Scores and Highlights from 4/10

Durham Bulls 4, Gwinnett Braves 5 (11 innings)
Omar Luna was 2 for 4 with a run scored. Justin Ruggiano had a double and 2 RBI's. Leslie Anderson had a double. Desmond Jennings scored twice. Mike Ekstrom struck out the side in the eighth.

Birmingham Barons 3, Montgomery Biscuits 4
Biscuits first win of 2011. Cole Figueroa was 2 for 4 with a double and a run scored. Nevin Ashley and Matt Sweeney homered. Tim Beckham, Reid Fronk and John Shelby also had doubles. Matt Bush got the win. Zach Quate threw a no-hit ninth for the save.

Charlotte Stone Crabs 3, Bradenton Marauders 6
Tyler Bortnick was 2 for 4 with a double and an RBI. Brett Nommensen was 2 for 4 with a double. Greg Sexton was 2 for 4 with a double. Mike Sheridan was 2 for 4 with 2 RBI's. Scott Shuman pitched a no-hit inning with 2 strikeouts.

Bowling Green Hot Rods 12, Dayton Dragons 9
All Hot Rods hitters reached base. Luke Bailey was 2 for 5 with a double, 2 RBI's and 2 runs scored. Nick Schwaner was 2 for 5 with a run scored. Steven Tinoco drew 3 walks and scored twice. Kevin Kiermaier drove home 2 runs and scored 2. Nate Garcia pitched 3 scoreless innings to get the win.

Game Pictures from 4/9: Stone Crabs vs Marauders

Click on the photo below for pictures from last night's game between the Stone Crabs and Marauders.

Scores and Highlights from 4/9

Durham Bulls 2, Gwinnett Braves 1
Desmond Jennings was 2 for 3 with a solo homer. Omar Luna was 2 for 4 with a double. Ray Olmedo was 2 for 4 with a double and a run scored. Jose Lobaton had a double. Justin Ruggiano picked up an RBI. Alex Cobb picked up the win. Brandon Gomes pitched 1 1/3 no-hit innings for the save. Bulls pitchers struck.


Birmingham Barons 6, Montgomery Biscuits 4
Cole Figueroa was 2 for 5 with an RBI. Tim Beckham drove home a run. Daniel Mayora had a triple. Marquis Fleming threw 1 2/3 scoreless innings. Biscuits struck out 10 on the night.

Bradenton Marauders 1, Charlotte Stone Crabs 14
Scored a franchise hit 14 runs in the game and tied the franchise record for most runs in an inning with a nine run fourth inning. Every Stone Crabs in the starting lineup reached base and scored. Bottom third of lineup (Acosta, Scelfo, Hall) drove home 9 runs and went 7 for 13. Stone Crabs pitchers struck out 11.


Bowling Green Hot Rods 4, Dayton Dragons 5
Steven Tinoco was 2 for 4 with 2 RBI's and a run scored. Nick Schwaner was 2 for 5. Phil Wunderlich drove home 2 runs. Cody Rogers had 2 stolen bases.

Game Pictures from 4/7: Stone Crabs vs Marauders

Click on the photo below to view the gallery from Stone Crab's opening day.

Scores and Highlights from 4/8

Durham Bulls 5, Gwinnett Braves 3
Russ Canzler 2 for 3 with an RBI and 2 runs scored. Justin Ruggiano 2 for 4 with 2 walks and an RBI. Desmond Jennings 2 for 5 with a stolen base, RBI and a run scored. Brandon Gomes pitched a no hit inning. Chris Bootcheck got the win with 1 1/3 shut-out innings. RJ Swindle threw 2/3 no-hit inning for the save.



Birmingham Barons 7, Montgomery Biscuits 2
Tim Beckham was 2 for 4 with a double and a run scored. Paul Phillips pitched 1 2/3 no hit innings with 3 strikeouts.



