: LHP Chris Kirsch- JC lefty has four pitches including plus fastball and curve that flashes plus. Control is an issue. Grade: A

15th Round: RHP Willie Gabay- Hard throwing JC relief prospect who could move fast. Nice sinker. Grade: B+

16th Round: 2B/SS Tommy Coyle- Junior with solid tools all around with some speed. Utility player upside. Grade: B

17th Round: SS Ryan Dunn- Junior is low for shortstop but fluid actions and surprising power. Valuable if can stay at short. Grade: A-

18th Round: LHP Kevin Brandt- Senior lefty with unimpressive fastball but solid secondary pitches. LOOGY potential. Grade: B

19th Round: 1B Miguel Beltran- Senior has big power potential but looks out-of-shape and other tools are questionable. Grade: C+

20th Round: RHP R.J. Davis- Senior who touches triple-digits with fastball but command and secondary pitch issues. Grade: B+

21st Round: RHP Jon Weaver- Senior reliever is not overpowering but all-around solid arsenal. Middle relief potential. Grade: B

22nd Round: CF Willie Argo- Senior slipped in college but has power-speed upside. Could be a steal at this spot. Grade: A+

23rd Round: INF Reid Redman- 5th-year senior provides sparkling defense at third and second base, great utility profile. Grade: B+

24th Round: 3B Daniel Duran- Senior with nice hit tool but little power and no defensive position. Grade: B-

25th Round: LHP Jordan Harrison- Junior has questionable arsenal other than occasional flashes. Grade: C

26th Round: RHP Jason Wilson- Senior has nice fastball, solid curve, poor control. Shows potential as 4th-5th starter or back-end bullpen. Grade: A-

27th Round: RHP Alex Keudell- Senior features great curve but questionable fastball. Good command. Grade: B

28th Round: LHP Dayne Quist- Little senior lefty with little stuff but great command. Middle relief potential. Grade: B-

29th Round: P/OF Keaton Steele- JC pick has potential as bullpen arm, outfielder. The Rays are going to have fun with him. Grade: A-

30th Round: C Michael Williams- Senior plays solid defense, may hit a little. Grade: B

31st Round: C/OF Taylor Ward- HS pick does not have catcher skill-set, speedy with solid swing. Doubt he stays at catcher long-term. Grade: B-

32nd Round: SS Ben Kline- 5th-year senior has nice defensive tools and rock-solid ability all-around. Potential big league starting SS. Grade: A

33rd Round: LHP Luke Goodgion- Junior has good size, stuff, erratic control. Bullpen potential. Grade: B

34th Round: RHP Ryan Garton- Little senior righty but excellent change and solid all-around arsenal with some projection. Sleeper potential. Grade: A-

35th Round: RHP Kris Carlson- Senior with nasty stuff, fastball hits mid 90′s and great movement on slider, but horrific control. Grade: B+

36th Round: SS Bret McAfee- JC pick selected by Rays for second year in a row. Injury prone, but great defense with some offensive tools. Grade: B+

37th Round: RHP Rob Finneran- 5th-year senior with bulldog mentality and solid stuff. Best pitcher in the history of Bentley University. Grade: B

s38th Round: C Chad Nacapoy- 5th-year senior shows solid defense but needs work and questionable offense. Grade: B-

39th Round: C Geoff Rowan- Senior has untapped tools both offensively and defensively. Definite upside. Grade: B+

40th Round: RHP Nick Sawyer- JC pick has nice fastball-curveball combination but terrible control. Grade: B+

Looking at the grades, they’re mostly within the A’s and B+’s (over half of them are). I certainly didn’t like every pick, but I do really like this draft class. The Rays got several outstanding values from the college guys and some nice upside from the high school and JC ranks. There’s a lot of risk here. Most of these players they have great upside but come with significant questions as well. Most of them will not pan out. But this isn’t a boom or bust draft. There are just so many upside players that a handful of them will have to pan out and the Rays could really end up with several quality big leaguers and a bunch of other minor contributors from this draft class. It was strange that the Rays drafted so many college players, but they chose the best ones they could find and ones with often considerable potential and that’s all that really matters. And then there’s the factor that since the Rays drafted so many college players, it should help them get nearly everybody signed. This is a very interesting draft class by the Rays and it’s going to be exciting to see the Rays get these guys signed and have them start their pro careers, and we’ll have to see how they develop.

With their 39th round selection, the Rays drafted Geoff Rowan, a 5’9″, 190 senior catcher out of Northwestern. In 2012, Rowan posted just a .291/.341/.333 line with 7 doubles, no homers, and 17 RBI. He struck out 22 compared to just 8 walks. Defensively he threw out 48.1% of attempted basestealers but made 6 errors and allowed 5 passed balls. There are clearly big flaws in Rowan’s game. But he has the ability to resolve them.

Geoff Rowan should be hitting better than he has. (Credit: Daily Herald)

Rowan shows good bat speed but has a lot of moving parts in his swing, throwing off his timing too often. At times he shows some nice lift in his swing and hits for nice power, but that happens way too sporadically. In fact, he hit just 1 homer in four years at Northwestern. By the end of his time there he had stopped trying to undercut the ball at all and become a tap hitter. Another problem for Rowan is that he so little plate discipline and still doesn’t make a ton of contact. Rowan probably needs to start his approach at the plate from scratch. He has some tools but has failed to take advantage of them thus far.

Defensively, Rowan’s arm strength is outstanding but his accuracy is erratic. Sometimes he rushes his throws, something he really doesn’t have to do because of his arm strength. Defensively, his receiving ability needs some work but he moves perfectly well behind the plate and most of his struggles may be as a result of him thinking a little too much about his offense. He should be a good defensive catcher based on his abilities, but he has to execute.

Rowan, if everything comes together, still has a chance to be a solid big league starting catcher. That’s unlikely to happen but the Rays hope that they can restore some of his abilities and possibly get a productive player. Rowan had a tough four years at Northwestern. But he still has talent that’s waiting to be tapped into and the Rays hope that he can turn his play around in pro ball.