On May 22, the Tampa Bay Rays They promoted to an ambidextrous top prospect, calling up shortstop Taylor Walls from the Triple-A Durham branch. A month later, ambidextrous infielder Wander Franco, the number one prospect in baseball, arrived. Now is the time for Tampa Bay to introduce another Dynamic and changing Top 100 prospect.
The Rays are expected to rise to infielder / outfielder Vidal Bruján, your No. 2 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, and add him to your active roster as the 27th man on Wednesday’s doubleheader against Cleveland at Tropicana Field:
The 23-year-old Brujan, MLB Pipeline’s 36th overall prospect, could fill a need beyond Wednesday’s pair of seven-inning games. Outfielder Manuel Margot left Monday night’s game against Cleveland in the ninth inning with an apparent left hamstring injury and appears to be headed for the 10-day disabled list.
Losing Margot would be a serious blow to the Rays. The outfielder has been one of the best defensive players in the majors this season, recording 10 outs above the Statcast average, and is hitting .252 with nine homers, nine steals and 44 RBIs, the second-most on the team. He stopped by favoring his hamstring after hitting an infield single that kicked off the Rays’ reverse on Monday.
That means the Rays will likely make a few moves ahead of Wednesday’s doubleheader, which was scheduled after Tuesday’s game was postponed due to the projected trajectory of Tropical Storm Elsa. They are also in line to activate left-hander Josh Fleming, who is on the 10-day inactive list with a right calf strain, and have him pitch in the second game after right-hander Michael Wacha starts Game 1.
Although Bruján has spent most of his career in the infield, he has played more in the outfield this season at Triple-A Durham. He has played six positions in total this year: second and third base, shortstop and all three outfield spots. The Rays value that kind of defensive versatility, but that’s only part of what makes Brujan such a dynamic prospect.
Brujan got off to an excellent start at the plate in Triple-A, batting off Franco as Durham’s first man at bat. He hit seven home runs in his first 16 games, which goes to show why Jeff McLerran, the Rays’ director of minor league operations, said that “he’s been one of our strongest players pound-for-pound:
Brujan was named the Rays’ minor league hitter of the month in May, when he hit .315 / .408 / .584 with 21 RBIs, nine stolen bases and nearly as many walks (14) as strikeouts (17).
He struggled for a while after that, hitting just .158 in 20 games from June 1 to June 26, but has since rebounded, going 9 of 24 with three doubles and a triple in his last seven games.
It remains to be seen how the Rays will use Bruján, as they already have a packed infield with Franco, Walls, Brandon Lowe, Joey Wendle, Yandy Diaz, Ji-Man Choi and Mike Brosseau on the roster. Even without Margot, they have plenty of outfield options with Austin Meadows, Randy Arozarena, Kevin Kiermaier and Brett Phillips.
Bruján signed with the Dominican Republic Rays on October 17, 2014, weighing just 145 pounds when he signed his contract at the age of 16. He worked his way through the system, earning the Rays’ Hudson Valley Class A team MVP honors in 2017, then stole 103 combined bases while advancing from Class A to Double-A from 2018-19.
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He was part of the Rays’ 60-man group last year and spent the summer at the club’s alternate training site in Port Charlotte, Florida, earning a spot in their 40-man postseason group. Overall, he has hit .290 / .374 / .423 with 28 home runs and 166 stolen bases in 448 games in parts of six minor league seasons.
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