Charlotte Stone Crabs 0, Bradenton Marauders 13
Greg Sexton was 2 for 4. Mark Thomas and Brett Nommensen each had a double. Shane Minks threw 2 1/3 no-hit innings. Adam Liberatore pitched a no-hit inning. Scott Shuman struck out the side in the eighth.



Bowling Green Hot Rods 12, Dayton Dragons 5
Luke Bailey was a triple shy of the cycle going 4 for 4 with a double, home run, 4 RBI's and 2 runs scored. Derek Dietrich was 3 for 5 with 2 doubles and 3 runs scored. Nick Schwaner was 2 for 3 with 2 RBI's, 2 walks and 2 runs scored. Jimmy Patterson picked up the win with 3 scoreless innings while allowing just 1 hit and striking out 6. Victor Mateo and Chris Rearick combined with Patterson to strike out 13 on the night.

Rays Prospects Report: Games Of April 7th

Games:
Durham Bulls - Lost 2-1 to Gwinnett Braves (Atlanta Braves)
Montgomery Biscuits - Lost 1-0 to Birmingham Barons (Chicago White Sox)
Charlotte Stone Crabs – Won 3-2 over Bradenton Marauders (Pittsburgh Pirates)
Bowling Green Hot Rods – Won 4-0 over Dayton Dragons (Cincinnati Reds)
Hudson Valley Renegades – first game June 17th
Princeton Rays – first game June 21st
GCL Rays – first game June 20th
VSL Rays – first game May 16th
DSL Rays – first game TBA (late May)

Pitchers:
Matt Bush – MON • 25.2 - RP 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 0-2 GO-AO
Marquis Fleming – MON • 24.6 - RP 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, 1-0 GO-AO
Austin Hubbard – BG • 22.8 - RP 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 2-0 GO-AO
Kyle Lobstein* – CHA • 21.6 – disabled list
Matt Moore* – MON • 21.8 – SP L 0-1, 5.0 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, 2 HBP, 2-6 GO-AO
Wilking Rodriguez – BG • 21.1 – disabled list, shoulder
Enny Romero* – BG • 20.2 – SP W 1-0, 5.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, 4-1 GO-AO
Josh Satow* – CHA • 25.3 - RP W 1-0, 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 0-1 GO-AO
Neil Schenk* – MON • 24.8 - RP 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, 1-0 GO-AO
Albert Suarez – CHA • 21.5 – disabled list
Jake Thompson – CHA • 21.7 – SP 4.1 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, 1 HPB, 7-2 GO-AO

* leftie

Position Players:
Nevin Ashley – MON • 26.6 - C 1-3 (double)
Luke Bailey – BG • 20.1 - C 1-3 (single), K
Tim Beckham – MON • 21.2 - SS 0-4, 2 K
Tyler Bortnick – CHA • 23.8 – 2B 2-4 (singles), 2 SB
Julio Cedeno – CHA • 21.6 – disabled list
Robinson Chirinos – DUR • 26.8 - C 0-4, BB, K
Derek Dietrich – BG • 21.7 - SS 1-2 (home run), BB, K, SF, CS
Cole Figueroa – MON • 23.8 - 2B, 0-3, BB, K
Reid Fronk – MON • 24.7 - RF 0-3
Todd Glaesmann – BG • 20.4 - RF 0-4, 3 K
Hector Guevara – BG • 19.5 - 2B 0-3, K
Brandon Guyer – DUR • 25.2 - RF 2-3 (single, double), sac
Desmond Jennings – DUR • 24.4 - CF 1-5 (single), K, SB
Kevin Kiermaier – BG • 21.0 - CF 0-4, 2 K
Hak-Ju Lee – CHA • 20.4 – disabled list, chicken pox
Ty Morrison – CHA • 20.7 – disabled list
Chris Murrill – CHA • 22.8 – LF 0-4
Brett Nommensen – CHA • 24.5 – RF 0-2, BB, HBP, SB
Robby Price – BG • 23.0 - 3B 1-4 (single), 2 K, error fielding
Cody Rogers – BG • 22.6 - LF 2-4 (single, triple), K, CS
Matt Sweeney – MON • 23.0 - 1B 0-3, 2 K
Isaias Velasquez – MON • 22.9 – disabled list
Stephen Vogt – MON • 26.4 - LF 0-3, BB, K
Henry Wrigley – MON • 24.7 – disabled list
Phil Wunderlich – BG • 22.4 - 1B 0-4, 3 K

