2025 MLB Draft Review: Tampa Bay Rays

Full list of draftees

Unsurprisingly, especially given their two extra picks (giving them five of the first 86), it was a very deep, very strong, and very interesting Tampa Bay Rays draft class this year. Led by a ton of high-end prep talent up top, actually marking four of those first five picks, it's a class that mixes ultra high ceilings with strong, all-around ballplayers. While the draft tends to be a crapshoot, it's a near certainty that at least a handful of these picks turn into meaningful big league contributors in some capacity. While each of the first five picks were position players, the Rays leaned on pitching deeper into the draft and at one point selected ten straight in rounds six through fifteen.
Full index of team reviews here. Full rankings here.
Note that the number before a player's name indicates their draft position. For example, "2-50" would indicate that a player was taken in the second round with the fiftieth overall pick.

1-14: SS Daniel Pierce, Mill Creek HS [GA]
Slot value: $5.31 million. Signing bonus: $4.31 million ($1 million below slot value).
My rank: #14. MLB Pipeline: #13. Baseball America: #24.
I am a huge fan of this pick, especially given that the Rays picked up Daniel Pierce for a million dollars below the slot value for the #14 pick, just above the slot value of the #20 pick, to pull him from a Georgia commitment. Pierce is a true jack of all trades. He entered his senior season a known commodity as a heady baseball player with a broad set of skills, but showed up in the spring looking bigger, faster, and stronger to suddenly vault himself from a likely third division regular to a potential all-around star. The son of his school's head baseball coach, the baseball IQ still shows up in Pierce's game on both sides of the ball with strong instincts and a hard-nosed, gritty style of play. His loose, rhythmic right handed swing makes plenty of contact to all fields, and now that he has begun to fill out his 6'1" frame, there is increasing authority behind the swing as he works his way towards average power. It will always be a hit over power approach with the potential to post high on-base percentages at the major league level, but now that could come with about 15 home runs annually. If he begins to elevate more, that home run output could creep higher. A great athlete, the Atlanta-area product is a plus runner that makes things happen on the bases and in the field. His hands and playing style work well in the dirt, and he has the arm strength to stick on the left side of the infield. With continued progress, he has a shot to be an average big league shortstop defensively, no small feat given the fierce competition at that position. One minor down side is age, as Pierce turned 19 less than a month after the draft. A career similar to fellow Atlanta product Dansby Swanson may not be too far off, though Pierce has a shot to be a better pure hitter.

CBA-42: OF Brendan Summerhill, Arizona
Slot value: $2.33 million. Signing bonus: $2 million ($333,500 below slot value).
My rank: #21. MLB Pipeline: #16. Baseball America: #22.
While Brendan Summerhill was probably over-ranked by most outlets including on my own list, this remains tremendous value outside of the top forty picks especially given the discount. Summerhill played sparingly as a freshman and showed an advanced bat if also a lack of impact, but lurched forward with a big sophomore season in 2024 before showing very well against top pitching in the Cape Cod League (.286/.358/.441 in 24 games). Heavily considered in the top half of the first round and a potential target for the Rays first pick at #14 entering the season, he actually increased all three legs of his slash line from 2024 to 2025 – .324/.399/.550 to .343/.459/.556 – while dropping his strikeout rate (12.9% to 11.6%) and increasing his walk rate (11.1% to 17.4%). However, a broken hand (I believe from punching a locker) and a subsequent hamstring tweak limited him to 44 games despite Arizona's deep College World Series run and questions around his overall impact weren't quite answered, so he slipped quite a bit farther than many expected him to. Still, Summerhill is a great prospect and at pick #42 represents a much better ballplayer than you would expect to find outside the first round, especially at a discount. His left handed swing is geared for contact and he makes a ton of it, rarely ever whiffing while growing more and more disciplined at the plate. Most guys who run mid 80's contact rates and sub-12% strikeout rates like he does do so with a slappy approach, but Summerhill stands 6'3" and has flashed very solid exit velocities in the past. The power didn't really show up in 2025 and looked below average at times, and the fact that he'll walk away from a career at very hitter-friendly Hi Corbett Field with just 14 home runs in 124 games may point to a guy who will always be contact-over-power. The Rays see the projection in that lanky frame and know what he's capable of when he really gets behind a baseball, and they'll work to mold that ultra-accurate swing to tap more power and possibly outgrow what is currently a 10-15 home run projection and push it closer to 20 annually. The Chicago native is also an above average runner who has shown well in the outfield, with a shot to play center field if he can continue to progress with the glove. There is a chance he is pushed to a corner by a more explosive defender, and given the power questions, center field would certainly look better. Still, the on-base ability and power projection should play for an every day role at any position and if he wound up in left field, he would be above average there to boot. There are a ton of building blocks here and for that reason many still thought he belonged in the first round.

2-53: SS Cooper Flemming, Aliso Niguel HS [CA]
Slot value: $1.8 million. Signing bonus: $2.3 million ($494,000 above slot value).
My rank: #78. MLB Pipeline: #82. Baseball America: #102.
After saving over $1.3 million on their first two picks, the Rays started to use their savings here by paying Cooper Flemming closer to the value of Brendan Summerhill's #42 pick to sign here at #53. Flemming has bounced around a bit, playing at three different Southern California high schools and committing to play across the country at Vanderbilt before Tampa came calling with the paycheck, but he found his home at Aliso Niguel High School in Orange County. Flemming, like Daniel Pierce, has a very well-rounded profile that lacks any glaring holes. He is an advanced hitter with a mature approach that has enabled him to produce virtually everywhere he's been, including against strong competition on the showcase circuit and in Southern California. He hit especially well this spring, prompting some late helium that saw him drafted far ahead of most projections as the Rays believe he's not only the best he's ever been, but setting the stage for sustained, significant progress in the near future. At this point, Flemming is very much a hit over power bat that shows below average pop overall, though he made strong impressions in the spring and looks to have been flashing more fringy pop lately. Listed at 6'3", 190 pounds, he's projectable with room to add more strength, giving him a good shot to reach average power in the end or, if you want to dream, potentially above average power. However, like Pierce, he's old for the class and turned 19 a month after the draft (actually the day after Pierce). The overall projection is a high on-base bat with home run totals in the teens. He has shown solid glovework up the middle and the Rays will likely trot him out at shortstop to start, with a chance to stick there if he can maintain his average speed and get a little more dynamic out there. He tends to load up on his throws a little bit and for that reason may fit better at second or third base, but regardless he should stick on the dirt. Flemming did pitch at times in high school and has run his fastball up to 92, so he has the arm to play the latter.

SUP-67: OF Dean Moss, IMG Academy [FL]
Slot value: $1.29 million. Signing bonus: $2.1 million ($812,100 above slot value).
My rank: #81. MLB Pipeline: #56. Baseball America: #97.
Dean Moss, a product of local powerhouse IMG Academy in Bradenton, is a very interesting prospect. He travelled across the country from his Silicon Valley home to play at IMG, then signed for top-fifty money rather than attend LSU. In addition to moving across the country for high school, he has been a mainstay on the showcase circuit with a toolset and flare that play right into the showcase model. He hits from a wide base with a high handset and significant bat waggle, coiling back onto his back leg before scissoring forward and exploding onto the baseball with huge bat speed. Despite the setup, he has actually been more hit over power in games with an extremely advanced approach at the plate that has helped him remain unfazed by advanced arms. While the extra movement can cause his pure bat to ball to play down when he tries to sell out for power, which was too often earlier in his prep career, he has done a better job of staying within himself lately. Due to his average size (6', 180 pounds), the power does play better when he coils up and tries to turn on it, so going forward it will be about finding a balance. His instincts play up in the outfield as well, where despite average speed he has a shot to play center field. There's still a chance he gets pushed to a corner by a better pure runner, with above average arm strength which could make him an above average right fielder. At this point, his throws can get inaccurate when he tries to load up and sling it, so similarly to his hitting, he'll need to stay within himself. Moss is another old-for-the-class prospect who turned 19 way back in April, making him age appropriate for a college freshman rather than a high school senior. The age should be less of an issue around polish, as he has shown both a polished bat and glove, and more around his ability to add strength to his lean frame. Moss is a great mover with a lot of things going for him, so if he finds balance on both offense and defense rather than selling out his swings and his throws for power, he could be a really dynamic option in Tampa.

3-86: C Taitn Gray, Dallas Center-Grimes HS [IA]
Slot value: $920,800. Signing bonus: $918,300 ($2,500 below slot value).
My rank: #79. MLB Pipeline: #92. Baseball America: #83.
I've never seen "Taitn" as a first name and I reckon I never will again. Taitn Gray signed for slot value here in the third round, which is a tremendous bargain given he had interest as high as the second round and had been committed to Oregon. Already listed at 6'4", 220 pounds, he stands out for not only his physicality but his plus-plus raw power among the best in the entire prep class. A switch hitter, he brings a violent operation with huge bat speed and strength beyond his years to pummel baseballs into a fine powder. Previously a bit of a sleeper coming out of the Des Moines area because he hadn't been seen much on the showcase circuit, tales of his power reached nationwide during his senior spring and he showed very well at both the PBR Super 60 in February and the MLB Draft Combine in June. He still hasn't been seen much against top pitching so his hit tool is a question, though he has performed plenty well in Iowa and there is no reason to think he can't hit high end pitching. However, as a cold weather switch hitting prep catcher, he may have a steeper climb to an average hit tool than most preps through no fault of his own. He's similarly raw behind the plate, where his glovework can be a bit clunky and he lacks the agility of some of the game's premier defensive catchers. He does move well for his large size and could be a solid average corner outfielder, though of course the value is maximized behind the plate. Gray is extremely young for a high school senior and only turned 18 in August, making him more than a year younger than Daniel Pierce and Cooper Flemming and almost sixteen months younger than Dean Moss, all of whom graduated in the same 2025 class. That youth gives the Rays plenty of time to be patient and move him along slowly, and if he takes well to pro development, the hit tool and glove could come along and make him a power hitting big league catcher. It's hard to find catchers who can hit and Gray could be one of the few if he sticks.

