Prospects to Watch presented by Oak City Sports Cards: May 26-June 1

Rock, Williams, Morgan and Seymour face off against top Cardinals prospects

May 19, 2025

The Durham Bulls are back home to begin their fourth homestand of the 2025 season facing off against the Memphis Redbirds, the Triple-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. Entering this week, four of MLB.com's top 30 Tampa Bay Rays prospects are on the Durham Bulls' active roster, including two

The Durham Bulls are back home to begin their fourth homestand of the 2025 season facing off against the Memphis Redbirds, the Triple-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals.

Entering this week, four of MLB.com's top 30 Tampa Bay Rays prospects are on the Durham Bulls' active roster, including two of MLB.com's top 100 overall prospects, while the Redbirds boast eight of MLB.com's top 30 Cardinals farmhands.

Below are the players who are currently listed for each team's Major League affiliate, with their rankings as ranked by MLB.com included.

Durham Bulls (Tampa Bay Rays Triple-A affiliate)

Williams joined the Rays out of Torrey Pines (Calif.) HS as the 28th overall pick in the 2021 Draft and didn’t need long to put his stamp on pro ball with 19 homers and 28 steals as a Carolina League All-Star for Single-A Charleston a year later. He’s been a power-speed threat ever since and was named the top prospect in the Southern League in 2024 after slashing .256/.352/.469 with 20 homers and 33 steals in 115 games for Double-A Montgomery.

On four of the five major tools alone, Williams could be a future All-Star shortstop. A Minor League Gold Glove winner, he earns praise from across the industry for his glovework at a premium position. Evaluators point out that his quickness helps him get to balls deep in the hole and his high-quality hands make sure he completes the play. He has plus-plus arm strength dating back to his days as a prep pitcher and the accuracy to go along with it. What’s more, he is strong for his size at 6-foot-2 and utilizes that with a simple setup and violent swing that gets the ball in the air.

The right-handed slugger struck out 28.5 percent of the time at Double-A last season. That’s normally a concern, but it was also down from the low 30s earlier in his career. The high K rate speaks more to pitch selection than anything mechanical; Williams tends to stay in the zone but will miss more on breaking stuff. A better understanding of swinging at more drivable pitches will keep that strikeout trend moving in the right direction and allow Williams’ plus power to play even more. But as always, his defense alone gives him a great floor as he closes in on the Majors.

Morgan was a three-year performer for LSU and a key piece of the Tigers’ 2023 national championship team. He was selected in the third round by the Rays that summer and didn’t disappoint in his first full season of pro ball, slashing .324/.408/.483 with 10 homers, 20 steals and an even 48/48 K/BB ratio over 100 games across three levels, including Double-A Montgomery. He was an All-Star Futures Game pick and finished out the year with a .338 average and an .891 OPS over 19 games in the Arizona Fall League.

Using a puck knob bat and a choked-up grip, Morgan hits like a player anemic to the K. He stays balanced to cover plenty of the plate, and when he gets into a two-strike count, he spreads out wide and eliminates a leg kick to keep things as short to the ball as possible. His 11 percent strikeout rate was seventh-lowest among 628 Minor Leaguers with at least 400 plate appearances in 2024. By his own admission, his power comes more from the gaps than over-the-fence, but he’ll run into the occasional homer.

From LSU to Tampa Bay, anyone who watches Morgan’s soft hands and quick reactions at the cold corner comes away thinking he could win multiple Gold Gloves there. As is their wont, the Rays got him some time in the outfield to expand his versatility, but he’s such a good fit defensively at first it might be best to leave him there. Rays officials say they aren’t worried about Morgan’s lack of power diminishing his value at first base and are willing to let him be himself given the plus tools in the rest of the profile.

Seymour took an unusual path to the Rays’ 40-man roster, having gone undrafted out of high school before being selected in the second round of the 2020 Draft out of Virginia Tech following three strong seasons and a notable performance in the Cape Cod League. Flexor soreness kept him off the mound until July 2021, but then he flew through the system by posting a 1.95 ERA with 87 strikeouts in 55 1/3 innings over 14 outings from High-A to Triple-A. The big league staff had even taken notice of Seymour’s work by the end of that season, but his hurried ascent was stalled when he underwent Tommy John surgery in June 2022. He worked his way back to the mound in ’23 then pitched his way back onto the radar in ’24, logging a 2.35 ERA and 0.95 WHIP in 27 starts between Double-A and Triple-A.

Seymour has a deep arsenal, headlined by a filthy changeup that generated a 45.5% whiff rate during 10 Triple-A outings last season. His fastball velocity sits in the low-90s, but everything he throws plays up due to his deceptive delivery and strike-throwing ability. Throughout his time in the Minors, Seymour has averaged 11 strikeouts and 3.1 walks per nine innings. The lefty leans on his fastball and changeup but also makes use of an effective cutter, a slider and the occasional curveball.

