Rays name up Curtis Mead (No. 31 total prospect)

DETROIT — The Rays on Friday referred to as up infielder Curtis Mead, their No. 3 prospect per MLB Pipeline, earlier than their three-game collection in Detroit on Friday evening. The 22-year-old will put on No. 25.

Mead, the No. 31 prospect in baseball per MLB Pipeline, missed almost two months earlier this season on account of a fractured left wrist, however he has been ripping up Triple-A pitching since making his comeback on June 22. He has slashed .333/.433/.505 by means of his earlier 28 video games, which incorporates almost twice as many walks (19) than strikeouts (10).

“I take a lot of pride in not striking out a whole lot,” he said last month. “Striking out is probably the thing that frustrates me the most. I really just try and stay to the big part of the field, trying to hit balls gap to gap.”

An Australian Baseball League standout as a young person, Mead signed with the Phillies in 2018 earlier than the Rays acquired him the next yr for pitcher Cristopher Sánchez. Mead has executed nothing however hit since arriving in America, posting a .302/.374/.503 line over 5 Minor League seasons.

Mead’s temporary struggles on the plate to start out the season ended when he was hit by the pitch that fractured his wrist on April 29, an occasion that he mentioned “was a bit of a blessing and a curse.”

“I came back and it felt like a new season,” he mentioned on Friday in Detroit. “I felt really comfortable with where I was at, and felt good about how the rehab games went. I was able to get back and kind of hit the ground running. I’m just excited.”

Mead’s breakout yr got here in 2021, when he produced a .911 OPS and 55 extra-base hits in 104 video games throughout three ranges of the Minors. He possesses a 65-grade hit device, per MLB Pipeline. His refined plate strategy and growing energy ought to allow him to get essentially the most out of his 55-grade energy.

He has dealt with third base for almost all of his Minor League profession and has made double-digit begins at first base and second base as nicely. The Rays plan to make use of Mead primarily in opposition to lefties, with the choice of taking part in him vs. righties ought to an everyday starter want a break. 

Rays supervisor Kevin Cash mentioned Mead will get the vast majority of his defensive reps at third base.

“I think our plan is right now, we’re playing good,” Cash mentioned. “We’ve kind of turned the corner of playing good baseball, and he can help us.”