4-117: LHP Dominic Fritton, North Carolina State
Slot value: $648,400. Signing bonus: $497,500 ($150,900 below slot value).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. Baseball America: #233.
Dominic Fritton is a distinctly Rays pick in that he does not stand out on paper, but brings traits that Tampa can put together into a much better finished product. He has spent three years in the NC State rotation to good but not great results, and after going undrafted in 2024, finds himself as an under slot fourth round selection here. He brings a fastball in the low 90's that touches 96 at peak, playing up with riding life from a low release point that gives it flat plane. He shows a solid slider with some depth and a solid changeup, though he mainly pitches off the fastball. Fritton's athleticism is a selling point. The 6'1" lefty has tremendous lower half extension that helps him drive down the mound and get low while maintaining a traditional arm slot, giving him the rare combination of a low release without the three quarters slot. It's a tough look for hitters especially. from a lefty, that gives the Rays plenty of room to get creative. He shows fringe-average command but has been durable and looks to stick in the rotation as a back-end starter, especially if the Rays can work with his unique release traits to help his average stuff play up farther. Given the higher bonus, it seems Tampa is confident in this path. Otherwise, he could sit in the mid 90's with that same ride and flat plane and focus mainly on the fastball in a relief role. The North Carolina native is a full year older than most juniors, having turned 22 in April.

5-147: OF James Quinn-Irons, George Mason
Slot value: $484,400. Signing bonus: $481,900 ($2,500 below slot value).
My rank: #97. MLB Pipeline: #175. Baseball America: #87.
This is a really fun pick, and a nice bargain and, like Dominic Fritton, he's older than most juniors and was 22 on draft day. A three year starter at George Mason, he has been a one man wrecking crew for the Patriots and is a career .371/.459/.632 hitter with 33 home runs in 148 games. He was at his best in 2025, when he hit a monstrous .419/.523/.734 with 16 home runs in 61 games, earning Atlantic 10 Player of the Year honors and finishing in the top ten nationally in hits (101, 2nd), batting average (.419, 7th), on-base percentage (.523, 9th), RBI (85, 2nd), and doubles (24, 6th). The performance is backed up by the eye test. Quinn-Irons is a hulking 6'5", 230 pounds but moves like a much smaller man. He has plus-plus raw power with elite top-end exit velocities, though the power has played closer to true plus in games. While playing at Mason, he made solid contact with a patient approach and the ability to barrel up most anything in the zone, but it's worth noting that the Patriots did not play a difficult schedule. In his few opportunities against stronger opponents (seven games against ECU, Duke, Maryland, and UNC), he hit a respectable .269/.424/.500 but struck out in a third of his plate appearances, more than double his overall K rate for the season. Now thus far, you might see a 6'5" slugger who OPS'd 1.257 with 16 home runs and assume a certain kind of profile, but there's more here. He's actually a plus runner who stole 36 bases in 61 games, giving him 58 for his career. That speed helps him play a solid center field as well, making the Northern Virginia native a legitimate four tool player. How that fifth tool, namely his ability to make contact and produce against higher level pitching, progresses will tell the story of wether JQI is an impact big leaguer or more of a platoon bat. Given the competition he faced in the A-10, it's hard to do much more than he did.

11-327: RHP Luke Jackson, Texas A&M
Slot value: up to $150,000. Signing bonus: $497,500 ($347,500 against bonus pool).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. Baseball America: #437.
This is a big gamble by Tampa, signing Luke Jackson for the exact same bonus as fourth rounder Dominic Fritton despite almost a complete lack of track record. He missed the 2023 season with Tommy John surgery, then pitched just 8.1 innings in 2024 without much success. He earned a more prominent role in the bullpen in 2025, but still ended up with a 5.89 ERA and never quite put it together. Jackson has electric arm talent, sitting in the mid 90's with his fastball and touching 98 in short stints with significant life. He drops in a solid slider to miss bats, then has shown the ability to rip a fading changeup at times as well. To this point, his below average command has held him back evidenced by a 13.2% walk rate over his two seasons in College Station. However, the Rays like that he looked a bit sharper in the Cape Cod League (career 11.3% walk rate over two seasons) and think that with more consistent reps on the mound (he has thrown just 26.2 innings in three years in College Station), he can work closer to average. The 6'2" righty is athletic on the mound and hides the ball well with a crossfire delivery, so any improvement in his command could increase what are currently narrow chances of starting. If the Rays are going to pay him half a million, they must think there is a shot. They'll tinker with his stuff mix and see if they can get a little more out of his electric right arm, and the fallback (and most likely scenario) is a hard throwing reliever the likes of which Tampa seems to crank out on the regular.

17-507: C Brody Donay, Florida
Slot value: up to $150,000. Signing bonus: $150,000.
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: #248. Baseball America: #219.
There is no shortage of baseball talent in Florida, yet Brody Donay is actually the only Sunshine State native to be drafted by the Rays this year. He grew up about thirty miles inland from Tampa in Lakeland, where he played for Lakeland Christian High School and committed to Virginia Tech. He showed well for the Hokies and transferred back closer to home at Florida, where he initially struggled against SEC pitching but cleaned it up for his best year yet in 2025 (18 HR, .303/.418/.646). Listed at 6'5", 235 pounds, he's almost always one of the biggest guys on the field and the profile matches the size. He has plus raw power that has translated into 44 home runs in 145 games over three seasons, tapping it effortlessly with what is often a no-stride operation. He has become much more balanced at the plate over the years and looked like a more complete hitter in 2025, staying within himself effectively and cutting his strikeout rate to a career-low 25.2%, though that is admittedly still a very high number. Donay has always struggled with contact, especially against quality breaking balls, and the progress he made in that department in 2025 is not enough to assuage those concerns. He ran a career 36.4% strikeout rate in two Cape Cod League seasons, though he also blasted ten home runs in 59 games with wood bats and otherwise showed plenty of impact even against elite pitching, highlighting the profile's strengths and weaknesses pretty well. Tampa hopes he can stick behind the plate, where his cannon arm makes up a bit for clunkier glovework that isn't helped by the lanky frame. Florida gave most of its reps to Luke Heyman behind the plate in 2025, and Donay will need a lot of work to stick back there at the pro level. He has the power to profile anywhere on the diamond but given the concerns with swing and miss, keeping that catcher's gear would help take some pressure off the bat. He likely profiles as a first base/bench bat.

UDFA: RHP Trace Phillips, Middle Tennessee State
Slot value: $0. Signing bonus: $629,200 ($629,200 against bonus pool).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: #206. Baseball America: #190.
When twenty rounds came and went and Trace Phillips didn't hear his name called, it was a foregone conclusion that he would be returning to Middle Tennessee State for his junior season after he had seemingly priced himself out of the draft. However, the Rays failed to sign twentieth rounder Ike Young and found themselves with money left over in their bonus pool. In that case, they turned around and hit Phillips with a surprise offer of mid-fourth round money, the second highest bonus ever given to an undrafted free agent behind Cincinnati's TJ Friedl, which we can all agree worked out pretty well. Phillips carried one of the biggest bats in the Tennessee high school ranks in 2023, then immediately jumped into the Middle Tennessee State lineup as a freshman and slashed .303/.360/.547 with 13 home runs in 2024. An impressive pitcher too, he struggled to a 7.13 ERA in thirteen appearances but intrigued scouts with his arm talent nonetheless. When he showed up for fall practice entering his sophomore year, he blew scouts away with a fastball that had added several ticks of velocity and louder secondary stuff. Unfortunately, his 2025 never fully got off the ground as hand and back injuries limited him to just six starts, though he did nearly double his strikeout rate from 13.2% to 25.4% while slashing his walk rate from 9.3% to 6.0%. Phillips now works with a low to mid 90's fastball that touches 97 at peak, playing best when he can ride it on the top rail. His slider has taken a step forward and looks above average at its best with nice snap, while his fading changeup gives him a third above average pitch. Unlike most arms that see a sudden jolt in velocity, especially ones that deal with injuries at the same time, the Nashville-area native has steadily improved his command and looks above average in that regard. With a projectable 6'3" frame and three above average pitches, he looks every bit like a big league starting pitcher. He'll just need to prove health, which to this point has been hard to come by and a career 6.27 ERA in college doesn't do him any favors. The Rays think he would have rocketed into the top couple of rounds had he been healthy and as a draft eligible sophomore, he was still 20 on draft day.

2024 MLB Draft Review: Tampa Bay Rays

Full list of draftees

This is an unmistakably Rays draft class. They started with a high school position player, grabbed an undersized infielder who seemed destined to go a round or three later, then pivoted to a slew of unique profiles. They targeted bat speed in their preps and found a whole range of arms that deliver the ball in all sorts of ways, from Jacob Kmatz's high slot to Janzen Keisel's low slot and everything in between. If there's a big knock on this class, though, it was the failure to sign competitive balance pick Tyler Bell. The Rays had between $1.5 million and $2.25 million to offer him depending on how much overage tax they wanted to pay, but couldn't come to a deal and wound up $250,000 below their bonus pool, by far the biggest gap of any team. Meanwhile, Florida has some of the most fertile baseball soil in the country, so probabilistically speaking it's a bit of a surprise that the Rays didn't select a single player hailing from the Sunshine State (though twelfth rounder Jack Lines moved their from Canada to play at a private academy in Orlando). 
Full index of team reviews here. Full rankings here.
Note that the number before a player's name indicates their draft position. "2-50" would indicate that a player was drafted in the second round with the fiftieth overall pick.

1-18: OF Theo Gillen, Westlake HS [TX] {video}
Slot value: $4.37 million. Signing bonus: $4.37 million.
My rank: #26. MLB Pipeline: #28. Baseball America: #23.
Theo Gillen had one of the most impressive senior seasons in all of high school baseball this spring, and now he'll headline the Rays' draft class after signing away from a Texas commitment. He came into the spring looking much more physical and now has a big league body with which to impact the baseball. He doesn't get cheated with his leveraged left handed swing, using a heavy barrel to spray hard line drives around the field. It's not his game yet, but once he gets into pro ball the Rays will likely work with him to pull the ball in the air more often to tap his above average power. I fully believe that he is capable of doing so successfully. Gillen is also a professional hitter whose newfound strength and impact have made him one of the most complete hitters in this draft class. Meanwhile, he's also a plus runner but his overall defensive tools are a bit behind. He doesn't quite have the arm strength to play shortstop, while his glovework and overall feel for the infield need refinement if he wants to play second base, but he's fully capable. The Rays drafted him as an outfielder, where his speed could help him play center field if he doesn't slow down with age. If he does slow down, he'll have to move to left, where he will still have plenty of bat to profile with 20+ home run upside and high on-base percentages. So far, he has one hit in six at bats with four strikeouts to two walks through a pair of games at Low A Charleston.

