Rays Prospect Weekly: Bodine Torches Triple-A Debut, Isaac Arrives at Durham
By Grace Turner ·
Rays Prospect Weekly covers the last 7 days of action for the Rays farm system.
Bodine Homers From Both Sides in His Triple-A Debut
Caden Bodine (AAA, C, Rank: 8) made an immediate impression at Durham. Promoted from Montgomery on August 25, he went 11-for-20 with two doubles, two home runs, and six RBI in his first few games at Triple-A, including a two-homer effort from both sides of the plate in a 7-0 win over Norfolk. The strikeout count increased to four in those 20 plate appearances, which is worth watching given how low his K rate has been all year, but the raw production is undeniable. He is a contact bat with a 55 hit tool and an 88.5% contact rate on a 54.7% swing rate, and his performance this season has been genuinely special for a 22-year-old catching prospect.
The full-season numbers give the Triple-A debut plenty of runway to look like a representative sample. Across all four levels in 2026, Bodine is slashing .350/.415/.529 with 16 home runs, 25 doubles, and 95 RBI in 498 plate appearances, with just 32 strikeouts in nearly 500 trips to the plate. His last 30 days at Double-A, before the promotion, read .373/.426/.627 with six home runs and 22 RBI in 94 plate appearances. For a catcher graded at 45 power, the home run total keeps climbing in a way that attracts attention. The 45 grade may be the most conservative number on his sheet right now; the production across five levels of affiliated ball suggests something closer to average power at minimum, and his combination of framing ability, switch-hitting craft, and near-zero swing-and-miss makes the everyday projection feel more like a floor than an optimistic ceiling.
Isaac's August at Montgomery Earned the Durham Call
Xavier Isaac (AAA, 1B, Rank: 9) joined Bodine in Durham on August 25, and the promotion felt inevitable after watching what he accomplished over the final month at Montgomery. This week he collected five hits with two doubles, a home run, and one RBI in 20 plate appearances, continuing a stretch that has been the best extended run of his career. Over his last 30 days at Double-A, Isaac slashed .316/.461/.697 with eight home runs and 24 RBI in 102 plate appearances, with a 20.6% walk rate reflecting his strong pitch recognition against Southern League pitching. His early Triple-A sample reads .357/.438/.714 with a homer and two doubles in 16 plate appearances, a small window but an encouraging one.
The full Double-A line of .255/.400/.510 with 24 home runs, 80 walks, and 119 strikeouts in 425 plate appearances illustrates his profile: 60 raw power, a patient left-handed approach, and a swing that can get long against elite velocity and sharp spin. The strikeout rate remains the loudest caveat, and a 59.1% contact rate against a 42.9% swing rate confirms the three-true-outcomes lean that has always defined his game. What August showed, though, is that when his timing is right and he is hunting pitches he can do damage with, the 60 power plays to all fields and the walk rate climbs high enough to make the strikeouts manageable. At Durham, he will face pitching that will test whether those gains are real. For a 22-year-old at his first crack at Triple-A, the bar is low enough that even a partially actualized version of his best Double-A self would be a solid outcome.
Quick Hits
- Ryan Cermak (A+, SS, Rank: 40) · had the most explosive week of any Rays hitter, driving in nine runs on six hits including three home runs across 29 plate appearances, with four walks and two hit-by-pitches offsetting eleven strikeouts. The power is real when he makes contact, and the 10 home runs across 137 combined plate appearances this season are clear evidence of that. The swing-and-miss is the lingering concern: a 57.1% contact rate pairs with a 38.7% K rate for the year, and his last-30-day contact rate at High-A sits at 58.7%. He is a 40 hit tool with a 50 power grade and a 60 arm, and weeks like this one are what keep the profile alive even when the strikeouts pile up.
- Theo Gillen (AA, OF, Rank: 1) · collected six hits, two doubles, and three RBI while drawing three walks and a hit-by-pitch across 22 plate appearances at Montgomery. His last 30 days at Double-A read .308/.439/.487 with three home runs, 17 walks, and a 17.2% walk rate in 99 plate appearances. For the full season across both levels, he is at .319/.430/.555 with 21 home runs, 42 stolen bases, and a 14.7% walk rate in 482 plate appearances. The 45 power grade continues to look conservative; the stolen base total and on-base skills give him so many ways to hurt a defense that the bat does not have to do all the work, and right now it is doing plenty.