Notes:

Enny Romero allowed only one hit, a single to Billy Hamilton, the Reds #2 prospect per BA.

Friday for DUR Dirk Hayhurst starts against top Braves prospect Julio Teheran.

MON's probable starters: Friday Chris Archer, Saturday Joseph Cruz, Sunday Shane Dyer, Monday Nick Barnese.

CHA's probable starters: Friday Alex Colome, Saturday Chris Andujar, Sunday Merrill Kelly, Monday Alex Koronis.

BG's probable starter Friday is RH Victor Mateo.

Team abbreviations: DUR = Durham Bulls, MON = Montgomery Biscuits, CHA = Charlotte Stone Crabs, BG = Bowling Green Hot Rods, HV = Hudson Valley Renegades, PRI = Princeton Rays, GCL = Gulf Coast League Rays, VSL = Venezuelan Summer League Rays, DSL = Dominican Summer League Rays.

Players age is as of today, rounded to the nearest tenth of a year.

Position is for today's game(s) only, not where they have played the most during the season.

Stats are self-explanatory, ask questions if needed.

Minor League Opening Night Liveblog (Open Now!)

If you're anything like every Rays fan, you could use some good news. With Matt Moore, Jake Thompson, and Enny Romero making opening-day starts in the minors, we should get some...

Opening Day Open Thread

I know Doug said he wanted to get one of these up, so I'll post it now and when he drops by he can add to it.

Anyway, the season opens tonight and we'll be liveblogging all the action, starting at around 6:00 pm or so. Charlotte will have the first pitch, scheduled for 6:30 but likely a little bit later due to opening day ceremonies. Feel free to discuss anything in the comments section, it'll help give us some starting-off points for the liveblog tonight, in addition to all the goings-on in the games. Here again is the opening day info:

Durham Bulls @ Gwinnett Braves 7:05 ET

Richard De Los Santos is the starting pitcher

Montgomery Biscuits vs. Birmingham Barons 8:05 ET

Strikeout king Matt Moore will be on the mound

Charlotte Stone Crabs vs. Bradenton Marauders 6:30 ET

Jake Thompson gets the start

Bowling Green Hot Rods @ Dayton Dragons 7:00 ET

Enny Romero gets the opening day nod

Rays Minor League Single Season Records

As we get ready for the opening of the 2011 minor league season here are the major Rays minor league single-season records. Think any of these will be broken in 2011?

Home runs:
Kevin Witt (2006) - 36
Scott McClain (1998) - 34
Dan Johnson (2010) - 30
Ryan Royster (2007) - 30
Jonny Gomes (2002) - 30

RBI:
Steve Cox (1999) - 127
Delmon Young (2004) - 115
Scott McClain (1998) - 109
Scott McClain (1999) - 104
Ozzie Timmons (1999) - 104

Hits:
Steve Cox (1999) - 182
Delmon Young (2005) - 176
Joey Gomes (2005) - 172
Matt Diaz (2001) - 172
Matt Diaz (2003) - 170
Carl Crawford (2000) - 170

Batting average (minimum 316 PA):
Jason Pridie (2002) - .368
Matt Diaz (2003) - .354
Stephen Vogt (2010) - .345
Steve Cox (1999) - .341
Toby Hall (2001) - .335

Runs scored:
Fernando Perez (2006) - 123
Steve Cox (1999) - 107
Scott McClain (1999) - 106
Jason Pridie (2004) - 103
Jonny Gomes (2002) - 102