2-58: SS Emilien Pitre, Kentucky {video}
Slot value: $1.53 million. Signing bonus: $1.52 million ($2,500 below slot value).
My rank: #147. MLB Pipeline: #173. Baseball America: #261.
The Rays plucked Emilien Pitre off the board a lot earlier than many expected. Not only that, they signed him to essentially the full slot value, another surprise given that most publications had him pegged more in the middle of day two (credit to ESPN for putting him #76). Their brand is that they like unconventional, metric-friendly profiles and Pitre certainly fits that, so I'm very interested to see what they do here. He barely played as a freshman in 2022, then jumped in as Kentucky's everyday second baseman in 2023 and never looked back. "Petey" is a bit undersized at 5'11", but packs much more impact than you'd think. He is extremely disciplined at the plate and controls the strike zone as well as anybody in this draft, as evidenced by a career 73/91 strikeout to walk ratio – he has walked more than he struck out in all three seasons. The pure bat to ball is probably a tick above average as well, which brings it to at least an above average hit tool overall. Pitre's quick left handed swing produces some stinging line drives and he can turn on the ball for fringe-average power, so he has a shot to flirt with double digit home run totals annually. Combine that with above average speed, and he can impact the game in a lot of ways. The Montreal-area product has great actions in the dirt and plays a pretty mean second base, too. The Rays optimistically drafted him as a shortstop, and he does have great feel for the infield and the quick feet to get the job done. The arm might be a little light, but it's an easy above average glove over at second base. He's taken well to pro ball so far, slashing .306/.404/.388 with five stolen bases and an 8/7 strikeout to walk ratio through 13 games at Low A Charleston.

CBB-66: SS Tyler Bell, Lincoln Way East HS [IL] {video}
Slot value: $1.26 million. Signing bonus: did not sign.
My rank: #48. MLB Pipeline: #81. Baseball America: #103.
As it turns out, the Rays took one infielder from Kentucky only to give them another, as Tyler Bell was the highest drafted player this year not to sign and will instead head to Lexington. He is a very interesting prospect to say the least, and with the Rays coming $250,000 short of their bonus pool, he must have turned down at least $1.5 million if not closer to $2.25 million if they offered the 5% overage. A switch hitter, Bell stands out for elite bat speed from both sides of the plate. Not very good, not plus, but elite, and as we've seen from the recently released bat tracking data at the MLB level, that's a big deal. Meanwhile, the on-field results have been more good than great, making him a bit of a sleeper if you're not into the data. He's been a bit inconsistent against higher level pitching and can get tied up by better stuff, so he's far from a finished product. The power hasn't quite manifested yet in games as he's still tacking strength onto his 6'1" frame, but with that bat speed, it's coming. Meanwhile, Bell's glove may be more impressive than his bat. He's a slick defender at shortstop with a quick transfer and an accurate arm, so unlike the previous two names in this draft class, he has a very good chance to not just stick at the premium position but thrive there. He'll do that at Kentucky, where he'll hope to grow into his power while polishing up his approach at the plate. With a June birthday that makes him extremely old for an incoming freshman, he'll be draft eligible as a sophomore in 2026.

3-94: C Nathan Flewelling, St. Joseph HS [AB] {video}
Slot value: $776,500. Signing bonus: $774,000 ($2,500 below slot value).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: #236. Baseball America: #420.
Here's another really fun data darling. Nathan Flewelling hails from Red Deer, Alberta, a mid-size city about halfway between Calgary and Edmonton, but his remote hometown didn't keep his name from surfacing as one of the top prep players in Canada. He committed to Gonzaga fairly recently but the Rays bought him out with essentially full slot value here in the third round, where most boards had him rated a few rounds later. Flewelling stands out most for his power. He can really fling the barrel through the zone and while he hasn't nearly finished filling out his 6'2" frame, he produces some eye popping exit velocities that hint at future plus or even plus-plus raw power. As he fills out and learns to turn on the ball better, we could be talking about a serious middle of the order thumper. Flewelling has also made pretty good, consistent contact against the competition he's faced, though he doesn't have a long track record against top arms so the hit tool is a bit more of a question mark. Meanwhile, he continues to improve behind the plate and while he has a ways to go before you could consider his defense MLB-caliber, he moves pretty well back there and should take well to pro development. A power hitting left handed catcher could give the Rays some serious value, but he has a long way to go to get there. Age works in his favor, as he won't turn 18 until November and was one of the very youngest players in the entire draft.

4-124: RHP Nate Knowles, William & Mary {video}
Slot value: $577,700. Signing bonus: $397,500 ($180,200 below slot value).
My rank: #183. MLB Pipeline: #219. Baseball America: #152.
Nate Knowles gives the Rays another intriguing arm and for a significant discount as well. He has gotten better and better every season at William & Mary culminating in being named the CAA Pitcher of the Year this past spring, and now he's a Ray. Knowles sits in the low 90's with his fastball and only tops out around 95, which is modest by today's standards, but the pitch has massive riding action out of a lower slot to force a ton of empty swings. He's got a decent cutter/slider with a nice combination of power and movement in the upper 80's, while his curveball gives him a deeper, truer breaking ball and grades out as a better pitch. He doesn't use his changeup much and it'll need work in pro ball. The 6' righty has a bit of a stocky build and lacks projection, but he repeats his delivery well and throws enough strikes to warrant continued looks in the rotation. If he can hold the command together and bring that changeup along, the Rays are just the team to get creative and turn him into a #4 starter. If he moves to the bullpen, he could creep towards the mid 90's with his fastball and make that hop play even better.

5-157: RHP Jacob Kmatz, Oregon State {video}
Slot value: $418,600. Signing bonus: $397,500 ($21,100 below slot value).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. Baseball America: #314.
Jacob Kmatz, like Nate Knowles, was one of the better pitching performers out there this year with a 3.38 ERA and a 96/22 strikeout to walk ratio over 88 innings. Like Knowles, he gets it done with a deep arsenal as opposed to big velocity, but the similarities end there. Kmatz has a fastball around 90, creeping into the low 90's and touching 94, with nice riding action from a very high slot. He has a big, deep, 12-6 curveball that can show shoulder to knee break, while his distinct slider is the opposite in that it comes in with tight, lateral break about ten miles per hour faster. There's also a changeup, but it's behind the others. The 6'3" righty ran a very nice 6.3% walk rate in 2024, showing his above average control, though he doesn't always finish through his tall and fall delivery and can cast his pitches, so the control is ahead of the command. Kmatz is very durable and has thrown 238 innings in 46 appearances (45 starts) over the past three seasons, so he should have no issue handling a pro starter workload. Tampa will hope to help him add a little velocity and bring the changeup along, which gives him back of the rotation upside.

6-186: RHP Janzen Keisel, Oklahoma State {video}
Slot value: $326,000. Signing bonus: $272,500 ($53,500 below slot value).
My rank: #160. MLB Pipeline: #248. Baseball America: #144.
Out of all these arms, Janzen Keisel was probably the most stereotypically Rays-like arm in that he's a complete unicorn. He spent his freshman year at BYU and showed well, then transferred to Oklahoma State for his sophomore season where he got off on the right foot by dominating Cal Baptist in his first start. He couldn't make it out of the second inning in his next start against Missouri State and has since struggled mightily with consistency, to the point where OSU used him less and less over the next two seasons. Keisel may need refinement, but the stuff is pretty nasty. The fastball sits in the mid 90's and touches 99 with big time life, riding and running from a very low slot to chew up bats when he locates it. His slider is pretty inconsistent, backing up at times, though at its best it shows late gyro bite and can miss bats. The changeup, like with other arms in this class, isn't used much. Keisel has a low three quarters slot and creates a unique look for hitters the way the ball comes out of his hand, but his below average command and inconsistent feel for his stuff makes him an enigma. He'll likely fit better in a bullpen role, where he can approach triple digits with his fastball with all its life and hopefully harness his slider a little better, and if any team can get that done, it's the Rays.

7-216: RHP Ryan Andrade, Pittsburgh {video}
Slot value: $255,500. Signing bonus: $253,000 ($2,500 below slot value).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: #249. Baseball America: #337.
Continuing the theme of non-traditional profiles is Ryan Andrade. He spent two seasons as a reliever at Rhode Island, then transferred to Pitt for his junior season in 2024. Making a simultaneous jump both to the ACC and to the rotation, he pitched to uneven results, twice allowing ten runs in starts against Virginia and Duke but also tossing back to back gems against Notre Dame and Florida State. As you might expect, Andrade has big stuff. The fastball sits in the low to mid 90's and touches 96 with riding action to explode on hitters, while he brings a pair of sharp breaking balls that miss bats. A changeup completes the arsenal, though it's behind the others. The 6'2" righty has well below average command, a product both of his explosive stuff and of a moderately high effort delivery that includes some head whack. It looks like a relief profile on the surface, and he has experience there, so the Rays will really need to tighten things up if they want him to start long term. He's strong enough to do so with projection remaining on his frame, and the Rays do succeed with these types of arms.

12-366: SS Jack Lines, TNXL Academy [FL] {video}
Slot value: up to $150,000. Signing bonus: $397,500 ($247,500 against bonus pool).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. Baseball America: unranked.
Make that two high school position players from small cities in Alberta for the Rays. Jack Lines hails from Okotoks, about twenty miles south of Calgary, and spent the season at TNXL Academy in Ocoee, a western suburb of Orlando. Initially committed to Florida State, he'll head west down I-4 instead of north up I-75 after the Rays handed him late fifth round money here in the twelfth round. He's a left handed hitter with a quick, line drive-oriented swing that produces nice impact to all fields, and while he's not huge at a listed 6', 170 pounds, he's growing into his power and could get to fringy in that regard. Lines is also a strong defender with a strong arm and plenty of athleticism, which gives him every chance to play shortstop in the long run as the Rays clean up some of his defensive actions. The upside here is a high average, left handed hitting shortstop, which is a nice get for a $400K bonus, though he has a long way to go to reach that ceiling.