Having proven his health and his return to pre-surgery form, with nothing but success behind him in the Minors, Seymour seems likely to play a role for the Rays this season as a starter or a bulk-innings reliever, someone who can turn over a lineup multiple times by relying on his varied pitch mix. He may not be suited for traditional lefty relief work considering his changeup is his best offspeed pitch, but he’s bound to pitch his way into the big leagues soon enough.

Joe Rock, LHP - #22 Rays prospect
Scouting grades: Fastball: 55 | Slider: 55 | Changeup: 50 | Control: 45 | Overall: 40

Undrafted out of high school, Rock used an excellent junior season at Ohio University as a springboard into the Draft and wound up being selected by the Rockies in Competitive Balance Round B of the 2021 Draft. He pitched most of 2022 in High-A before getting a brief taste of Double-A, then repeated that pattern in 2023. Then, just as he wondered if he was on the brink of the big leagues, he was shipped from the Rockies to the Rays in March 2024 for 2019 first-round pick Greg Jones. Rock then spent the whole season in Triple-A, posting a 4.58 ERA over 27 outings, before being added to Tampa Bay’s 40-man roster.

When Rock is on, he can look like a lights-out, sure-thing starter. He has three solid pitches, starting with a fastball that averages around 92 mph but can reach up to 94-95 mph, coming from a slightly lower slot that can make it hard for hitters to pick up the ball. Standing at 6-foot-6 with long limbs, he also gets great extension on all his pitches. He has reworked his slider since last year, looking to add velocity to his primary breaking pitch. He also throws a changeup that can be effective against right-handers.

After a full season in Triple-A, Rock is clearly close to joining the Major League staff. He may never have pinpoint command, given his long limbs and unorthodox delivery. But even if he doesn’t reach his ceiling as a starter, it’s not hard to imagine the Rays shortening him up and letting him unleash fastballs and sliders as a left-handed reliever.

Memphis Redbirds (St. Louis Cardinals Triple-A affiliate)

The 2020 Draft may have been shortened to five rounds, but entering 2025, it’s already been a productive one for the Cardinals with Masyn Winn, Alec Burleson and Jordan Walker reaching the Majors in various capacities. Hence, who was added to the 40-man last offseason when he became Rule 5-eligible, is the next in line to follow them. The Arkansas native has faced durability questions throughout his career but has shown strong results, including most recently a 2.71 ERA and 109 strikeouts in 79 2/3 innings for Double-A Springfield despite working around lat/chest/shoulder issues.

Hence doesn’t cut an imposing figure on the bump at 6-foot-1, but his stuff certainly puts enough fear into batters. He buzzes a 92-96 mph fastball up in the zone from a three-quarters slot and touched as high as 98 mph in the Texas League last season. His best pitch, however, is a 82-84 mph circle changeup that looks much like the heater out of the hand until it dives armside. Per Synergy Sport, the pitch had an insane 73 percent overall whiff rate and a 63 percent whiff in-zone in 2024. Hence went to his gyro slider (around the same velocity) even more often with Springfield, and he’s added back an upper-70s curveball that many scouts loved during his amateur days.

Hence has kept his walk rates in check throughout his career and would have a nailed-on starter profile if not for the durability concerns. He’s still yet to crack 100 innings in a season entering his age-22 campaign. His upside remains tremendous, but if he needs to move to relief to preserve his health, the stuff would play up in a high-leverage role.

A former junior-college transfer, Crooks spent two seasons at the University of Oklahoma and helped the Sooners reach the 2022 Men's College World Series Finals in his Draft year. The Cardinals selected him in the fourth round that summer and he became a Midwest League end-of-season All-Star after his first full campaign in 2023. Even with that accolade, Crooks enjoyed his biggest breakout yet last season when he was named Texas League MVP after slashing .321/.410/.498 with 11 homers in 90 games. His 156 wRC+ was fourth-best among 125 catchers with at least 300 plate appearances in the Minors.

A left-handed hitter, Crooks has a wide stance that takes up nearly the entire batter’s box. With his hands held out a little below his shoulders, he can look like he’s rocking back and forth before swinging his lead leg over to generate momentum. He simply doesn’t miss many fastballs, often meeting the ball on a line and shooting it back from whence it came. His overall impact numbers were solid for the Texas League, and his ability to drive hard liners around the diamond will help his power. A flatter swing has led to some issues with breaking stuff that drags down the offensive profile a bit.

Crooks isn’t a finished product behind the plate, but he’s shown consistent gains with framing and receiving since his college days. He could well be an above-average defender in the end, and he gives baserunners plenty to think about with an efficient throwing motion behind the plate. The Cardinals may still be searching for a long-term catcher with Willson Contreras’ move to first, and as a glove-first backstop who can provide left-handed pop, Crooks could be a viable option soon.

