Triple-A International League: Durham Bulls 16, Gwinnett Braves 8

Reid Brignac has cooled of late. But as the Rays are evaluating their options with the trade deadline approaching, Brignac could not have picked a better night to break out. Lance Pendleton started for Durham and had a disaster outing, but you have to give him credit for remaining in the game so long. He went 5.2 innings allowing 8 runs on 10 hits, striking out 3 while walking 3 as well. Honestly, it was a gritty performance, and it was the difference in the game. Despite such a horrific night, Pendleton earned the win in the game, and it’s hard not to say he deserved it given the circumstances of the game. In sharp contrast, Gwinnett starter Jose Lugo lasted just two-thirds of an inning, allowing 4 runs. Following Pendleton, the Bulls bullpen of Adam Liberatore, Josh Lueke, and Dane De La Rosa tossed the final 3.1 innings scoreless. On offense, several Bulls had huge nights, beginning with Brignac, who went 2 for 5 with a grand slam and a walk. His grand slam made an 8-7 game into a 12-7 game, shifting the momentum back in the Bulls favor as this game wasn’t close by the end. Rich Thompson also went 4 for 6 with a leadoff homer in the game, a double, a stolen base 2 RBI, and 4 runs scored, Henry Wrigley went 2 for 4 with a double, 2 walks, 4 RBI, and a run scored, Leslie Anderson had a 2-run home run, and Tim Beckham went 2 for 5 with a walk, a stolen base, and 2 runs scored. It wasn’t nearly as crisp as the Rays’ blowout win on Wednesday, but the Bulls kept it together and came away victorious.

Double-A Southern League: Montgomery Biscuits 4, Jackson Generals (SEA) 3

Kyle Lobstein had another mostly great start that makes you shake your head, Hak-Ju Lee and Ty Morrison continued their steals parade, and Mikie Mahtook was money in his Biscuits starting debut as the Biscuits held on to beat the Generals 4-3. Lobstein went 7 innings allowing 2 runs on 4 hits, striking out 6 while walking 1. But his groundout to flyout ratio was just 4-10! His groundout to airout ratio hasn’t been above 1.00 since June 15th, 8 starts ago, even as he has pitched well! Some guys are simply flyballs pitchers, but this is getting crazy. Lee and Morrison each went 1 for 3 from the top of the lineup and ran down the Generals’ throats. Lee’s hit was a double, and he also walked twice, stole two bases to give him 36 on the year, and scored twice as well. Morrison, meanwhile, walked once, stole his 13th base at Montgomery and 24th on the year, notched 2 RBI, and scored once. And Mahtook, starting in a game for Montgomery for the first time after getting his feet wet with a pinch-hitting appearance on Tuesday, went 2 for 4 from the cleanup spot with 2 doubles.

High-A Florida State League: Ft. Myers Miracle (MIN) 12, Charlotte Stone Crabs 4

Awfully hard to be perfect two nights in a row. Rays affiliates backed the Rays’ encouraging win Tuesday with a perfect 5-0 night, but they had to settle for 5-1 on Wednesday as the Rays blew out the Orioles as the Stone Crabs had a tough night. Enny Romero had no idea where the ball was going and ended up with a scary final line, allowing 8 runs, 7 earned, in just 3 innings, striking out 4 while walking 5. Romero has walked 4 or more batters in 5 consecutive starts. He has electric stuff but has to find some measure of control. The Stone Crabs were down 11-0 before they managed 4 runs in the 8th. Todd Glaesmann slammed a 2-run homer in his Charlotte debut, Luke Bailey also homered, and Derek Dietrich went 3 for 4 with a triple and a run scored.