Stolen bases:
Alex Sanchez (1997) - 92
Joey Gathright (2003) - 69
Ty Morrison (2010) - 58
Fernando Perez (2005) - 57
Carl Crawford (2000) - 55

Wins:
Heath Rollins (2007) - 17
Chris Mason (2007) - 15
Andy Sonnanstine (2006) - 15
Richard De Los Santos (2010) - 14
Jeremy Hall (2009) - 14
Andy Sonnanstine (2005) - 14
Chris Seddon (2004) - 14
Scott Autrey (2003) - 14

ERA (minimum 130 IP):
Chad Gaudin (2003) - 1.81
Jason Standridge (1999) - 2.02
Darin Downs (2009) - 2.23
Chad Gaudin (2002) - 2.26
Todd Belitz (2002) - 2.42

Innings pitched:
Pablo Ortega (1997) - 188.2
Andy Sonnanstine (2006) - 185.2
Jim Magrane (2001) - 182.0
Dan Wheeler (1998) - 181.0
Andy Sonnanstine (2005) - 180.2

Strikeouts:
Matt Moore (2010) - 208
Andy Sonnanstine (2005) - 178
Matt Moore (2009) - 176
Jake McGee (2007) - 175
Neal Frendling (2000) - 174
Jake McGee (2006) - 171
Wade Davis (2007) - 169
Wade Davis (2006) - 165
Seth McClung (2001) - 165
Mark Malaska (2001) - 165

Saves:
Evan Rust (2002) - 31
Lee Gardner (2003) - 30
John Daniels (1997) - 29
Josh Parker (2003) - 28
Eddy Reyes (1999) - 27

2011 Charlotte Stone Crabs Roster

Here are the 2011 Charlotte Stone Crabs........

Pitchers
Chris Andujar
Alex Colome
Frank De Los Santos
Sergio Espinosa
Michael Jarman
Merrill Kelly
Alex Koronis
Adam Liberatore
Kyle Lobstein*
Deivis Mavarez
Shane Minks
Josh Satow
Scott Shuman
Albert Suarez*
Jake Thompson
Kirby Yates*

Catchers
Mayo Acosta
Mark Thomas
David Wendt

Infielders
Tyler Bortnick
Julio Cedeno*
Matt Hall
Hak-Ju Lee*
Anthony Scelfo
Greg Sexton
Michael Sheridan

Outfielders
Dustin Biell
Gabe Cohen
Ty Morrison*
Chris Murrill
Brett Nommensen

* disabled list

Site Note: We're Liveblogging Opening Day On Thursday

As most of the minor league rosters are out, the anticipation builds. When the season finally starts on Thursday, we'll be live-blogging all the action beginning at 6 pm or so. The Rays play an afternoon game in Chicago that day, so if you follow the big league team fervently this won't conflict with their schedule. We hope you join us, here's the opening day info:

Durham Bulls @ Gwinnett Braves 7:05 ET

Richard De Los Santos is the probable starting pitcher

Montgomery Biscuits vs. Birmingham Barons 8:05 ET

Strikeout king Matt Moore will be on the mound

Charlotte Stone Crabs vs. Bradenton Marauders 6:30 ET

Alex Colome should get the start

Bowling Green Hot Rods @ Dayton Dragons 7:00 ET

Enny Romero gets the opening day nod

I'll be around from the first pitch to the last (assuming my internet doesn't go down randomly, been having some problems with that) and I believe Doug will be stopping by as well. Here's a link to last year's version; the format will be the same. Let us know in the comments what you'd like to see on opening night!

2011 Bowling Green Hot Rods Roster

2010 team in parentheses.