Taken in the fifth round, Saggese was the final pick of the Rangers’ shortened 2020 Draft class, and the Pepperdine commit signed for more than double slot at $800,000. He was a productive hitter through his first three seasons in the Texas system and never more so than in 2023 when he slashed .313/.379/.512 with 15 homers through 93 games with Double-A Frisco. The infielder was traded to the Cardinals that July for Jordan Montgomery and Chris Stratton and nailed down Texas League MVP honors with 10 homers in 33 games for Springfield. After getting a late-season promotion to Memphis, he returned to Triple-A for 2024 but hit just .253/.313/.438 there in 125 games. Saggese joined the Major League club for 18 games in September and then dominated the Arizona Fall League with a .391 average and 1.118 OPS in 18 contests.

The reason for Saggese’s dip was clear. The right-handed slugger had always been an aggressive hitter and ran an overall chase rate of 43 percent at Triple-A, per Synergy Sports. As a self-pronounced “see ball, hit ball” type, he expanded the zone against virtually all kinds of pitches, and Triple-A arms with better command took advantage. He succeeded at improving his approach in the Fall League, but it’s still on Saggese to prove he can be more selective in his age-23 season and beyond. His bat-to-ball skills are solid, and there’s at least average raw power in there too.

Just an average runner right now, the California native won’t steal a ton of bases, and he’s stretched defensively at shortstop, where he played 70 games in Triple-A last year. His arm strength is a better fit for second base anyway, and the Cardinals prioritized him getting looks there in the AFL.

A king of the K/BB ratio over his three years at UC Santa Barbara, McGreevy went to the Cardinals with the 18th overall pick in the 2021 Draft and was thought to be a potentially quick-moving innings-eater. Part of that profile has held up. Entering 2025, his 447 1/3 frames since his first full season in ’22 are the most in the Minors; only one other pitcher has at least 400. But it took that third full campaign for him to break through to St. Louis. McGreevy repeated Triple-A Memphis in 2024 and posted a 4.02 ERA with 138 strikeouts and 44 walks in 150 innings. He debuted with the MLB club and made three more starts in September, finishing with a 1.96 ERA in 23 frames in The Show.

Previously a heavy sinker-slider type, McGreevy used a more diverse arsenal in 2024 to solid effect. His 90-93 mph sinker still runs in on righties and dives under barrels, leading to heavy ground-ball rates, but he started using a 91-94 mph four-seamer more often against lefties to fight off splits. His above-average extension and quick moves to the plate helped the heaters play above the average velocity as well. His 82-85 mph slider added more sweep, averaging 11.2 inches of horizontal break at Triple-A, to maintain its status as his best pitch, and he added an 88-90 mph cutter to keep opposite-handed bats off. A mid-80s changeup and upper-70s curveball trail the others in effectiveness and usage.

McGreevy still pumps strikes and was especially good at limiting walks in his brief MLB stint. His adjustments and arsenal diversity have him looking like a bona fide backend starter for the big league club, rather than just an up-and-down arm, entering his age-24 season.

Robberse signed with the Blue Jays for $125,000 out of Zeist, Netherlands in July 2019, a few months shy of his 18th birthday and methodically climbed the Toronto system over the next four years. He was with Double-A New Hampshire in 2023 when Toronto dealt him to St. Louis as part of the return for Jordan Hicks at the Trade Deadline. He immediately headed to Triple-A for the first time and was added to the 40-man roster when he became Rule 5 eligible that offseason. Robberse returned to Memphis for 2024 but was limited to 84 1/3 innings there due to elbow tightness, posting a 4.59 ERA with 76 strikeouts in that span.

The 6-foot-1 right-hander still hasn’t managed to add much velocity as he’s aged and was still sitting only 90-92 mph and topping out at 93.7 mph with his four-seamer at Triple-A. It was his primary pitch, technically, but without great movement, he only threw it 29.3 percent of the time. That’s a sound strategy considering his sweeping 82-84 mph slider (with an average 12.9 inches of gloveside break) and 86-89 mph changeup were much better at generating whiffs. The latter is particularly interesting because it may not have a ton of separation from the four-seam but has enough run to make Robberse a reverse-splits righty. An upper-80s cutter rounds out the arsenal but was hit hard in Triple-A.

Without elite velo, Robberse needs to be able to hit his spots, and his 7.8 percent walk rate at Triple-A was a nice improvement from his 10.6 percent mark at all levels in ’23. The more he leans on the slider versus righties and changeup against lefties, the better chance he’ll have to be a No. 5 starter. The pursuit of such a role will be delayed following the May news that Robberse needed Tommy John surgery. He will miss the remainder of the 2025 season and could be out for a chunk of 2026, too.

