Tampa Bay Rays: Brendan McKay listed as MLB’s third best LHP prospect

MLB.com recently published a list of the top ten left-handed pitching prospects. The Tampa Bay Rays claimed the number three spot.

The Tampa Bay Rays‘ deep farm system rears its head again! Jonathon Mayo of MLB.com published an article ranking the top ten left-handed pitching prospects in all of baseball. The ranking is as follows:

1. MacKenzie Gore, Padres
2. Jesus Luzardo, A’s
3. Brendan McKay, Rays
4. Tarik Skubal, Tigers
5. Nick Lodolo, Reds
6. Matthew Liberatore, Cardinals
7. A.J. Puk, A’s
8. Daniel Lynch, Royals
9. Brailyn Marquez, Cubs
10. DL Hall, Orioles

As you can see, Brendan McKay claimed the third-best ranking in all of baseball. Had the list been made a couple of weeks ago, the Rays would have claimed both the third and sixth spots with Matthew Liberatore getting the nod.

Liberatore was traded to the Cardinals for Jose Martinez and Randy Arozarena on January ninth.

With the Rays claiming Baseball-America’s number one ranked organization and MLB.com’s top-ranked farm system, you should expect to see Rays’ prospects on most top ten lists.

Brendan McKay made his debut with the big club last season. Mckay is loaded with talent and potential. There is some question as to whether or not there’ll be a spot in the rotation for him on Opening Day as the Rays have one of the deepest starting pitching arsenals they’ve had in recent memory.

They currently have Blake Snell, Charlie Morton, Tyler Glasnow, Yonny Chirinos and, Ryan Yarbrough ready to fill out the rotation. In addition to those five solid options, they have Brendan McKay and Trevor Richards waiting in the wings. Don’t forget Richards was coming off of a very good rookie season in 2018 and was even projected by many experts as a potential breakout star for Miami heading into last season.

In the article, Mayo rated McKay as one of the top control pitchers on the list and gave him the nod as the top candidate for Rookie of the Year in 2020.

Last season between double and triple-A, McKay absolutely dominated the minor league competition. He finished with a 1.10 ERA, 0.81 WHIP, and had 102 strikeouts in 73.2 innings pitched. McKay kept the ball in the park with an incredible 0.4 homers per nine and rarely gave out free passes with 2.2 walks per nine.

The Rays are loaded with pitching talent as five of their top-10 rated prospects (MLB.COM) are pitchers. McKay is at the top of that list.

One day in the near future we will see McKay as a fixture in the rotation, it’s just a matter of time. In the meantime, it’s always good to see the stud lefty show well on these sorts of lists.