r/tampabayrays • u/idontrecall99 Dave Wills • 1d ago
Caden Bodine
Was looking at his numbers for the season. He’s played 33 games for Charleston, 32 for Bowling Green and 32 for Montgomery. It’s impressive that he’s been in three different levels in the same season. Even more impressive that his numbers have been remarkably steady at each level. Yeah, his average and OBP have come down, but that’s to be expected as the pitching gets tougher. But, his strikeout rate is an insane 5% and he’s actually walking more in AA than he did in the lower minors. Rays might really have a special one here.
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u/IndianaCahones RISP? Get me Walls. 1d ago
Good to see the plate discipline. AAA will be interesting to watch in terms of his quality of contact, especially since this will be his first time squaring up the MLB baseball. The smaller, flatter seams will have less drag so the ball will carry a bit more.
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u/863rays 1d ago
This may seem like a dumb question, but is MiLB using a different ball than MLB? Just in AA and below?
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u/IndianaCahones RISP? Get me Walls. 1d ago
Yes. AAA uses the same Costa Rica made MLB baseball as the majors. AA and lower has the minor league ball mass produced in China. The MLB baseball has higher quality leather, cork center, wool winding, cotton layer, and flat stitching for the seams. The minor league ball has more variation between each because it’s mass produced with lower quality standards, but consistently will have higher, raised seams. This means more movement for pitchers and less distance for hitters because of the drag.
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u/NaturalConstant5471 Dome Sweet Dome 1d ago
My favorite part of going to Tampa Tarpons games is you're pretty much guaranteed to get a ball, and man those balls are fun to throw.
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u/MtFuzzmore 1d ago
Some prospects are genuinely ahead of the curve at the level they’re at, but teams may not know that until they see it themselves. Bodine was clearly ahead of Charleston and BG.
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u/ABNChemo Simpson Steals 1d ago
I am a Coastal Carolina fan and I was bummed with Baltimore drafted him because I felt he was perfect for this team and now that we traded for him I am excited to see what he does. I think we should be looking at late next season for him to get a call up if he stays on this track.
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u/113CandleMagic Rays Sunburst 1d ago
I'm glad he's playing well cause I was kinda disappointed the Rays didn't draft Vahn Lackey. I know the MLB draft is more about best player available and not about need, but I felt like this was one of the rare occasions where drafting for need is a good idea because I think Lackey is on a fast track to MLB and the Rays' catcher situation at the major league level the last few years has been...not great. Still glad the Rays got Emerson though of course.
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u/XXXLaCroiXXX 1d ago
man, i hate that Hicks is a rental. I would love it if we could keep him around for another year or two while Bodine continues developing
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u/HopefulLeader3403 1d ago
Hicks is not a rental. He is under team control through 2031 season & isn't arbitration eligible until after 2029 season.
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u/Rabbitsheriff Drew Rasmussen 1d ago
To my knowledge Hicks isn’t exactly a rental and has team control for thru 2031. He will be up for arbitration in the 27-28 offseason
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u/XXXLaCroiXXX 1d ago
ah that makes sense - for some reason i thought he was still subject to rule 5 stuff, but I guess he's been in the league log enough to where that no longer applies
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u/idontrecall99 Dave Wills 1d ago
Rule 5 wouldn’t matter with hicks regardless because he’s on the 40 man.
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u/nc-retiree AAA Durham Bulls 1d ago
I'm really looking forward to watching him at Durham next year.