A career .365 hitter in the Cuban National Series, Prieto defected in May 2021 and signed with the Orioles for $650,000 the following January at 22 years old. He had just reached Triple-A Norfolk in the Baltimore system in 2023 when the O’s traded him to the Cardinals as part of the Jack Flaherty Deadline swap. He stuck with Memphis for the duration of the 2024 campaign, hitting .279/.318/.445 with a career-high 14 homers in 129 games. He ranked fourth in the International League with 140 hits and second with 35 doubles.

The 5-foot-9, left-handed-hitting infielder’s scouting report is rather simple. He swings at almost everything and makes contact with almost everything. His 16.4 percent whiff rate was seventh-lowest among the 151 Triple-A batters to see at least 1,500 pitches in 2024, but his 49 percent chase rate (per Synergy Sports) was astronomically high, pushing Prieto’s OBP down and limiting his overall effectiveness at the plate. The good news was his overall quality of contact improved, and he bumped up his max exit velocity to 109.8 mph, even if the approach still dulls his overall outlook.

A below-average runner, Prieto will still try the occasional bunt for a hit, and he can get in front of enough balls on the dirt to play an adequate infield. His arm strength makes him a better fit at second base, and he got plenty of winter-ball run there in LIDOM after splitting time between the keystone and third with Memphis. The Cardinals are already trying to find an infield spot for Thomas Saggese heading into 2025, but Prieto’s crazy contact ability could keep him in the conversation ahead of his Rule 5 eligibility next offseason.

Koperniak had a career .374 average and a 1.051 OPS over four seasons at Division III Trinity College and was set to transfer to Kansas State after the lost 2020 COVID season when the Cardinals signed him as an undrafted free agent that summer instead. He shot up as high as Double-A in his first full season and spent the 2022 and 2023 seasons bopping around the upper Minors. He spent the entire 2024 campaign with Triple-A Memphis and enjoyed a breakout campaign with a .309/.370/.512 line and 20 homers in 122 games. St. Louis protected him from the Rule 5 Draft with a 40-man roster spot in the offseason.

Standing in the box at 6-foot, 208 pounds, the left-handed slugger rests his bat on his back shoulder but seems to always be in constant motion in anticipation of his pitch. He’s shown a good aptitude to hit balls in the zone, particularly fastballs, but he will expand the zone too against all pitch types, dragging down his hit tool evaluation. His 20-homer power wasn’t an aberration as he ran a 104 mph 90th-percentile exit velocity in Triple-A, and if he could pull and lift better, he might have threatened 30 long balls. Given Koperniak’s age (27) entering 2025, it’s likely he lands closer to average pop.

Koperniak is a better runner under way than he is in his initial steps, and that’s likely why he went just 5-for-11 in stolen base attempts last season. Still, the wheels help him cover distance from all three outfield spots, and his glovework helped him punch his 40-man ticket. A member of Great Britain's 2023 World Baseball Classic team and a former LIDOM player under manager Albert Pujols, Koperniak has already beaten the Division III odds and could contribute meaningfully to St. Louis’ outfield depth.

Bedell was part of the Cardinals’ 2020 Draft class that produced Jordan Walker, Masyn Winn, Tink Hence and Alec Burleson, but Tommy John surgery limited him to only eight appearances in his first two Minor League seasons. He rebounded to win 2023 Midwest League Pitcher of the Year honors after posting a 2.44 ERA with 106 strikeouts in 96 innings with High-A Peoria and was a strikeout maven again to begin 2024 with 79 in 64 2/3 innings at Double-A Springfield. His performance fell apart following a promotion to Triple-A, and he finished with a 5.02 ERA, 31 strikeouts and 24 walks in 43 frames.

At least part of Bedell’s slide stemmed from his transition to the Major League ball. He lost a little velocity with his fastball, going from 92-96 mph in Double-A to 90-92 in Triple-A, and International League batters took advantage. His low-80s gyro slider was still a relatively effective pitch with sharp downward action, despite low spin, and it could be even better with a little more velo as well. He used an upper-80s cutter that typically ran a little armside, so getting it back to gloveside will be a priority as well. Bedell’s low-80s changeup was a distant fourth pitch but could be effective with its own armside fade.

Bedell’s walk rate jumped from 7.1 percent in Double-A to 12.7 at the Minors’ highest level, and he joined after Triple-A went to the full challenge system so ABS isn’t fully to blame. That said, it was still a small sample, and Bedell will head back to Memphis with a full offseason to prepare. He’s been left off the 40-man for two straight Rule 5 cycles and will have to prove he can serve as a starter or long man in relief in his age-25 campaign.