2023 MLB Draft Review: Tampa Bay Rays

Full list of draftees

As usual, the Rays pulled together a very interesting class and I'm looking forward to seeing what they do with it. They used their first five picks on bats (all of whom are off to red-hot starts), in fact saving about $900,000 against the bonus pool in the process, then pivoted to arms with fourteen of their final sixteen picks including three that went well above the slot value. I like this strategy in general and especially for the Rays, who can get really creative with pitching and don't necessarily need to pop the most complete, high-floor candidate early in the draft. All of the pitchers here are a little different, each with their own unique traits, giving Tampa room to flex those creative muscles.
Full index of team reviews here. Full rankings here.
Note that the number before a player's name indicates their draft position. "2-50" would indicate that a player was drafted in the second round with the fiftieth overall pick.

1-19: SS Brayden Taylor, Texas Christian {video}
Slot value: $3.88 million. Signing bonus: $3.88 million.
My rank: #10. MLB Pipeline: #15. Baseball America: #14. Prospects Live: #10.
The Rays usually like to draft outlier profiles with high upside, but I think Brayden Taylor and his more well-rounded profile kind of fell into their laps here and they just couldn't say no to arguably a top ten talent at #19. He hit the ground running at TCU and absolutely torched Big 12 pitching from the get go on his way to earning Big 12 Freshman of the Year honors in 2021. After another huge sophomore season, he entered the 2023 draft cycle a potential top ten pick, then immediately boosted his stock by posting loud exit velocities during a hot opening weekend at the College Baseball Showdown in Arlington. However, he slumped hard for the next month and a half, falling more towards the back of the first round range as his strikeout rate climbed, then reversed his fortunes again and caught fire in the second half of the season to reclaim his lost draft stock. So where does that leave us? Brayden Taylor is an extremely professional hitter with and exceptional approach at the plate, rarely ever expanding the zone and constantly putting himself in a position to hit drivable pitches. If there's any outlier trait there, it's that plate discipline. Otherwise, he has average bat to ball ability so it evens out to at least an above average hit tool, perhaps plus if the slump turns out to be more of an aberration than anything else. Taylor has a loose, whippy barrel through the zone, though he's not overly physical at 6'1" and for most of his career his top end exit velocities have been average. He began turning on the ball more this spring at the expense of his hit tool, though that power plays mostly to the pull side and he may never be an all-fields home run threat. Still, it's a very well rounded offensive profile overall. The Salt Lake City-area product is also a strong defender at third base, strong enough that the Rays drafted him as a shortstop despite spending most of his time in Fort Worth at the hot corner. With moderate speed but agile actions and a strong arm on the dirt, it's certainly worth a shot and would seriously elevate the profile if he can stick there. Overall, the floor is a high on-base third baseman with moderate, perhaps 15 home run power, which is a solid every day profile, but numerous developments could make him a star. If he proves he can handle shortstop, then the offensive profile looks that much better. If he can tack on some strength and start tapping more power outside of his wheelhouse, suddenly he could look like a left handed Anthony Rendon. Taylor is the rare high ceiling, high floor type. He's off to a hot start through five games between the Florida Complex League and Low A Charleston, slashing .333/.520/.722 with a home run and an even 7/7 strikeout to walk ratio.

CBA-31: SS Adrian Santana, Doral HS [FL] {video}
Slot value: $2.67 million. Signing bonus: $2 million ($667,650 below slot value).
My rank: #60. MLB Pipeline: #38. Baseball America: #39. Prospects Live: #31.
Tampa stayed in the Sunshine State for their competitive balance pick, grabbing shortstop Adrian Santana from the Doral Academy immediately west of Miami. Santana is a slick defender that will certainly stick at shortstop, with a combination of explosive speed and smooth actions rarely seen on the dirt. He effortlessly glides to his left and right, with an above average arm that plays up further due to his exceptional body control and ability to unleash accurate throws from multiple angles and when off balance. The glove is the selling point and earned him top 100 pick consideration, but he came out looking like a more pro-ready hitter this spring and that's what got the Rays' attention at pick #31. Previously a below average hitter with well below average power, he's added some physicality and now looks like he could get to 40 grade power in time, enough to flirt with double digit home runs annually. Santana is a switch hitter with loose, whippy swings that will be conducive to added strength as he gets there, and he makes his fair share of contact though he can get beat by higher velocity. He's very young for the class, only turning 18 after the draft, which gives him further time to develop physically and hopefully hit enough to play every day. If not, the floor is as a light hitting utility infielder, which is higher than most high schoolers. He had been committed to Miami but signed a well below slot deal, taking roughly the slot value for the 43rd overall pick at #31. Santana has taken well to the Florida Complex League, slashing .316/.435/.368 with an even 3/3 strikeout to walk ratio through five games.

2-55: OF Colton Ledbetter, Mississippi State {video}
Slot value: $1.51 million. Signing bonus: $1.3 million ($209,800 below slot value).
My rank: #36. MLB Pipeline: #49. Baseball America: #47. Prospects Live: #39.
The Rays came through with another excellent pick in the second round, grabbing one of the better all-around bats in the SEC. Colton Ledbetter began his career close to home at Samford, then transferred to Mississippi State as a junior and put up a huge season, slashing .320/.452/.574 with 12 home runs, 17 stolen bases, and a 36/47 strikeout to walk ratio over 53 games. Despite making the jump from SoCon to SEC pitching, he showed off an extremely patient, disciplined approach and ran very low chase rates with high contact rates, walking close to 20% of the time. At the same time, he's an explosive hitter whose swing is conducive to elevating the ball with authority, which will help him make the most of his average raw power and help it play up to above average in games. The end result could be a 20+ home run bat with high on-base percentages, on its own a nice find in the second round as an under slot selection. Beyond that, he's a heady baserunner whose average speed plays up due to his instincts, and those instincts also give him a shot to stick in center as a pro. He may be forced to left field by a more rangy defender, but he would be above average there in left and help relieve some of the pressure that position puts on the bat. Ledbetter does a lot well and the Rays seem like just the team to maximize his skillset on the field. Like the names before him in this Rays class, he's off to a hot start to his pro career, slashing .381/.500/.571 with a home run and a strong 2/5 strikeout to walk ratio through six games between the Florida Complex League and Low A Charleston.

3-88: 1B Tre' Morgan, Louisiana State {video}
Slot value: $783,800. Signing bonus: $781,300 ($2,500 below slot value).
My rank: #120. MLB Pipeline: #137. Baseball America: #76. Prospects Live: #69.
Tre' Morgan is one of the more unique players in the draft, and he makes for a fun profile that fits right into the Rays' slightly off-kilter preferences. He's a three year performer at LSU and a career .332 hitter, including a 2023 in which he slashed .316/.418/.502 with a career-high nine home runs and a 33/35 strikeout to walk ratio 69 games for the National Champs. Utilizing a short, contact-oriented left handed swing, he throws the barrel at the ball with exceptional accuracy that helps him get to baseballs all over and outside the zone. You could even call him a bad ball hitter. Those elite bat to ball skills have helped him strike out just 10.9% of the time over three years against elite pitching in the SEC, including just a 10.0% flat rate in 2023 despite a very aggressive approach. Morgan is more than willing to expand the zone because he knows he can still do damage on pitches in the shadow zone, which in turn cuts into his walk rate (though his 10.6% rate in 2023 was a career high). He's also been hit by 47 pitches in his college career, which helps boost the OBP a little extra. Morgan's tendency to chase and focus more on contact has left him with fringy game power, as he rarely elevates and/or turns on the ball. However, with a 90th percentile exit velocity over 104, he may have average raw power in the tank if he decides to lay off a few more bad balls and turn on the ones he likes. The Rays will probably go that route with his development to create a little more impact and move away from the peppery approach he employs now. The hand-eye coordination is certainly there to make it work, and he could club 15-20 home runs a year with solid, batting average-driven on-base percentages at peak. The New Orleans' native is also one of the best defenders you'll ever see at first base, with superior range, footwork, and instincts to his peers at that position. He glides around the bag like a rangy third baseman, effectively going back on tough, spinning popups and making plays in the 3-4 hole that typically get through. The arm is probably no better than average, but his body control and instincts make it play up and he can catch runners sleeping from across the diamond. There aren't a lot of comps for players with his profile, with perhaps the first that comes to mind being 2017 Mariners first round pick Evan White, who never quite established himself in the majors. He's yet another Ray off to a hot start, slashing .389/.522/.611 with a home run and just one strikeout to five walks through five games between the Florida Complex League and Low A Charleston.

4-120: SS Hunter Haas, Texas A&M {video}
Slot value: $552,500. Signing bonus: $534,000 ($18,500 below slot value).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: #188. Baseball America: #340. Prospects Live: #235.
Hunter Haas hit .304 as a true freshman at Arizona State, but didn't get much playing time as a sophomore and transferred to Texas A&M for the 2023 season, where he slashed .323/.447/.506 with ten home runs and a 39/49 strikeout to walk ratio over 64 games. He's a hit tool-driven player with a very strong approach at the plate that helps him focus on pitches he can do damage on while drawing a ton of walks when he doesn't get one. It's a clean, line drive swing that helps him utilize the whole field effectively, and together he should continue to get on base in pro ball. The power is a bit behind, as he can turn on the ball when he needs to for some pull side power but may lack the overall impact to provide significant home run power with wood bats. He hit just .211/.296/.284 on the Cape with five extra base hits in 34 games, so overall, the hit tool will have to carry the profile. The Phoenix native is a solid defender with average but playable tools at shortstop, which will make him a true utility glove in his most likely role. If he can tap a little more power in pro ball, perhaps he could work his way into an every day role near the bottom of the lineup. He's slashing .308/.471/.692 with one home run and a 2/4 strikeout to walk ratio over four games in the Florida Complex League so far.

