Rays Prospect Weekly: Bodine's Banner Week Behind the Dish, Isaac Keeps Mashing
By Grace Turner ·
The Catcher Who Can Rake: Caden Bodine's Statement Week
Caden Bodine (AA, C, Rank: 9) did something this week that very few catchers at any level do: he went 8-for-26 with a homer, seven RBI, five walks, and one strikeout across 26 plate appearances, all while handling a full workload behind the plate at Double-A. The raw numbers are striking enough, but the underlying detail that stands out is the strikeout count. One. A switch-hitting catcher with a 55 hit tool and an aggressive 54.2% swing rate who barely ever misses, and this week he was as close to automatic at the plate as it gets. Over his last 30 days at Montgomery, Bodine is slashing .307/.385/.398 with two home runs and 21 RBI, with just five strikeouts across 104 plate appearances, a contact rate that borders on absurd for any position player at this level.
The full-season picture makes the week land even harder. Across all three levels in 2026, Bodine is hitting .340/.409/.501 with 12 home runs, 23 doubles, and 83 RBI in 454 combined plate appearances, a line that looks nothing like a defense-first catching prospect and everything like a bat that can carry real weight. The 45 power grade may be underselling what he is doing, at least in terms of run production and damage in the zone. The home run ceiling is probably modest, but the combination of elite contact, zone discipline, and switch-hitting craft gives Bodine a floor that most catching prospects would envy. He was a converted catcher who needed the glove to carry him; right now the bat is making the conversation a lot more interesting.
Still Scorching: Xavier Isaac Won't Let Up
There is a version of Xavier Isaac (AA, 1B, Rank: 8) that scouts have always believed in: left-handed power, patient approach, capable enough at first base to stay in the lineup. The version he has been running out in August is that player at peak volume. This week he went 8-for-30 with two doubles, two home runs, eight RBI, and six walks against five strikeouts across 30 plate appearances, extending a stretch of Double-A hitting that has been genuinely difficult to ignore. Over his last 30 days, Isaac is slashing .403/.538/.821 with eight home runs and 25 RBI in 91 plate appearances, numbers that would have seemed like a fantasy projection back in April when the 45 hit tool and elevated strikeout rate were the leading concerns.
For the season, Isaac sits at .266/.410/.528 with 23 home runs and 68 RBI through 398 plate appearances at Montgomery, a substantial jump from the .201/.366/.446 line he posted in a partial 2025 campaign at the same level. The strikeout rate, 111 on the year, remains the loudest caveat, and a 57.8% contact rate against a 42.5% swing rate confirms the three-true-outcomes lean in his profile. He does not chase often, but when he misses, he misses big. What the last month has shown is that when Isaac is locked in on timing and pitch selection, the 60 power plays to all corners of the park and the walk rate climbs high enough to make the strikeouts manageable. A 40 runner tethered to first base needs the bat to carry the entire weight of his value, and over the last 30 days, it has carried it convincingly.
Quick Hits
- Theo Gillen (AA, OF, Rank: 2) · posted 4 hits, a homer, and 6 RBI across 20 plate appearances, adding to a last-30-day line that now reads .360/.472/.767 with nine home runs in 107 plate appearances at Montgomery. For the season across both levels, he is at .321/.428/.574 with 21 home runs, 39 stolen bases, and 80 RBI in 438 plate appearances. A 60 runner with a 50 hit tool who draws walks and has started going deep at a legitimately alarming rate, Gillen's 45 power grade is looking more like a projection floor than a ceiling.
- Gregory Barrios (AA, SS, Rank: 37) · went 9-for-25 with a double, a triple, and 6 RBI, his most productive week at the plate all season. The nine-hit output is a welcome anomaly for a glove-first profile hitting .242/.284/.307 on the year; Barrios runs a 30 power grade for a reason, and the carrying tools remain his defense and 33 stolen bases. The bat staying this noisy for a full month would be a surprise, but the contact skills are real at 82.7% for the season.
- Nathan Flewelling (A+, C, Rank: 18) · drove in 7 on 6 hits including 2 home runs across 23 plate appearances, his most productive week in a rough stretch. The pop is real: he is up to 20 home runs on the season at Bowling Green, a massive jump from the six he posted across 107 games in 2025. The contact has been the issue, as he is hitting just .177 over the last 30 days with a 33-strikeout, 13-walk split in 113 plate appearances, a swing-and-miss problem that the 55 power grade does not fix on its own.
- Cooper Kinney (AA, 2B, Rank: 21) · went 5-for-18 with three doubles and 4 RBI, continuing a productive stretch since returning to Montgomery. Over his last 30 days at Double-A he is slashing .305/.366/.525 with three home runs and 17 RBI. The contrast with his Triple-A numbers, .229/.296/.346 in 199 plate appearances at Durham earlier this season, is stark enough to raise real questions about whether he is a Double-A masher or an MLB-caliber prospect. The 55 hit tool looked accurate at Montgomery; the strikeout rate climbing to 63 punch-outs in 199 AAA plate appearances told a different story.
- Slater de Brun (A, OF, Rank: 10) · reached base 12 times in 22 plate appearances, going 5-for-14 with two doubles, six walks, and a hit-by-pitch. The 19-year-old is not hitting for power, zero home runs across 77 combined plate appearances in 2026, but the 70 speed and elite walk rates are the profile. He is posting a .468 OBP over his last 30 days at Charleston despite a .238 batting average, which is what a selective approach and a 36.1% swing rate produce. I would take the over on the 40 power grade projecting out, but for now he is a table-setter learning to survive pro pitching.
- Maykel Coret (RK, OF, Rank: 38) · had a monster week in the Florida Complex League: 8-for-21 with two doubles, a triple, and 3 RBI. The 18-year-old is at .307/.412/.488 with six home runs and 22 stolen bases through 199 plate appearances this season, a promising all-around line for a teenager with 60 grades across power, speed, and arm. The 48.9% contact rate paired with a 60.4% swing rate is a real development hurdle, but the raw tools here are worth the patience.
- Santiago Suarez (AA, RHP, Rank: 12) · logged 11.1 innings over the week, allowing 6 earned runs on 14 hits and 3 walks against 7 strikeouts. It was a rough stretch for a pitcher sitting at a 4.89 ERA on the season, though the command profile, 14 walks in 103 innings with a 70 command grade, remains the carrying trait. Over his last 30 days the ERA stands at 3.82 across 35.1 innings, and he is working through contact at a pace of 13.4 pitches per inning, an efficient workload mark for a starter trying to go deep into games.
- Victor Valdez (RK, SS, Rank: 32) · went 3-for-19 on the week but drew 4 walks and added a triple and a homer for 2 RBI. The 17-year-old is hitting .288/.404/.381 with 12 stolen bases on the season in the Florida Complex League. He has a 60 power grade and 60 speed and is already drawing walks at a reasonable clip; at this age and level, the approach matters more than the batting average.
- Chris Clark (AAA, RHP, Rank: 46) · was promoted from Montgomery to Durham this week. He carried a 4.29 ERA across 65 innings and 24 appearances at Double-A before the move, and has allowed 6 earned runs over 6.2 innings in his first three outings with the Bulls. A tough early sample at the new level, but worth monitoring as he adjusts.