Rays prospects and minor leagues: Banda sharp in debut

Anthony Banda and two Durham relievers combined to strike out 15 and walk just one on Friday.

Baseball America’s Josh Norris was at Durham Bulls Athletic Park Friday. You can check out his whole timeline for notes and clips from the game. Here’s one example:

Triple-A Durham Bulls (1-1)

A big inning backed Anthony Banda in Durham’s 11-1 win over Charlotte. In five scoreless innings, Banda struck out eight and didn’t walk any in an impressive organizational debut. The Bulls led 1-0 before sending 14 batters to the plate in an eight-run fifth inning. All eight runs scored with two outs, and Adam Moore capped the scoring with a two-run single.

DH Christian Arroyo: 0-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K
1B Jake Bauers: 2-for-5, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI
SS Willy Adames: 2-for-4, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 BB
LF Joe McCarthy: 1-for-4, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 K
CF Micah Johnson: 2-for-4, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 BB
RF Johnny Field: 3-for-4, 2 R, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K
2B Kean Wong: 1-for-2, 1 R, 1 3B, 1 RBI, 3 BB

LHP Anthony Banda: 5 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 8 K
RHP Hunter Wood: 2 ¹⁄₃ IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K

Durham’s website offers this recap.

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (1-1)

Biloxi got to Montgomery’s bullpen in the Biscuits’ 7-3 loss to the Shuckers. In the seventh, Biloxi broke a 2-2 tie with three runs off Austin Wright, and it added two more in the eighth with Jordan Harrison on the mound. In his organizational debut, former Dodgers top prospect Zach Lee was charged with two runs in four-plus innings and struck out five.

3B Jake Cronenworth: 0-for-4, 1 BB, 1 K
2B Brandon Lowe: 1-for-4, 1 BB, 2 K
LF Nick Solak: 2-for-2, 1 R, 1 2B, 2 BB, 1 SB
SS Jermaine Palacios: 0-for-4, 2 K

RHP Zach Lee: 4+ IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K
LHP Austin Wright: 1 IP, 1 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K

Class A-Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (0-2)

Charlotte erased a 3-1 deficit but eventually came up short in a 6-4 loss to Fort Myers. After falling behind by two, the Stone Crabs scored three in the fifth and went ahead on Kevin Padlo’s two-run single. However, the Miracle went ahead for good with two runs against Deivy Mendez in the eighth. Starter Brandon Lawson allowed three runs in four innings.

SS Lucius Fox: 0-for-3, 2 BB, 1 K, 1 SB
CF Josh Lowe: 1-for-3, 1 R, 2 BB
OF Jesus Sanchez: 0-for-5, 2 K
2B Peter Maris: 2-for-4, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 HBP
1B Nathaniel Lowe: 3-for-3, 1 RBI, 2 BB
C David Rodriguez: 0-for-5, 1 K

RHP Brandon Lawson: 4 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K

Charlotte’s website offers this recap.

Class-A Bowling Green Hot Rods (2-0)

Bowling Green rode its persistent offense to an 8-4 win over Dayton. The Hot Rods got out to a 5-0 lead, in part due to home runs by Taylor Walls and Zacrey Law, before the Dragons scored three straight runs. In the seventh, Bowling Green got those three runs back to pull away. Starter Austin Franklin struck out three and allowed a run in five innings.

2B Vidal Brujan: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 K
C Ronaldo Hernandez: 3-for-4, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 K
SS Taylor Walls: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 3 K
DH Zacrey Law: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI

RHP Austin Franklin: 5 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K

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Saturday’s games (probables courtesy of milb.com)

Durham v. Charlotte 6:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
Jose Mujica (0-0, -.--) v. Donn Roach (0-0, -.--)

Montgomery v. Biloxi 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
TBA v. Adrian Houser (0-0, -.--)

Charlotte v. Fort Myers 6:05 p.m. ET (radio stream)
Kenny Rosenberg (0-0, -.--) v. Charlie Barnes (0-0, -.--)

Bowling Green @ Dayton 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
TBA v. Tyler Mondile (0-0, -.--)

*Listed as TBA on milb.com

Scouting the opposition

Charlotte Knights (White Sox)
1-1 (T-2nd in IL South)
Offense: Will update after first series
Pitching: Will update after first series
Top-30 Prospects: Will update after first series

Biloxi Shuckers (Milwaukee)
1-1 (T-2nd in SL South)
Offense: Will update after first series
Pitching: Will update after first series
Top-30 Prospects: RHP Luis Ortiz (6), 3B Lucas Ecreg (8), OF Corey Ray (10), 1B Jake Gatewood (14), OF Trent Grisham (15), RHP Cody Ponce (18), RHP Adrian Houser (31), C Nick Franklin, SS Jake Hager

Fort Myers Miracle (Minnesota)
2-0 (1st in FSL South)
Offense: Will update after first series
Pitching: Will update after first series
Top-30 Prospects: OF Aaron Whitefield (19), 1B Lewin Diaz (26), 2B Travis Blankenhorn (29)

Dayton Dragons (Cincinnati)
0-2 (8th in MWL East)
Offense: Will update after first series
Pitching: Will update after first series
Top-30 Prospects: RHP Hunter Greene (2), SS Jeter Downs (11), SS Jose Garcia (12), OF Stuart Fairchild (16), OF Miles Gordon (26), LHP Packy Naughton (28)

Daily news and links

Let’s Go Tribe writes about former Rays draft pick LeVon Washington.

Baseball America covers notable Opening Day assignments in all 30 organizations.

Micheal Compton noted that Bowling Green hit a home run in the first two games of the season for just the second time in team history.

Brent Honeywell will be signing autographs prior to Charlotte’s home opener Saturday.

Durham hosted a ring ceremony Friday for its Triple-A Championship team, and it tweeted a picture of one of the rings.

On Thursday, Andrew Velazquez homered on the first pitch of the season: