The 2015 Montgomery Biscuits
Those who do not know me may wonder where the part Biscuit in my moniker comes from. I think that with this article that part will be explained.
The Tampa Bay Rays have announced the opening day roster of their AA farm team, the Montgomery Biscuits, playing in the Southern League.
The team will be a mix of AA veterans and newbies.
Pitchers:
Zach Cooper
Last season, Cooper (RHP) split hhe season with the Gulf Coast League Rays and the Charlotte StoneCrabs (A Advanced, Florida League). With the StoneCrabs, Cooper appeared in 22 games as a reliever and converted seven out of ten save opportunities. His ERA was on the high side with 5.92.
Grayson Garvin*
Garvin spent the entire 2014 season in Montgomery, In twenty starts he went 1-8 with a 3.77 ERA, 15 walks and 60 Ks. Somehow he could not keep the opponents in check at bat when you look at the batting average of the opponents: .271.
Grayson is one of two players that are on the Rays’ 40-man roster.
Bradin Hagens
Hagens comes from the Diamondbacks organization, where he even had a cup of tea in the Show (0-1, 3.38 in two appearances). Furthermore he split time between the Mobile BayBears (also Southern League) and the Reno Aces. His ERA at Reno was better than with Mobile, 2.55 vs 4.15.
In the Majors he had two relief appearances but considering his past as a starter in the Minors, he will be used as a starter probably.
Jordan Harrison
Jordan played at three levels in 2014. WIth the Gulf Coas Rays, he had only two relief appearances in which he kept his ERA at zero. After six starts with the Bowling Green HotRods (A Full Season, Midwest League), he was promoted to Port Charlotte where he appeared in fourteen games (four starts) and posted a 3.45 ERA with a 3-3 record. Considering his capability of starting games, he may be used in long relief or as spot starter.
Matt Lollis
Coming from the Padres organization, where he started his career in 2009, Lollis has spent the entire 2014 season with Montgomery. In 49 games he posted a 6-2 record with a 4.03 ERA. He is another pitcher on the Biscuits roster that needs to bring the batting average of his opponents down. Last year they hit .271 with him on the mound.
Reinaldo Lopez
In 2014, Lopeze played exactly as many games with the Bowling Green HotRods and with the Charlotte StoneCrabs: 26. Only with the StoneCrabs he made 25 starts and posted a 3.49 ERA and kept the opposing hitters at .249. I expect Lopez to be one of the Biscuits’ starters of this season.
Jhan Marinez
This right handed reliever split time between the Chattanooga Lookouts (AA Dodgers in 2014) and the Toledo MudHens (AAA Tigers). With neither team he was very effective, 8.84 ERA with Toledo and 4.91 with Chattanooga. One positive note: Marinez managed to keep his opponents to a .232 batting average.
Parker Markel
This right handed reliever played 16 games for the Biscuits last year in which he posted a 3.78 ERA. He struck out 14 and walked 9, so there is some room for improvement there. Note: Parker was named Mid-Season All Star of the New York-Penn League in 2011 when he played for the Hudson Valley Renegades.
Jared Mortensen
Mortensen spent seven games with the Charlotte StoneCrabs before he was promoted to the Biscuits. With the StoneCrabs he posted a 2.91 ERA and kept his opponents to a low .219 average. But at AA he struggled. He ended the season with a 5-1 record and a 5.73 ERA. Jared will probably be used as a starter.
Mikey O’Brien
The Rays acquired O’Brien as a Rule 5 draft pick from the Reds. In 2014 he went through three levels: A Advanced (Bakersfield Blaze), AA (Pensacola Blue Wahoos) and AAA (Louisville Bats). With the Blaze, his numbers were nothing to write home about: 6.23 ERA and a 1-0 record. With the Blue Wahoos his numbers were much better with a 3-3 record and a 3.80 ERA. With the Bats he lost two games and posted a 4.65 ERA.
Austin Pruit
Pruitt was acquired by the Rays in the ninth round of the 2013 draft. He spent the entire season with the Charlotte StoneCrabs in 2014 and clinched nine victories over seven losses. He posted a 3.73 ERA in 25 starts and one relief appearance. In 147 innings, Pruitt struck out 106 and walked ony 31.
Colton Reavis
Reavis was drafted in the 30th round in 2013. The right handed reliever appeared in 27 games with the HotRods and in 15 with the StoneCrabs. At both A Full Season and at A Advanced he managed to keep the oppising hitters at an average below .200.
Mark Sappington
Sometimes you wonder why a team is trading for a player. In the case of Mark Sappington I am really puzzled. In 2014 he played at AA and A Advanced. At both levels he posted a high ERA: 6.44 at AA and 5.76 at A Advanced. At AA he even walked more batters than he struck out (36-34).