5-156: RHP Trevor Harrison, J.W. Mitchell HS [FL] {video}
Slot value: $388,900. Signing bonus: $847,500 ($458,600 above slot value).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: #245. Baseball America: #351. Prospects Live: unranked.
Having built up about $900,000 in savings to this point, the rays used about half of it here to lure Trevor Harrison away from a Florida State commitment for money close to the slot value at #83 overall, a third round valuation. Harrison is a local kid, having pitched alongside Phillies first rounder Aidan Miller at J.W. Mitchell High School in the suburb of Trinity, about thirty miles straight north from Tropicana Field in southern Pasco County. He was a pop-up arm this spring after he added considerable velocity, sitting in the low to mid 90's with running action to avoid barrels. His slider gets nice depth when he gets it right, while his changeup has sneaky fade, again when he releases it right. The secondary stuff can be inconsistent at this point but the Rays love the upside he's shown with those pitches, and overall they'll look to help him attain more consistency in that regard. The 6'4" righty is already physical but still growing into his body in terms of coordination and mechanics, so he does have a bit of trouble repeating his delivery and can yank his release point with head whack at times. Still, it's a strong, projectable frame with a whippy arm that could really explode in an organization like Tampa that really knows what it's doing. He's extremely young for the class, not turning 18 until almost a month after the draft and well over a year younger than his teammate Miller, which helps add even more to his upside. Rays fans should be patient with this one but he has impact starter potential.

6-183: RHP TJ Nichols, Arizona {video}
Slot value: $307,300. Signing bonus: $304,800 ($2,500 below slot value).
My rank: #161. MLB Pipeline: #239. Baseball America: #157. Prospects Live: #169.
TJ Nichols has a long history with scouts, having been a top five-rounds prospect out of high school in 2020 before reaching Arizona after the shortened draft. He flashed huge upside as an immediate contributor on that Wildcat pitching staff during his freshman season, but has never really progressed from there. He posted a career-worst 8.27 ERA in 2023 alongside a 52/29 strikeout to walk ratio over 57.2 innings, but there is reason to believe the upside is still there. Nichols runs his fastball into the upper 90's and holds mid 90's velocity throughout his starts, but it's fairly straight and gets hit. He shows an inconsistent slider that flashes above average with short, tight action, while his changeup looks like a usable pitch in pro ball as well. The Sacramento-area native hides the ball fairly well with a short arm delivery, but still doesn't miss as many bats as he should due to his straight fastball and lack of a true putaway offspeed pitch. His command has also been inconsistent, as he has never found a way to consistently repeat his release point and walked over 10% of his opponents in 2023. That said, there are many reasons for optimism. The 6'5" righty is still extremely projectable and with a June birthday, he's young for a college junior. You also cannot teach the kind of arm strength he possesses, regardless of how it manifests into stuff that moves and misses bats. The Rays are great at teaching that second part. Nichols may never be a starter (you never know though), but his fastball/slider could play up in relief especially if Tampa finds a way to add some hop to the fastball. In his first game in the Florida Complex League, he tossed a hitless inning while walking one and striking out one.

7-213: RHP Owen Wild, Gonzaga {video}
Slot value: $240,600. Signing bonus: $238,100 ($2,500 below slot value).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: #231. Baseball America: #300. Prospects Live: #344.
I was interested in Owen Wild as a prospect entering the 2023 season, but he didn't quite take that step forward and I was hoping for and I never got back around to him and didn't rank him. Still, there's a lot to like in this profile. After barely pitching as a freshman, he showed extremely well as a sophomore in a loaded Gonzaga pitching staff that included three top-three round picks in Gabriel Hughes, Trystan Vrieling, and William Kempner, and continued to show well over the summer in the Alaska League. He plateaued in 2023, posting a 4.93 ERA and a 105/31 strikeout to walk ratio over 95 innings, bringing us to where we are now. Wild sits in the low 90's with his fastball, touching 95 at best with flat plane and carry that helps it play above its velocity. He adds a deep, slurvy slider as well as a harder cutter, though both need to be tightened up if he wants to use them in pro ball. At this point, his best pitch may be an above average changeup with great fading action away from left handed hitters, and overall he has the potential for a very solid three or four pitch mix. It would be nice to see him add a tick of velocity to his fastball and power to his slider and cutter, which would really elevate his profile given everything else he has going for him. The 6'2" righty is already very physical and a pro conditioning program should do him very well, perhaps most importantly in that velocity department. Despite his last name, Wild's command is actually pretty solid and he repeats his delivery well despite some stabbing and curling action in the back of his arm action, and he effectively uses his lower half to drive down the mound. I think the Rays can unlock a back-end starter profile here.

8-243: LHP Drew Dowd, Stanford {video}
Slot value: $195,800. Signing bonus: $397,500 ($201,700 above slot value).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. Baseball America: #498. Prospects Live: #363.
Drew Dowd has spent three years in a swingman role for Stanford and now comes to the Rays with the chance to be a solid lefty reliever or back-end starter, signing for fifth round money here in the eighth round. Dowd had a solid season in 2023, posting a 4.52 ERA and an 88/33 strikeout to walk ratio over 65.2 innings, including a couple of hitless outings against Wake Forest and Tennessee in the College World Series. As a starter, he sits around 90 with his fastball and touches 92, but he can get up to 95 as a reliever. His primary offspeed pitch is a big, deep curveball that dives across the plate, while his changeup gives him a solid, usable third pitch should he work out as a starter for Tampa. He's physically maxed out at 6'2" but hides the ball well with average command and good feel for his offspeed stuff, giving the Rays a good baseline to work with. If he stays in the bullpen, he could move somewhat quickly.

10-303: RHP Adam Boucher, Duke {video}
Slot value: $166,500. Signing bonus: $148,500 ($18,000 below slot value).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. Baseball America: #352. Prospects Live: #186.
This is a nice find at the end of day two that could turn into an impact reliever. Adam Boucher never fully put it together in three years at Duke, but the upside is there. In 2023, he posted a 4.95 ERA and a 59/25 strikeout to walk ratio over 40 innings, mostly out of the bullpen. Boucher has explosive stuff highlighted by a mid 90's fastball that can touch 98 in relief, coming in with big riding life to boot. It's easily the best now-fastball in the draft for Tampa's class. He also adds a hard cutter/slider that looks above average at its best, though it can be inconsistent, and he doesn't have much feel for his changeup at this point. The 6'5" righty is plenty physical but does battle command issues, as he leans towards third base in his delivery and doesn't always get back on line when he straightens out while throwing with high effort. That makes this almost certainly a relief profile, but his fastball/slider combination could really play in short stints once the Rays clean him up a little bit. He worked around a single and a walk in his first outing in the Florida Complex League, striking out the other three batters he faced in his one inning.

11-333: RHP Garrett Edwards, Louisiana State {video}
Slot value: up to $150,000. Signing bonus: $499,850 ($349,850 against bonus pool).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. Baseball America: #412. Prospects Live: #366.
The Rays had bonus pool money left to spend after two days of drafting, so they gave most of the rest of it to Garrett Edwards in the eleventh round with a signing bonus par for the late fourth round. Edwards is a tough one to figure out because he's thrown just 68.1 innings in his three year college career, including just 31.1 innings over the past two seasons, and he won't pitch much in 2024 because he's recovering from Tommy John surgery. Before the surgery in 2023, he was off to his best season yet with a 1.93 ERA and a 27/5 strikeout to walk ratio over 23.1 innings, and the Rays are all in on what they saw in those ten relief appearances. It's a mid 90's fastball that gets up to 97 at best with running action to keep it off barrels,  while his power slider has late sweeping action. He can work that slider into more of a cutter, and while he doesn't use it as much, there's a changeup in there as well. Edwards hides the ball well with very short arm action, and even though there's some violence in the delivery once he breaks towards the plate, he has pounded the strike zone at LSU and projects for average command. Despite making just three starts in his Tigers career and none in 2023, there's a chance the Rays could work him into longer outings if he can stay healthy. The Pitkin, Louisiana native stands 6'5" with a physical, filled out frame, and he has the arsenal and command to pull off a starting pitching assignment. Given the amount of money Tampa threw his way, they seem to think the same.

14-423: LHP TJ Fondtain, San Diego State {video}
Slot value: up to $150,000. Signing bonus: $150,000.
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. Baseball America: #419. Prospects Live: #478.
This is an interesting pick for Tampa. TJ Fondtain barely played during his first two seasons at San Diego State, but has grown into one of the best two-way players on the West Coast as an upperclassman over the past two seasons. He's a career .287/.364/.515 hitter with eleven home runs over 95 games, but the Rays are taking him as a pitcher, where he had a 2.80 ERA and a 93/23 strikeout to walk ratio over 86.2 innings this past spring including a complete game, fourteen strikeout no-hitter against Nevada. Fondtain does not throw all that hard, sitting around 90 and touching 93 with his fastball, but he gets nice plane and carry on the pitch that helps it play above its velocity. His offspeed stuff is fringy and he doesn't even use it all that much, typically pitching off the fastball. Though the stuff isn't loud, the clay is very interesting. Fondtain has a still-projectable 6'5" frame and great athleticism that enabled his impact as a two-way guy for the Aztecs. He repeats his delivery well and controls the strike zone with above average command, additionally creating some deception by hiding the ball well and leaning back over his heels in his drive towards the plate. The Rays are one of the most creative organizations in the country when it comes to developing talent and they could help the Fresno-area native put the building blocks together into a back-end starting profile.

2022 MLB Draft Review: Tampa Bay Rays

Full list of draftees

The Rays always draft well, and this year was no different. After pulling off a surprise with the powerful Xavier Isaac at the back of the first round, they transitioned to a mostly college-oriented draft that only included two more high schoolers the rest of the way, one of which (seventeenth rounder Levi Huesman) may not even sign. They diversified for sure, mixing Isaac's and Dominic Keegan's immense raw power and well below average speed with Chandler Simpson's top of the scale speed and bottom of the scale power. Meanwhile, Brock Jones and Ryan Cermak offer a nice mix of both. My personal favorite pick in this class is sixth rounder Gary Gill Hill, who fits way too perfectly in this development system and could come out an absolute monster.
Full index of team reviews here. Full rankings here.

