"The Brewers selected him fifth overall in the 2016 draft and signed him with a $4.125MM bonus. He clearly had incredible tools in terms of power and speed but he had trouble recognizing breaking pitches. This led to a lot of swing-and-miss, especially as he climbed the minor league ladder and faced better pitching. When he first reached Triple-A in 2019, he struck out in 38.7% of his plate appearances."
"His prospect stock dimmed but the Brewers still didn't want to lose him in the 2019 Rule 5 draft, so they added him to the 40-man roster. He stuck on the 40-man for a while but only got into one major league game, on April 24th of 2021, going 0-2 with one walk, one strikeout and one run scored. He was sent through waivers unclaimed in June of 2022. He became a minor league free agent at season's end and didn't sign anywhere else."
"In the spring of 2023, the Cubs hired Ray to serve as a bench coach for their Single-A Myrtle Beach affiliate. Going into 2024, he was named manager of the club's Arizona Complex League team. Nusbaum notes that Ray has also been serving as the organization's baserunning coordinator."
Ray was a high-profile prospect drafted fifth overall by the Brewers in 2016 and signed for $4.125MM. He showcased elite power and speed but struggled to recognize breaking pitches, producing very high strikeout rates, including 38.7% in Triple-A in 2019. The Brewers protected him on the 40-man roster but he appeared in only one major league game in 2021 and later cleared waivers in 2022 before becoming a minor league free agent. The Cubs hired him as a Single-A bench coach in 2023 and named him an Arizona Complex League manager for 2024 while he also served as baserunning coordinator. The Nationals are hiring him as first base coach amid a broad organizational overhaul.
Read at MLB Trade Rumors
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]