Jaime Schultz
Schultz was acquired as a 14th round draft pick in the 2013 amateur draft. With the StoneCrabs and the HotRods, he posted some decent numbers. With the HotRods he had a 1.95 ERA and he kept his opponents at only .203. With the StoneCrabs he had a 3.13 ERA. His opponents in the Florida State League ony hit .226.
Robert Zarate*
Robert Zarate played three seasons in the DSL and the GCL from 2006 through 2008.
In 2012 and 2013 he pitched for the Hanshin Tigers organization, but there are hardly stats available from that period, so I think that he played for the Tigers’ Ni-Gun (farm) team most of the time.
Catchers
Jake DePew
Jake DePew was drafted in 2010 in the ninth round of the amateur draft. He has spent some time with the Biscuits last year as he started seventeen games behind the plate. He had a .975 fielding percentage and threw out 44% of the potential basestealers. At bat he struggled, considering his BA of .179.
Justin O’Conner
Apparently the Rays are very high on this catcher as they placed him on their 40-man roster. In 2014 he put up some nice defensive numbers with the StoneCrabs and the Biscuits. While playing for the StoneCrabs he threw out 50% of the basestealers and with Montgomery he nailed 75% at second base. Even at bat he did a great job as he hit .282 with Port Charlotte and .263 with Montgomery.
Infielders
Thomas Coyle
This second baseman throws right and hits left. At bat he has struggled a bit throughout his short career. Lats year with Port Charlotte, he hit .249. His defense was slightly below average with a .974 fielding percentage.
Tyler Goeddel
Like many others on the Biscuits roster, Goeddel also comes from the Charlotte StoneCrabs where he collected 114 hits in 424 at bats (.269). His fielding percentage is on the low side with .920 at third base.
Despite these numbers he was named Mid-Season All Star of the Midwest League in 2012 and 2013.
Jake Hager
Jake was a Biscuit in 2014 already. The shortstop also had a below fielding percentage with .957. At bat he collected 121 hits out of 447 at bats (.271).
Eventhough his numbers were not really impressive throughout his career, he was named Mid-Season All Star of the Florida State League in 2013.
Patrick Leonard
Leonard did put up some nice numbers at bat last year with the Charlotte StoneCrabs: a batting average of .284, an on-base-percentage of .359 and a slugging percentage of .448.
At first base he posted an above average fielding percentage of .990. Apparently the Rays have some faith in this kid, because he was one of the few players from below AA leagues that participated in the Arizona Fall League last year.
Leonardo Reginatto
This Brazilian shortstop, started 2014 with Montgomery but after a disappointing .130 he was send down to A Advanced. With the StoneCrabs he found his groove and swung his way through the season with a .316 average. His defense was very good at Montgomery as he did not commit an error while he committed 25 with the StoneCrabs (.943).
Daniel Robertson
Daniel Robertson was acquired in January in a trade from the A’s that also brought prospect Boog Powell and former Biscuit catcher John Jaso. The Rays sent Ben Zobrist and Yunel Escobar to Oakland. Robertson, a 20-year-old shortstop, was ranked by MLB.com as the A’s No. 1 prospect and the No. 85 prospect overall. The 2014 season with the Stockton Ports (California League) was his best so far as he hit an impressive .310 with 15 homeruns. But the California League is a hitters league so his 2014 numbers may be tainted.
Cameron Seitzer
The last two seasons, Cameron also played for the Biscuits. With batting averages of .268 (2013) and .242 (2014), he does not seem to be able to make the jump towards AAA.
His defense on the other side is superb. In 2013 he had a fielding percentage of .991. In 2014 he did even better with .998.
Richie Shaffer
2014 was Richie’s first year with the Biscuits. The third sacker had a rought year overall. At bat he only hit .222 but in his last ten games he pulled up those numbers as he hit .367. His defense was below average as he committed 26 errors (.914).
Outfielders
Kes Carter
After 61 games in the Florida State League, Kes was called up to Montgomery, where he improved the numbers that he posted with the StoneCrabs (.241 over .230). With Montgomery his defense was below average with a .966 fielding percentage. Kes also participated in the 2014 Arizona Fall League where he played for the Peoria Javelinas.
Johnny Field
Last season Johnny played for the Bowling Green HotRods and the Charlotte StoneCrabs. His numbers with the HotRods were not bad, but he improved them when he played for Port Charlotte (.320 average and a slugging percentage of .547). In fourty games at A Advanced level he did not commit an error.
Boog Powell
Named after the great Boog Powell that once played for the Baltimore Orioles, Boog was acquired from the Athletics in a trade. With the Beloit Snappers (A Full Season), he hit a stunning .335 and committed only 4 errors in 66 games.