1-29: 1B Xavier Isaac, East Forsyth HS [NC]. My rank: #166.
Slot value: $2.55 million. Signing bonus: likely below slot value.
Kumar Rocker and the Rangers made headlines for the most surprising pick in the first round, but those who follow the draft closely may have been equally or more surprised by the Rays and Xavier Isaac. He ranked #92 on Baseball America, #113 on MLB Pipeline, #166 on my board, and #172 on Prospects Live, and I saw other boards that had him outside the top 200. I'm not pointing this out to call it a bad pick, rather to show that nobody saw it coming. Isaac has very little track record against high quality pitching, so this is a massive gamble, but the Rays clearly believe the bat is for real and that playing on the summer showcase circuit would have only proven what they already knew. Nobody doubts the raw power, which is among the best in the entire high school class up there with names like Elijah Green and Jayson Jones. The Winston-Salem-area native packs an incredible amount of brute strength into his 6'4", 240 pound frame, channeling it into a powerful left handed swing that might put the Tropicana roof in danger. If you want an example, just look at this opposite field laser that other teenage hitters simply cannot replicate. He hit very well against North Carolina high school pitching this year, but like I mentioned earlier, the hit tool is very unproven and he could move slowly through the system. That's viewed as a negative in scouting circles, but technically, it's just a lack of a positive instead and there's a key difference. The Rays obviously are fully bought in, and they see a kid who could hit 35+ home runs a year, perhaps the next David Ortiz at the high end. He'll have to hit, because he's a well below average athlete that will be limited to first base defensively, if not DH. Isaac is committed to Florida, but I can't imagine that will be a factor this high in the draft as the Rays look to lure him a little bit farther down I-75.

2-65: OF Brock Jones, Stanford. My rank: #38.
Slot value: $1.08 million. Signing bonus: $1.08 million.
Brock Jones' stock has been on a little bit of a roller coaster over the past couple seasons, but it's definitely on the upward trend right now and Tampa Bay could be picking up a true impact player here. Originally recruited for both football and baseball, Jones logged some time as a safety at Stanford Stadium before giving up football to focus on baseball as a sophomore. That paid off as he hit .311/.453/.646 with 18 home runs that year, and he entered the 2022 season a potential top ten pick. However, he didn't get much to hit early in the season and struggled to adjust, slashing an unremarkable .247/.417/.416 with a 28.7% strikeout rate through his first 25 games. However, he turned things around in a big way starting in mid April and slashed .366/.470/.799 with 16 home runs and a 22.3% strikeout rate over 40 games the rest of the way. So enough history, who is Brock Jones? He's a chiseled athlete with a compact, strong-as-heck six foot frame that did not look out of place on the football field. He has a simple but powerful left handed swing that enables him to hit the ball out to all fields, and has not one but two three homer games in NCAA Tournament play to his name. The Fresno native is a patient hitter that works a lot of deep counts, leading to a ton of walks (17.4% rate in 2022) but there's a healthy amount of swing and miss in his game as well. He may always be a streaky hitter because of that, but when he's hot, it's a complete offensive profile. You can see the safety in him in the outfield, where his plus speed helps him track down fly balls, but safeties don't throw the football much and his arm is fringy. Because of that, a better defender may push him to left field, where he'll likely hit enough to play every day. The ceiling is an impact bat that could knock 25-30 or more home runs per year with high, walk-driven on-base percentages, while the floor would be a streaky, power hitting platoon bat.

CBB-70: SS Chandler Simpson, Georgia Tech. My rank: #86.
Slot value: $953,300. Signing bonus: $750,000 ($203,300 below slot value).
Hey, does anybody else remember the late 2000's "Running Rays" with Carl Crawford, B.J. Upton, and Jason Bartlett? No? My brain may have invented the term. Anyways, Chandler Simpson is a fascinating prospect who could bring back the moniker, and funnily enough, he literally could not be more different than first rounder Xavier Isaac. Simpson is coming off a fantastic season at Georgia Tech in which he slashed .433/.506/.517 with nearly double as many walks (31) as strikeouts (16) over 47 games, then followed that up by hitting a near-identical .455/.510/.523 with five walks to just two strikeouts in twelve games in the Cape Cod League leading up to the draft. He stands out the most for his blazing speed as a true top of the scale runner that can change games from the batter's box, on the bases, or in the field. He gets to use it often, too, as he possesses elite bat to ball skills that help him put the ball in play with extreme consistency. Unfortunately, those elite bat to ball skills don't translate into any power, as he's much more of a slash and dash type that throws the barrel at the ball and lets his legs do the rest. You'll see a lot of ground balls and line drives over the infielders' heads, but outfielders typically won't have to worry about guarding the warning track and he hit just one home run in three years of college ball. The Atlanta native doesn't project to add much, either, but the good news is that he is such a good pure hitter that his approach should have little difficulty transitioning to pro pitching. The Rays drafted Simpson as a shortstop, but he doesn't quite have the arm strength to play there and profiles better at second base. They may also deploy him in center field, where his speed would be fantastic.

CBB-71: SS Ryan Cermak, Illinois State. My rank: #77.
Slot value: $929,500. Signing bonus: $750,000 ($179,500 below slot value).
The Rays had two competitive balance picks in a row and used the second one on Illinois State center fielder Ryan Cermak. He's a very interesting player that has steadily improved throughout his time in Normal, culminating in a breakout 2022 in which he slashed .340/.441/.696 with 19 home runs and a 44/30 strikeout to walk ratio over 48 games. Cermak is an exceptional athlete that can do a lot well on the diamond, with easy plus speed and a great 6'1" frame. There are some moving parts in his right handed swing, which combined with an aggressive approach at the plate leads to more swing and miss than you'd like to see from a hitter in a mid major conference, but he did cut his strikeout rate from 25.1% in 2021 to 19.2% in 2022 while upping his walk rate from 8.4% to 13.1%. The Chicago native has shown off plus power in games to go with his plus speed, and with pro instruction in a system as strong as Tampa's, I imagine he'll only get better at deploying it. Cermak also shows off a plus arm that will make him an asset in center field, though the Rays interestingly drafted him as a shortstop despite having never played the position in college. He was a full time center fielder in 2022 but did play 20 games at third base from 2020-2021. Overall, I see some Joey Wiemer in this profile, as Wiemer was also a right handed hitter from a mid major Midwestern school that flashed big tools but required significant refinement. He's off to a great start to his pro career in the Brewers system, and Cermak could follow a similar ascent.

3-104: RHP Trevor Martin, Oklahoma State. My rank: unranked.
Slot value: $588,700. Signing bonus: likely a bit under slot value.
Trevor Martin is one of those power arms with big stuff that he struggles to execute consistently, meaning he'll fit right in with the Rays and probably come out a stud. He was up and down in 2022, where he posted a 4.75 ERA and a 79/22 strikeout to walk ratio over 47.1 innings for Oklahoma State, but he finished the season on a strong note by striking out sixteen Missouri State batters in that wild 29-15 game at the Stillwater Regional. Martin can run his fastball up to 98 in relief with explosive life from a low release point with tough angle, a true weapon when he harnesses it. He spins off a power slider that flashes and can also drop in a curveball and changeup, but all three secondaries are inconsistent, as is his command. The 6'5", 240 pound righthander looks like a starting pitcher and with careful development, could become a very useful one. He grew up in a very small town in rural Oklahoma and is just a true sophomore, although a junior by age, and he'll be jumping into a player development system that thrives on pitchers with unique stuff. I'm curious to see how this one turns out.

4-134: C Dominic Keegan, Vanderbilt. My rank: #116.
Slot value: $439,600. Signing bonus: likely around slot value.
Dominic Keegan combines elite batted ball data with huge traditional stats in the SEC, making him one of the most sought after senior bats in the class. He was eligible for the 2021 draft after hitting .345/.427/.638 with 15 home runs for a Vanderbilt team that reached the College World Series, but teams didn't quite match his asking price and with a late birthday that made him 20 on draft day, he returned to Nashville for another year. Keegan put up even bigger numbers in 2022, slashing .371/.458/.646 with 14 home runs and a 51/39 strikeout to walk ratio over 62 games for an otherwise disappointing Vanderbilt team. The Massachusetts product stands out first and foremost for his massive raw power, a plus-plus tool that he taps effortlessly in games with a simple right handed hack. He just flicks the barrel through the zone, then before you know it, there's a baseball in your windshield even though you swore you parked far enough away. There were some swing and miss concerns last year when he struck out at a 27.7% clip, but he dropped that number to 18.5% this spring while showing the same big time impact. Vanderbilt is always deep behind the plate and has usually had a better glove to stick back there, but Keegan did look like he improved this year and he has a chance to stick. The Rays have an extremely deep farm system but are a bit shallow (by their high standards) behind the plate, which may give Keegan some extra opportunity to prove he's capable of holding down the position. A below average runner with an average arm, he would have to play a corner if he could not stick. Though he's a senior sign, his August birthday means he was still 21 on draft day.

5-164: SS Jalen Battles, Arkansas. My rank: #165.
Slot value: $328,400. Signing bonus: $247,500 ($80,900 below slot value).
First of all, Jalen Battles is one of the best names in the entire draft class, so that's a plus right there. As for the player, he's been a known commodity for a while now and earned some mid round interest a year ago, but returned to Arkansas to build his stock. That looks like it worked out, as Battles slashed .289/.364/.480 with ten home runs and a 57/30 strikeout to walk ratio over 66 games for the Razorbacks this season. He does a lot of things well, starting with very strong defensive acumen at shortstop where his springy athleticism, strong arm, and advanced instincts make him a real asset. He's a line drive hitter at the plate that makes a lot of hard contact, with his lean strength leading to some solid pull side power that will help him provide impact as he moves up. Though he struck out at a 20.3% clip this spring, it's an overall advanced package that can provide value on both sides of the ball. His glove will carry him to the big leagues, while his bat will keep him there and provides some upside. I see a very strong utility infielder in this package with a chance for more. The San Antonio native was a senior sign and will turn 23 in the offseason, but could move relatively quickly.

