Prior to the start of each season, the Draysbay community takes part in an excercise in which the top prospects in the Tampa Bay Rays system are ranked by popular vote.
This season, the Draysbay community ranked the top 25 prospects in the Rays system with several others receiving votes but just falling shy of making the cut.
With the 2025 season officially over, we can now look back and see how each prospect performed and whether their stock has improved, remained the same, or fallen over past several months.
An important note:This is not a re-ranking of the Rays top prospects but a review of the prospects in the order that they were ranked entering the season.Also, I will not be featuring players no longer within the Rays organization.
What Danny wrote entering the season:
Rock popped late in Spring Training thanks to a ringing endorsement from FanGraphs, earning an 11th overall ranking thanks to his deception and strong (for a lefty) velocity, and tabbing his command as his best tool despite an atypical throwing motion. Rock was the return for internally beloved SS/OF Greg Jones, a former first rounder who was traded to the Rockies when his development didn’t sync with the major league side’s openings. It will be interesting to see if Rock’s timing has better luck.
Entering the year, Joe Rock was near the top of the line for a shot in the big leagues should the need arise for a spot starter. However, Rock struggled mighitly in April and it was more of the same in May. He finally righted the ship in June but the Rays had already made the decision that Rock might be of more use in the bullpen. Starting in July, Rock became a full-time reliever, but not before making his big league debut on June 28th in Baltimore. He would recieve two more cameos in the big leagues over the course of the regular season. With his move to the bullpen, Rock did see a spike in high strikeout numbers and overall performed better.
Minor League Stats by Month:
April: 6.23 ERA | 6.03 FIP | 20.8 K% | 8.3 BB% | .291 AVG | 21.2 IP | 4/5 GS/GMay: 5.22 ERA | 3.80 FIP | 18.8 K% | 8.3 BB% | .295 AVG | 29.1 IP | 6 GS/GJune: 2.86 ERA | 4.68 FIP | 20.2 K% | 12.4 BB% | .234 AVG | 22 IP | 4 GS/GJuly: 3.12 ERA | 5.69 FIP | 23.5 K% | 8.8 BB% | .194 AVG | 8.2 IP | 1/5 GS/GAug: 2.31 ERA | 4.78 FIP | 27.3 K% | 0.0 BB% | .205 AVG | 11.2 IP | 0/9 GS/GSep: 29.70 ERA | 13.70 FIP | 22.7 K% | 7.3 BB% | .500 AVG | 3.1IP | 0/3 GS/G
2025 SEASON NUMBERS:AAA: 5.21 ERA | 5.13 FIP | 21.1 K% | 9.3 BB% | .271 AVG | 12.4 WHIFF% | 96.2 IP | 15/32 GS/GMLB: 2.35 ERA | 3.53 FIP | 31.4 K% | 5.7 BB% | .226 AVG | 7.6 WHIFF% | 7.2 IP | 0/3 GS/G
Rock’s status is in limbo at the moment as it remains to be seen whether the Rays will keep him in a bullpen role or allow him to retake the starting mantle. With two options remaining, the Rays can utilize him on the Durham shuttle for the next couple of seasons should they decide to keep him on the 40-man roster.
So is Rock’s stock improving, the same, or falling?
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