- Taitn Gray (A, 1B, Rank: 18) · went 7-for-26 with two doubles, five RBI, four walks, and a hit-by-pitch at Charleston. The week brings his last-30-day line to .333/.379/.460 with eight doubles and 18 RBI in 95 plate appearances. Gray is a switch-hitting 60 power grade at 19 years old, and the .296/.389/.457 full-season line with seven home runs, 11 doubles, and four triples in 294 plate appearances at Low-A is a strong foundation. His swing can get long, and the 22.4% K rate on the year reflects the chase risk against quality spin, but there is nothing in the production that suggests the power will not play as he fills out.
- Slater de Brun (A, OF, Rank: 11) · reached base eight times in 20 plate appearances, picking up five hits and three walks to go with three hit-by-pitches. He has no home runs in 105 plate appearances at Charleston, but a .495 on-base percentage over his last 30 days tells you everything about how he creates value. A 70 speed grade and 87.9% contact rate in a 34% swing rate over that stretch; he punishes pitchers who miss the zone and puts the ball in play when he swings. For a 19-year-old center field prospect with 20 stolen bases on the year, that approach is the entire point.
- Tre' Morgan (AAA, 1B, Rank: 15) · went 8-for-14 with two doubles and two RBI against zero walks and four strikeouts at Durham, his best week at the plate since returning from his complex stint. The season-long Triple-A line of .250/.317/.433 with nine home runs still reflects the contact volatility that has been his calling card at this level, with a 30.2% K rate and 66.7% contact rate that match the swing-and-miss concerns in his profile. A 55 hit tool that plays below that grade against upper-level arms is the central question for a first baseman who needs the bat to carry his value.
- K.C. Hunt (AA, RHP, Rank: 43) tossed 8.1 innings and allowed two earned runs across 33 batters faced, striking out three while walking five and generating 12 whiffs. The walk total is the sticking point: a 13.8% walk rate over his last 30 days at Double-A reflects the same control inconsistency that has separated his Montgomery results from his Triple-A numbers all season. The 55 slider is a genuine weapon when the command is there, and the 30.8% season whiff rate backs that up, but the gap between who Hunt is in a good start and who he is when the command slips remains wide.
- Aidan Cremarosa (A, RHP, Rank: 30) · struck out eight batters over 9.2 innings of three-run ball, walking four and generating 18 swinging misses on 128 pitches. His season line at Charleston sits at a 2.89 ERA and 30.4% strikeout rate across 71.2 innings with a 5.4% walk rate, which is an excellent combination for a 22-year-old starting pitcher working with a fringy fastball and a four-pitch mix built on command. The 18 whiffs on the week are a good sign for his ability to generate swing-and-miss against low-level hitters; the question as he climbs is whether the 90-93 fastball and average secondaries can sustain that at higher levels.
- Jacob Melton (AAA, LF, Rank: 6) · returned from the injured list on August 25 after missing most of the month and went 1-for-10 with a home run across three games and 12 plate appearances since activation. The slow start back is not unusual after time away, and the season line of .271/.371/.511 with six home runs and 24 stolen bases in 160 plate appearances at Durham establishes plenty of context. The IL stint had no confirmed diagnosis. Getting him back on the field and building rhythm before the end of the season is the priority.
- Santiago Suarez (AA, RHP, Rank: 12) · went 5.2 innings, allowed three earned runs on six hits, walked two, and fanned five against 24 batters faced at Montgomery. Over his last 30 days, the ERA sits at 3.90 across 27.2 innings, a reasonable result for a 70 command grade working through a 114-inning Double-A season. The season ERA of 4.82 is higher than his stuff and command profile would project, driven largely by a 21-home-run allowed total that points to location issues in the zone rather than a broader performance problem. He still has the ingredients of a fourth-starter profile; keeping the ball in the yard remains the assignment.