5 Tampa Bay Rays make Baseball America's top 100 prospect list

No. 97 Curtis Mead- 2B

Born in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia, Curtis Mead is known for his power that will surely be as assett to the Rays moving forward.One prospect claims, "Mead has impressive bat speed," and "he very rarely makes soft contact." Mead played the majority of his games for the Rays A and AA teams last year but did play 4 games at the AAA level and was able to rise to the occasion with a .429 average, 6 hits and 1 home run in 14 at bats.

At 22 years old, Mead has a lot of time to make some noise in the minor leagues. He will have to wait to wait his turn as the organizations prime second basemen due to the current abundance of middle infielders within the system.

No. 58 Taj Bradley - RHP

At 20 years old these pitching phenom has just begun his pitching career for the organization with expierence only in rookie and A ball. None the less, Baseball America awarded him as one of their 2021 Minor League All Stars, and ranked him inside of the top 60 prospects for this year. Bradley's arsenal includes an upper 90 mph fastball, changeup, and plus slider.

Great baseball minds will agree you can never have "too many arms" in the bullpen. The Rays know this all too well due to a handful of nagging injuries in their pitching staff including aces, Tyler Glasnow and Chris Archer.

No. 56 Vidal Brujan - 2B, SS, OF

Up next we have the electric second baseman, Vidal Brujan. Almost 24 years young, Brujan hopes to play more than just 10 games in the majors like he did last year.

He played the majority of the 2021 season for the Durham Bulls at second base but saw some time at shortstop and the outfield also. In the short time Wander Franco was in Durham, the two Bulls controlled the middle of the infield and showed great chemistry when turning double plays.

Brujan is known for his glove and speed, but his numbers with the Bulls last year suggests there's more to this prospect than just being a utility player. (.262 BA, 12 HR, 56 RBI) Brujan lead the Triple A East in stolen bases, robbing 44 of them.

No. 44 Josh Lowe - Outfield

Josh Lowe was the heart and soul for the Bulls last year. Just a year younger than Brujan, it makes sense why he is ranked so high by Baseball America. The Rays drafted him in the first round of the 2016 draft.

Extremely consistent, he posted a .292 BA, 22 HR, and 78 RBI. His number of RBI's ranked 3rd in the Triple A East. Lowe even stole 26 bases, which ranked 6th in 2021.

Time and time again, when the Bulls needed him to deliver, he came through for them. His clutch gene may be used one day in a Rays playoff game, rather than being stashed away in the minors. With a body type like Kevin Kiermaier, the Rays may have plans to bring Lowe in gradually over the next couple of years to learn from the 31 year old Kiermaier.

Kiermaier deserves to be the Rays starting centerfielder. His speed and veteran expierence puts him in the right position almost every play defensively and his .259 BA was nothing to sneeze at last year.His trade value has sky rocketed however, with reports of interest from other teams being circulated.

The time for Josh Lowe to be a Tampa Bay Ray full time could be coming sooner rather than later. With Lowe gaining more expierence and success in Triple A and Kiermaier's contract coming to an end, (could be a free agent in 2023) the Rays could be calling Josh Lowe up for good as soon as this spring.

No. 8 Shane Baz RHP

Yes finally, the Rays top prospect, Shane Baz cracks the top 10 prospect list at number 8. Baz has already made quite the name for himself thanks for his performances pitching for Team USA in last year's Summer Olympics.

Baz dominated the AA and AAA leagues last year, striking out 113 batters while walking only 13, and holding a 2.06 ERA. He went 3-0 in his 3 regular season starts for the Rays at the end of the season.

Unfortunately, Baz could not hold the hot Red Sox bats in the playoffs, like the Rays needed. However, at 22 years old, Baz will have to look at 2021 as an extreme positive. He dominated the minors, lead Team USA to a silver medal, and got valuable game expierence in the Majors.

His deadliest pitch is his elevating fastball that can be thrown at 99 mph. Most MLB hitters love elevated fastballs in the zone. Which is great for Baz because he deceives the batter into thinking his fastball is right over the plate, but before you know it the batter has mistakenly swung at a pitch on the same level as their eye balls or helmet.

The sky is the limit for Baz, as the Rays are going to need him this year, especially with the news of Glasnow missing most of the 2022 season. Whether or not Baz will play the majority of his games in Durham or Tampa is unclear. What is clear is that the Rays are going to need Baz's electric arm not just for the future, but for the upcoming playoff run in 2022.