Low-A Midwest League: Bowling Green Hot Rods 15, Lansing Lugnuts (TOR) 13 (13 innings)

Wow. This game was as crazy and as captivating as you’re going to see. The two teams combined for 28 runs on 39 hits with 9 innings not enough to decide the victor and the first score in extra innings not being the winning margin. Ryan Carpenter had an awfully tough night, putting the Hot Rods in an 8-2 hole at one point as he went 4.2 innings allowing 8 runs on 13 hits, striking out 1 and walking 1 as well. But the Hot Rods battled back with 3 in the 5th, 2 in the 6th, and 1 in the 7th to tie it up at 8. Stayton Thomas relieved Carpenter with 2.1 shutout innings with 3 strikeouts and was the only pitcher to not allow a run in the game. An unearned run allowed by Jason McEachern gave the Lugnuts a 9-8 lead heading to the 9th. Then the Hot Rods ralllied for four runs in the top of the 9th to take a 12-8 lead, with Josh Sale delivering a 2-run triple. But Kevin Patterson delivered a game-tying 3-run homer for Lansing in the bottom of the inning off of Austin Hubbard as this game continued. The Hot Rods finally thought they had the game when Juniel Querecuto scored on an error in the 11th, but a Shane Opitz RBI triple off Andrew Bellatti kept the game going. Finally in the top of the 13th inning, the Hot Rods got a 2-run double from Ryan Brett, and Bellatti held the line in the bottom of the frame as the Hot Rods won 15-13. Jake Hager went 2 for 7 with a homer, a walk, a stolen base, 4 RBI, and a run scored, Josh Sale went 1 for 3 with a triple, 3 walks, 3 RBI, and 3 runs scored, Querecuto went 4 for 6 with a double, a walk, and 3 runs scored, Brett went 2 for 6 with a double, 2 walks, 2 RBI, and 2 runs scored, and Alejandro Segovia and Drew Vettleson each had multiple-hit games while Taylor Motter went just 1 for 5 but stole 2 bases and drove in 2 runs.

Gantt and the Renegades somehow managed to pull off an incredible comeback again. (Credit: College of Charleston)

Short Season-A New York-Penn League: Hudson Valley Renegades 10, Tri-City ValleyCats (HOU) 9 (12 innings)

This team just doesn’t give up. Two nights after overcoming an 8-0 deficit to win, the Renegades came up with another huge rally here to win their 7th straight game. Reinaldo Lopez didn’t have nearly the disaster that that some of the other starters we’ve seen in this recap had, allowing 3 runs on 6 hits in 4 innings, striking out 1 while walking 4. He actually left with the game tied at 3. Ian Kendall was not so fortunate. He allowed 3 runs each in the 5th and 6th innings to put the Renegades up against an 9-3 deficit. But the Renegades didn’t lose confidence. They remained calm, and came right back. It started with Kendall, who tossed 2 shutout innings to finish his outing. And while Kendall provided some pitching stability, the offense finally came alive. Tommy Coyle laced a 2-run double in the 7th to pull the ‘Gades within 9-5. And in the bottom of the 8th, a Deshun Dixon RBI single paired with an error scored 3 runs to pull Hudson Valley within 9-8 before Joey Rickard drilled a game-tying RBI triple. Rob Finneran then matched up against Tri-City’s Blake Ford as they game went into extra innings. Finneran gave the Renegades the best relief appearance of his young career, allowing just a hit in 3 innings spanning from the 9th to the 11th, striking out 2 while walking 1 and posting a 4-0 groundout to flyout ratio. Finneran has struggled through a terrible pro debut, but maybe Wednesday will go down as the turning point for him. After Dylan Floro tossed a perfect 12th with 3 groundouts for the Renegades, they finally sealed the deal on their incredible comeback win. With 2 outs and a runner on 2nd, Marty Gantt came through with a walk-off RBI single as the Renegades won 10-9. Gantt went 3 for 5 with a walk, the clutch RBI, and 2 runs scored, Tommy Coyle went 2 for 5 with a double, a walk, his 10th steal, 2 RBI, and a run scored, Rickard went 2 for 4 with a double, a walk, an RBI, and a run scored, and Luke Maile had a 2-run double in the first inning while Ryan Dunn and Leonardo Reginatto both had multiple hits.