6-194: RHP Gary Gill Hill, Kennedy Catholic HS [NY]. My rank: unranked.
Slot value: $255,500. Signing bonus: likely above slot value.
Another pick, another great name. This is a prospect I really wish I had on my radar prior to the draft, because looking into him now, it is an extremely fun profile that only gets better now that it's in the Tampa Bay player development system. Gary Gill Hill is a 6'2" righty just dripping with projection, with a frame that is both ultra skinny and ultra athletic. He's smooth and explosive on the mound, generating natural power from his long arms and legs. The fastball sits in the low 90's for now, touching the mid 90's, but I have no doubt that he'll add at least a couple ticks to that as he fills out if not more. Honestly, this is an arm that could sit in the mid 90's one day and regularly bump the upper 90's. The offspeed stuff requires more projection, with a nice sweepy slider that he needs to tighten up significantly and a distant changeup, but Hill is extremely young for the class with his 18th birthday not coming until September. He may spend a couple years in the FCL and move slowly up the ladder, but if the Rays get this right which they are certainly capable of, they could have a real impact arm on their hands. Committed to Wake Forest, the New Yorker will likely require a sizable over slot bonus to sign here.

9-284: LHP Chris Villaman, North Carolina State. My rank: unranked.
Slot value: $157,000. Signing bonus: likely around slot value, possibly a bit above.
Chris Villaman has filled a variety of roles at NC State, but settled in as a long reliever in 2022 with a 3.40 ERA and an 85/14 strikeout to walk ratio over 55.2 innings. He showed flashes of greatness throughout the season and closed it out with six perfect innings against Pittsburgh and UNC (eleven strikeouts) in the ACC Tournament. Villaman is a fastball/changeup type that sits in the low 90's with good carry, touching the mid 90's, hiding the ball well along the way. The changeup plays very well off the fastball and when both are working. he can be untouchable. The 6'2" lefty also adds a slider but it's not the bat misser you look for in a pro pitcher and will be a point of emphasis going forward. Villaman goes right after hitters and rarely hurts himself with walks, so if you squint, you can see a move back to the rotation if he improves his feel for spin. The Rays will work towards that, but if not, a tick up in fastball velocity could make the North Carolina native a very useful fastball/slider reliever.

17-524: LHP Levi Huesman, Hanover HS [VA]. My rank: #110.
Slot value: up to $125,000. Signing bonus: likely well above $125K if he signs.
Levi Huesman is a Coastal Carolina commit that seems likely to reach campus, but I don't see any obvious over slot candidates in the top ten rounds for the Rays aside from Gary Gill Hill and they may end up with money left over to make a run here. Huesman has been somewhat inconsistent, but at his best, he looks like a second round pick. His fastball can dip into the upper 80's at times but has touched as high as 96 at others, while his slider shows great sweeping action and his changeup is a distant third pitch. The Richmond-area native is a great mover on the mound that gets out and releases the ball out front with great riding action and flat angle, helping his fastball play up above his velocity. At just 5'10", Huesman is not the most physical player in the draft and he'll turn 19 in August, making him more than a year older than Gill Hill. He'll need to get significantly stronger to add power to his stuff and maintain it over longer outings and longer seasons, and he'll also need to refine his changeup to avoid a career in the bullpen.

2021 MLB Draft Review: Tampa Bay Rays

Full list of draftees

The Rays always draft well. Maybe it's not always apparent right after the draft, but when we look back five and ten years later, they always draft well (okay, maybe Tim Beckham didn't work out). I liked what they did this year, starting off with six consecutive position players, the first four of which were all infielders, then going with pitching almost the entire rest of the way. Which makes sense, because the Rays are known to find random pitchers that nobody has heard of and turn them into studs, much like the Dodgers and Indians. I'm really interested in all of their picks, but perhaps my favorite was the big, live armed Austin Vernon in the tenth round.
Full index of team reviews here. Full rankings here.

1-28: SS Carson Williams, Torrey Pines HS [CA]. My rank: #39.
The Rays started things off by drafting one of the more malleable talents in the class, shortstop Carson Williams. He was a riser this spring and while he doesn't have one single standout tool aside from his arm, he does a lot of things well and all of his tools carry projection, giving the Rays a great opportunity to help him grow into his game. He's a somewhat lanky kid at 6'2", showing a smooth right handed swing that finds the barrel regularly and sprays the ball around the field. Though he lacks present strength, his body type and ability to barrel up the baseball should enable him to grow into at least average power, if not above average, and he did hit some impressive home runs this spring. On defense, he's a smooth shortstop with a cannon for a right arm, and if he gets a little bit more consistent with his glovework, he could be a plus overall defender at the position. The San Diego native is young for the class and just turned 18 shortly before the draft, giving the Rays even more time to develop his game, and he could grow into a star down the line. He's committed to California but in the first round, I doubt he requires a large overslot bonus given the slot value of $2.49 million.

CBA-34: 2B Cooper Kinney, Baylor HS [TN]. My rank: #70.
With the way they develop players, giving the Rays an extra pick in the competitive balance round is almost unfair, but then again they have no money so this is how they stay competitive. Cooper Kinney can come in and play across the bag from Carson Williams, though he does bring a bit of a different game. While Williams has a very well-rounded game, Kinney is very much a bat-first prospect with clear strengths and weaknesses. First and foremost, he's a hitter. The Chattanooga product brings a smooth left handed swing that gets the barrel long through the zone, and he deployed it by barreling up virtually everything he saw in 2021. There's power in his 6'3" frame that should especially start to show up once he gets a little stronger, and with his innate hittability, he should tap it very consistently as it emerges. Kinney is not quite as athletic as Williams, though, and is probably limited to second base at best in pro ball if not further down the defensive spectrum. He doesn't run well nor does he have a great arm, so you're banking on the bat. That bat is pretty special though, and he could be the rare fast-moving high school hitter. Committed to South Carolina, I doubt it will take more than the $2.15 million slot value to redirect him south.

2-63: 1B Kyle Manzardo, Washington State. My rank: #98.
The Rays continued filling out their infield in the second round, and like Kinney, Kyle Manzardo is definitely bat-first. After he ripped .435/.500/.694 (yep) in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, I tabbed Manzardo as a bit of a sleeper heading into the 2021 season, and he made good on that by slashing .365/.437/.640 with eleven home runs and a 29/25 strikeout to walk ratio over 47 games. The northern Idaho native, like Kinney, is the definition of a pro hitter in that he manages the strike zone very well and rarely strikes out, the latter of which you don't see often in a power bat. In another parallel to Kinney, he gets the barrel long through the zone from the left side, enabling him to easily go the other way with authority when he's not turning on baseballs. He reminds me a bit of Red Sox prospect Triston Casas, albeit with a better hit tool and about a grade less raw power. Manzardo is not a gifted defender and will be an average first baseman at best, with DH a real possibility. Regardless, his bat will carry him, and he has a ceiling of 20-25 home runs a year with high on-base percentages in addition to a high floor. Slot value is $1.08 million and I don't think he'll need all of it to sign.

3-100: SS Ryan Spikes, Parkview HS [GA]. My rank: #93.
Sticking in the infield, Tampa Bay went out and grabbed another shortstop in Parkview's Ryan Spikes. He was a favorite of area scouts that didn't quite get as much national attention as he perhaps deserved, but a strong finish to his spring season and a good showing at the draft combine upped his stock in the end. Undersized at a stocky 5'9", he's a tough sell for those who want their prospects to "look the part," but like so many others in this Rays draft class, he can flat out hit. The Lilburn, Georgia product has consistently gotten better and better with his right handed swing, finding the barrel more and more against good pitching out there in the Atlanta metro. And even though he's small, finding the barrel means very loud contact and some home run power as he really drives the ball with authority. Spikes is consistently getting better on defense as well, convincing more and more scouts every day that he has the ability to stick at shortstop with a strong arm and stronger instincts. As a high baseball IQ type with great feel for the game and an upward trajectory, he certainly fits the mold of a sleeper, especially once he gets into the Rays' extremely deep farm system. Spikes is committed to Tennessee and I'm not sure where his bonus demands will fall with regards to the $581,600 slot value.

4-130: OF Dru Baker, Texas Tech. Unranked.
We're five picks in and we're still on the infield, though Dru Baker probably won't stick at his listed position of third base. He's a career .324/.400/.469 hitter at Texas Tech and had his best year yet in 2021, slashing .343/.406/.484 with four home runs and a 42/22 strikeout to walk ratio over 51 games, also stealing eighteen bases in twenty attempts. The Houston-area native is another undersized guy at 5'11", using his quick bat to spray line drives around the field consistently and against good pitching. From there, his plus speed enables him to stretch for extra bases and steal once on, and it will also help him on defense if he's forced to move to the outfield. That defensive position is up in the air right now, as he hasn't shown the most consistent infield glove and hasn't gotten consistent innings at any one position anyways, bouncing around the field to play wherever Texas Tech needed him. Once he settles in at one spot, he should grow into either an average second or third baseman or an above average outfielder. Because of his lack of power, it's hard to project Baker as a regular, but he could be a valuable bench piece especially on a team like the Rays that loves to get creative. Slot value is $434,300, and I doubt he'll require that much to sign.

8-251: LHP Patrick Wicklander, Arkansas. My rank: #212.
In the eighth round, the Rays got a fun story and a good pitcher in Patrick Wicklander. The San Jose native spent his first two seasons in Fayetteville riding ups and downs as he tried to figure out who he was as a pitcher, then found out during the pandemic that he was a type one diabetic. Once he got that all straightened out, he returned in 2021 with his most consistent season to date, posting a 2.09 ERA and an 85/24 strikeout to walk ratio over 77.2 innings against an extremely tough schedule. Wicklander attacks hitters primarily with a two pitch mix, sitting in the low 90's with his fastball and adding an average slider that lacks the power to be a true out pitch. He also throws a fringy curveball and a changeup, but doesn't use them as much. Everything in the 6'1" lefty's arsenal plays up because he hides the ball well in his delivery and locates his pitches to both sides of the plate, giving him some upside as a back-end starter if he can refine either his curve or changeup. Regardless, he still has a nice floor as a lefty reliever who can be counted on to throw strikes and create tough at bats for opponents, one who could move relatively quickly if the Rays went that route. Slot value is $163,400, which sounds about right.

9-281: LHP Alex Ayala Jr., Florida Southwestern State. Unranked.
The Rays didn't have any true hometown picks, but I try to highlight at least one semi-local guy in each draft and we'll go with Florida Southwestern State's Alex Ayala Jr., who grew up in Doral near Miami and attended JUCO in Fort Myers. He's a 6'1" lefty with a running low 90's fastball, a slider, and a changeup, doing a pretty good job of locating at least the fastball and the changeup. As a true freshman this year at Florida Southwestern State, he put up a 3.53 ERA and an 84/32 strikeout to walk ratio across 63.2 innings, which isn't half bad for a 19 year old going up against some of the best junior college competition in the country. The Rays probably like what he can do with that fastball and are hoping to bring his secondaries even further along, but as a young arm he can really develop in a lot of directions. Slot value is $150,100, and I'm not sure what his signing bonus demands will be.