Pitchers:
*De La Rosa, Jairo (Bowling Green)
Garcia, Nate (Hudson Valley)
Hiscock, Stephen (Hudson Valley)
Hubbard, Austin (Hudson Valley)
Jensen, George (Princeton)
*Kline, William (None, injured)
Lara, Braulio (Princeton)
Mateo, Victor (Princeton)
Patterson, Jimmy (Hudson Valley)
Rearick, Chris (Princeton)
Riefenhauser, C.J. (Princeton and Bowling Green)
*Rodriguez, Wilking (Bowling Green)
Romero, Enny (Princeton)
Stabelfeld, Matthew (Bowling Green)
Suero, Eliazer (Princeton)

Catchers:
Bailey, Lucas (GCL Rays)
Holloway, Kyle (Princeton, Hudson Valley, and Durham)
Torres, Alejandro (Hudson Valley)

Infielders:
Dietrich, Derek (Hudson Valley)
Estrada, Robi (Bowling Green)
Guevara, Hector (Princeton)
Price, Robby (Hudson Valley)
Tinoco, Steven (Hudson Valley)
Wunderlich, Phil (Hudson Valley)

Outfielders:
Glaesmann, Todd (Princeton)
Kiermaier, Kevin (Princeton)
Rogers, Cody (Bowling Green)
Schwaner, Nick (Hudson Valley)

* Disabled list

The PR with the roster says the starting rotation will be: Enny Romero, Braulio Lara, C.J. Riefenhauser, George Jensen, and Victor Mateo, in some order.

Thoughts: Good to see Glaesmann, Kiermaier, Guevara, Romero, Lara and Bailey make the jump to BG. The PR says this on the injuries: "starter Wilking Rodriguez and reliever Jairo De La Rosa are both recovering from shoulder injuries." Mateo has been a personal favorite, surprised he's in the rotation though. Assuming they want Guevara, Price and Dietrich all in the lineup, who plays 3B?

2011 Durham Bulls Roster

The Durham Bulls have released a provisional roster for 2011. The official roster will be announced on Thursday, April 7 at noon. The players on the provisional roster include:

Pitchers
Chris Bootcheck
Alex Cobb
Rob Delaney

Dane De La Rosa
Richard De Los Santos
Brandon Gomes
Edgar Gonzalez
Dirk Hayhurst
RJ Swindle
Alex Torres
Cory Wade

Catchers
Robinson Chirinos
Jose Lobaton

Infielders
Russ Canzler
JJ Furmaniak
Casey Kotchman
Omar Luna
Ray Olmedo

Outfielders
Leslie Anderson
Chris Carter
Brandon Guyer
Desmond Jennings
Justin Ruggiano

2011 Montgomery Biscuits Roster

We have our first roster of 2011 courtesy of Stacy Long. Here are your 2011 Biscuits.....

Pitchers
Chris Archer
Nick Barnese
Matt Bush
Joe Cruz
Shane Dyer
Marquis Fleming
Jeremy Hall
Matt Moore
David Newmann
Ricky Orta*
Paul Phillips
Zach Quate
Ryan Reid
Neil Schenk

Catchers
Nevin Ashley
Jake Jefferies
Stephen Vogt

Infielders
Tim Beckham
Cody Cipriano
Cole Figueroa
Daniel Mayora
Shawn O'Malley*
Matt Sweeney
Henry Wrigley*

Outfielders
Reid Fronk
Kyeong Kang
John Matulia*
Lucas Montero*
John Shelby III
Emeel Salem*
Isaias Velasquez*

* disabled list

Game Pictures from 4/1: Biscuits at Bay Sox

My goal Friday was to get photos from both games. Unfortunatley, I did not see that the games started at 12pm instead of the usual 1pm. So by the time I got through the lineup with the AAA and moved to AA, we joined the game in the bottom of the ninth inning. Click on the photo below for the few pictures I managed to get before the game was over.

Game Pictures from 4/1: Bulls at Tides

Click on the photo below from Friday's spring training finale between the Bulls and the Norfolk Tides (Orioles).

Weekend Open Thread: Waiting For Rosters

The opening day rosters for the Rays full-season affiliates have not yet been announced. We will post each one as it becomes available. In the mean time use this post for roster discussion, speculation, news, etc.