Rookie Gulf Coast League: GCL Rays 2, GCL Twins 1

There had to be some pitching somewhere in the Rays organization on Wednesday night. Of course, it came in the pitcher-friendly GCL, where the GCL Rays won their second consecutive game, both by a 2-1 score. Luis Cabrera, a 21 year old converted outfielder, got the start for the GCL Rays and went 6 one-run innings allowing just 5 hits while striking out 4 and walking none. His groundout to flyout ratio was 6-5. Cabrera was an utter disaster after being signed as a 16 year old by the Rangers in 2006, but it is nice to see him reconstructing his career as a pitcher. So far in 2012, he has a 3.25 ERA with a 17-5 strikeout to walk ratio in 27.2 IP, pretty terrific for someone who started pitching full-time last year. Isaac Gil tossed the final three frames for the GCL Rays, allowing no runs on 3 hits, striking out 2 while walking 1 and posting a 5-1 groundout to flyout ratio. In terms of the precious little offense in the game, Leopoldo Correa went 3 for 3 with a walk but couldn’t factor in the scoring. Jiminson Natera‘s RBI single and Yoel Araujo‘s sac fly were the 2 GCL Rays runs. Bralin Jackson also went 1 for 4.

You can see in this picture (taken with poor resolution by me) how far Ames’ arm goes behind his shoulder before coming all the way back around.

Ames, 21, is a big 6’4″, 220 and filled out, but he has a lot of work he still needs to do on his arsenal. The 42nd overall pick in the 2011 MLB Draft, Ames features a crossfire delivery that provides deception but also comes with its own set of issues. Ames has some effort in his delivery, not a scary amount but still a little concerning, and he also can’t find a consistent release point, throwing off his control. I saw Ames throw out of a crazy amount of arm slots in the game, mostly ranging from high-three quarters to low-three quarters.

Ames throws a fastball, a changeup, and a slider. His fastball in the low-90′s features good run and nice sink when he is able to get on top of it, which is most of the time but certainly not all. Ames can get his fastball up to 95-96 MPH, but way too often when he does that he completely loses control of it. Ames gets into trouble when he leaves his fastball up in the zone, which is way too common an occurrence at this point. Ames’ changeup at its best shows great arm action and tantalizing late break with the bottom falling out at the end. But it varies quite a bit, at times flattening out, and he also tipped it a few times by slowing down his arm action. And then there’s the matter that he couldn’t always control it, let alone command it, leaving it up in the zone at times and a few times missing way off the plate. And then there’s his slider. When he had his high-three quarters arm slot on it, it looked exactly like his fastball before featuring devastating late break. But that was by no means all the time. He didn’t always know where it was going, and the worst thing was that it got slurvy at times. He actually got a strikeout as the hitter watched the slurvy slider go by and had an expression on his face like “what the heck was that?”

Ames shows flashes of three plus pitches that play up thanks to deception, but his delivery completely throws him off way too often. When he’s on, he’s dominant with three plus pitches that force swings-and-misses and weak contact. When he’s off, he walks every other batter and leaves pitches up in the zone as a tee for bullets coming off the opposition’s bats. Ames is 21 years old and has time to figure himself out as a pitcher, and if he does, he has good potential, maybe as high as a number two starter. Will that ever happen?

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Finneran, who turns 23 in September, is the greatest pitcher in the history of Bentley University and was actually drafted out of their business school. Finneran, selected by the 37th round of the 2012 MLB Draft is relatively similar physically to Ames at 6’3″, 215 and also throws a fastball, a changeup, and a slider, but he is not nearly the same caliber prospect. Finneran is another guy with a pretty deceptive delivery. His fastball is in the 90-91 MPH range with some sink at its best, but too often it straightens out and is left hittable in the middle of the plate, and that’s when Finneran gets hit hard. Finneran’s changeup is probably his best pitch, featuring nice arm action with good late sink, but he throws it out of a slightly higher arm slot at times, preventing him from selling it. He also gets in trouble when he fails to get on top of it and fails to get the late bite. His slider is only a decent pitch, featuring late break but not an exceptional amount of it, and it gets slurvy at times as well. Finneran has a lot of work that needs to be done to get the movement on his fastball and stop leaving it up in the zone. His upside appears to be a middle reliever.

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Jose Alberto Molina is interesting primarily because of his name, but he has some ability. A 21 year old lefty listed at 5’11″, 160 (he looked bigger to be), Molina features major control issues on his fastball as he overthrows it. But when Molina can just relax and throw his fastball in the lower 90′s, it features heavy sink. His changeup is another interesting pitch, featuring nice run and sink from the same arm slot. But he struggles to control and command both his offerings, limiting his consistency at this point. You always have to watch the lefties, and Molina is no exception. His upside appears to be a middle reliever who can come in and get out of jams with double plays.

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.