10-311: RHP Austin Vernon, North Carolina Central. My rank: #169.
I really liked this pick. Austin Vernon is a massive, 6'8", 265 pound righty that might have created the toughest at bats in Raleigh-Durham this year, even with the presence of UNC and Duke. Vernon comes in with a mid 90's fastball that tops out at 98, also adding a pair of power breaking balls in a slider and a curveball. Add the power stuff and size to a high effort delivery and long hair flying everywhere, and it's not easy to stand in the box against him. The Raleigh native can struggle to throw strikes at times, but filled up the zone pretty well in 2021 and put up a 2.55 ERA and a 109/31 strikeout to walk ratio over 70.2 innings, albeit against a weaker schedule. And while the delivery still remains high effort, he's been cleaning it up a bit and won't require a ton of work in pro ball. It's probably a relief profile, but as with Wicklander (and for different reasons), there is starter upside. Slot value is $142,300 and as a 22 year old at a school that's shuttering its baseball program, he won't have much leverage.

11-341: RHP Sean Mullen, UCLA. Unranked.
Sean Mullen is another fun one for the Rays. After pitching sparingly over his first two seasons (albeit to a 0.56 ERA over 16 innings), he got in a full season of work for UCLA in 2021 and responded with a 3.39 ERA and an 89/38 strikeout to walk ratio over 77 innings. The 6'1" righty sits around 90 with his fastball as a starter, usually on the higher end, and has touched 95-96 in short stints. He adds a relatively inconsistent slider that flashes above average, and he can also work it into a cutter to give hitters a different look. To this point, his changeup isn't much of a factor. He has a springy delivery in which he drives hard off his back leg, and his command improved to fringe-average in 2021. There might be a little bit of projection remaining for the Bakersfield native, and for that reason, he (like Wicklander and Vernon) does have a chance to remain a starter with some progress in a couple of areas. If not, he should be a useful reliever that I'm sure the Rays will turn into a stud.

2020 Draft Review: Tampa Bay Rays

1-24: RHP Nick Bitsko, Central Bucks East HS (PA)
CBA-37: SS Alika Williams, Arizona State
2-57: LHP Ian Seymour, Virginia Tech
3-96: RHP Hunter Barnhart, St. Joseph HS (CA)
4-125: SS Tanner Murray, UC Davis
5-155: RHP Jeff Hakanson, Central Florida

The best farm system in baseball got even richer in this draft, grabbing two of the top high school pitchers in the country while still getting a diverse array of talent from the college ranks to save money. I'm a really big fan of this class, and honestly I'm not sure how you could not be, and they even managed to wreck a division rival's plans by plucking Nick Bitsko away from them. And they grabbed a hometown kid from Tampa with their last pick. All in all, with just six picks, they covered all the bases they needed to. Good work.
Full index of team profiles here

1-24: RHP Nick Bitsko, Central Bucks East HS, PA (my rank: 18)
This was one of the most interesting picks in the draft, and definitely in a good way. By some accounts the top high school arm in the class (and no worse than the #3 arm by any account), Bitsko was originally slated to be a member of the 2021 class, but reclassified to 2020 over the winter because he would have turned 19 in June 2021. This way, he'll only turn 18 right after draft day, making him relatively young for the class. Bitsko comes from the Philadelphia area and didn't get to pitch at all in game action this year, but he lit up the Rapsodo machines in bullpen work and scouts are confident he can pitch. His fastball sits in the low to mid 90's and has touched as high as 99, showing very good spin rates that make it really jump on hitters. His curveball is another plus pitch, a high spin hammer with both depth and power. Lastly, he adds in a changeup, but it's behind the other two pitches and will need to be developed. He has a durable 6'4" frame and is a very good strike thrower for his age, and everything comes from a clean delivery, pointing to a very good chance to stick in the rotation. While all high school pitchers carry significant risk, Bitsko is on the safer side within the demographic and comes with ace upside. It looked like the Orioles were eying him with pick #30 after saving money on Heston Kjerstad at #2, but the Rays swooped in at #24. While slot value is $2.83 million, it will likely require significantly more than that to keep Bitsko from following through on his Virginia commitment. Pre-draft profile here.

CBA-37: SS Alika Williams, Arizona State (my rank: 49)
This pick wasn't as exciting as the Bitsko pick, but it's definitely a value selection as a money saver that adds a solid player as well. He's a glove-first guy who is as natural a defender at shortstop as it gets, showing plus instincts and great coordination that enables him to get to pretty much anything hit to his side of second base. At the plate, he has shown a productive bat in college, but he doesn't have a ton of upside. He hit .333/.429/.474 with four home runs as a sophomore, but that dropped to .250/.359/.344 this year. He shows plus bat to ball abilities, striking out just 49 times in 129 career games at Arizona State, making consistent line drive contact to all fields. However, there isn't a ton of power present, and he doesn't project to add much, so he'll always be a contact hitter. That limits his ceiling, though with his plus defense at shortstop, getting on base just enough could lead to a starting job down the road. I see him more as a utility infielder than a true every day guy, especially with Wander Franco covering shortstop. If anybody is going to push Franco off shortstop, though, Williams would be the guy to do it. Slot value was $2 million, but Williams signed for $1.85 million, saving the Rays $150,000 towards Nick Bitsko. Pre-draft profile here.

2-57: LHP Ian Seymour, Virginia Tech (my rank: 71)
The highest draft selection from Virginia Tech since Joe Saunders went twelfth overall to the Angels in 2002, Seymour has been rising quickly over the past calendar year. He was more of a junkballer as an underclassman, but he went to the Cape over the summer and added power to his fastball, sitting in the low 90's and posting a 2.48 ERA and a sharp 39/6 strikeout to walk ratio over 25.1 innings. He adds a plus changeup with exceptional fade in addition to an average slider, and everything plays up because the funk in his delivery enables him to hide the ball really well. That made him mildly successful early in his career, but now that he's touching 94 with that fastball, he's a legitimate starting pitching prospect. He was off to a really strong start in 2020, holding that velocity and putting up a 2.21 ERA and 40/5 strikeout to walk ratio over 20.1 innings, and he struck out 14 against Georgia Tech in his final start. There is some reliever risk due to his size (six foot even) and that funky delivery, but he's been trending up quickly enough that h e has a really good shot to stick in the rotation and the Rays certainly think so. With his solid command that enables him to tunnel his pitches off each other, in addition to how tough it can be to pick the ball up out of his hand, his stuff plays up significantly. I definitely like this pick for the Rays, especially if they end up saving money off of his $1.24 million slot value. Pre-draft profile here.

3-96: RHP Hunter Barnhart, St. Joseph HS, CA (my rank: 53)
This is another great pick for the Rays. In a lot of ways, Hunter Barnhart is kind of Nick Bitsko-lite. A standout quarterback at Paso Robles High School in California, he intrigued scouts with his pitchability and breaking ball but his upper 80's fastball was a little light. However, after transferring to St. Joseph High School down in Santa Maria, he came out this spring firing in the low 90's, and suddenly he's a much more interesting prospect. In addition to that low 90's fastball, he throws a big curveball with plus depth, and it should continue to function as an out pitch in pro ball. He doesn't have much of a changeup at this point, but instead, he fills up the strike zone extremely well and projects for plus command down the line. With a durable 6'2" frame, he brings a lot of starter's traits to the table, and comes with less risk than the typical high school arm. Aside from the ever-present injury risk, all he really needs to do is develop a changeup and keep hitting his spots like he does, and he has a floor of a back end starter if he does. He signed for $585,000, which was $19,800 below slot, giving the Rays fantastic value at the back of the top 100. Pre-draft profile here.

4-125: SS Tanner Murray, UC Davis (unranked)
Murray is an interesting pick for the Rays coming out of UC Davis, one of the better line drive hitters in college baseball. He's been as consistent as they come for three years with the Aggies, slashing .343/.394/.469 with three home runs and a 46/32 strikeout to walk ratio across 115 games, topping out with a .364 average in 2019. He employs a simple, line drive stroke that consistently peppers baseballs over the heads of infielders and into gaps, though he doesn't have much present over the fence power and doesn't really have the speed to profile for a ton of doubles and triples. He hit just .221/.278/.336 in 37 games on the Cape, furthering questions about how much impact he'll hit for, but the track record over at school is as consistent as they come. He's also steadily been hitting for more and more power throughout his college career, but it still ain't much. With a fairly projectable 6'2" frame, though, he could probably get close to average power if he and the Rays want to develop that way as a hitter. Murray can play pretty decent shortstop, but with the depth of middle infielders in the Rays system, he'll most likely be outplayed at that position by guys like Alika Williams and Wander Franco. The ultimate projection is probably a middle infielder here. Slot value is $455,600, though I imagine Murray might take a slight discount.

5-155: RHP Jeff Hakanson, Central Florida (unranked)
The I-4 corridor is absolutely brimming with talent, so it would be surprised if the Rays didn't end up with a hometown kid. Jeff Hakanson attended Jesuit High School in Tampa, then headed up I-4 to UCF for college. He's been an absolute strikeout machine for the Knights, striking out 26 in 14.2 innings as a freshman, 52 in 26.2 innings as a sophomore, and an incredible 20 in 8.1 innings as a junior. For those keeping track, that was 20 out of 28 batters he faced in 2020 and 98 strikeouts in 49.2 innings overall. His best pitch is easily his mid 90's fastball, a high spin pitch that is extremely difficult to square up coming from his long arm action. He has a solid slider as well that's an above average pitch, but with Hakanson, the fastball is the true weapon that nobody has been able to touch. The command is average and he'll probably need to sharpen that slider a little bit more going forward if he wants to be anything more than a middle reliever, but he should move pretty quickly and he has closer – or opener – upside down the road. He signed for $340,000, right at slot value.

Undrafted: The Rays are yet to sign any undrafted free agents.