This is one of my favorite times of the season, and it should be a fun few days (hours?). Any guesses on who will skip a level, or repeat the same level?

Also, feel free to post any ideas you have for our coverage of the affiliates and players this season. As they say, there are no dumb ideas. We may not be able to do it, but we appreciate your suggestions.

Regular season:

Durham Bulls: first game – April 7th
Montgomery Biscuits: first game – April 7th
Charlotte Stone Crabs: first game – April 7th
Bowling Green Hot Rods: first game – April 7th
Hudson Valley Renegades: first game – June 17th
Princeton Rays: first game – June 21st
GCL Rays: first game – June 20th
VSL Rays: first game – May 16th
DSL Rays: first game – TBA (late May)

Game Pictures from 3/31: Stone Crabs at Keys

Click on the photo below to view the photo gallery from Thursday's game between the Stone Crabs and Frederick Keys.

Rays Release Five

Per Stacy Long the Rays have released five minor leaguers:

- Outfielder D.J. Jones, 11th round pick in the 2007 draft, who came back this spring after retiring prior to the 2010 season.

- Catcher Tomas Francisco, who will become a coach in the Domincan Republic. He hit .247/.313/.296 in 162 ABs for Bowling Green in 2010.

- Outfielder Alex Diaz, 17th round of the 2009 draft. In 135 ABs for the Gulf Coast League Rays in 2010 he hit .304/.390/.393.

- Outfielder Bryan Fogle, 32nd round of the 2010 draft. For the Princeton Rays in 2010 he hit .260/.304/.431 in 181 ABs.

- LHP Ryan Fleckenstein, who was 3-0 with a 2.57 ERA in 20 relief appearances for the GCL Rays in 2010. Over 28.0 innings he struck out 31 and only walked 4 batters.

[Added]: To keep all of the recent minor moves in one place, here are the others from the past few days:

Released: Jonah Bayliss, Aaron Dott, Justin Garcia, Seth Henry, Kyle Lusson, Jake Sullivan (retired)

Traded: Joe Inglett to the Houston Astros for cash considerations, future considerations to the Chicago White Sox for John Shelby III

[Added from Princeton Rays facebook post]: Released: P Justin Betts-Robinson, 3B Scott Lawson, and P Justin Hall.

Vettleson Converting To Pitcher

Important note: This story ran on April 1 as an April Fool's Day joke.

Rays' outfield prospect Drew Vettleson got some attention in high school for his ability to switch-pitch. He'll be getting a lot more attention now since it was announced today that Vettleson will be moving to the mound.

The move is a surprise considering he was a supplemental first round pick as a hitter, but he reportedly impressed the Rays' brass when showing off his unique skill between drills in Port Charlotte. The ambidextrous Vettleson becomes the minors' second switch-pitcher, joining the Yankees' Pat Venditte in that club.

Vettleson is stronger from the right side, able to creep over 90 mph with his fastball and throws a potential plus curveball. He doesn't have the same time of velocity from the left side, but is effective nonetheless. He threw two no-hitters as a junior in high school.

He's usually able to have the platoon advantage, although the rules state that when facing a switch hitter, the pitcher must declare first which arm he will be throwing with for the at-bat. Vettleson would switch gloves in high school, but as a pro he'll probably get a specially-made glove for quick switching, similar to Venditte.

Vettleson probably wasn't going to debut in full-season ball anyway, but this clinches it. He'll start out in extended spring training before joining either Princeton or the GCL Rays' pitching staff. He may have had a higher ceiling as a hitter, but his unique skill will surely create problems for opposing teams, and his stuff has plus potential from the right side and average potential from the left side. He should be able to move rather quickly through the lower minors as he'll rarely be at a platoon disadvantage.

(Sorry, I usually hate these things too. We'll have a weekend open thread up this afternoon and get into our regular posting on Monday.)