Corey Ray

[Chicago Here]

One of our brightest prospects, Corey Ray, just got named to the MILB Team of the Week with his 3 Homers, etc.

 

I think he is one of our top 10 prospects. Hopefully, with other teams scouting our prospects for trades, our MILB players have some good weeks ahead of the deadline.

[brewmann04]

Hopefully he finally in the groove

[ZBTMP]

One of our brightest prospects, Corey Ray, just got named to the MILB Team of the Week with his 3 Homers, etc.

 

I think he is one of our top 10 prospects. Hopefully, with other teams scouting our prospects for trades, our MILB players have some good weeks ahead of the deadline.

I guess my preferred outcome is the Brewers keep him and he puts up 20+WAR from mid 2019-2025, but glad he is making strides.

[Lathund]

I'm really liking what Corey is doing so far. After a disastrous 2017, he moved up a level to AA. Has increased his walk rate by 2%, reduced strikeout rate by 3% (It's still high though), increased .ISO by 90 points. Currently sitting at 124 wRC+ and leads the league in XBH. This while playing a premium defensive position, and while being 19/23 in stolen base attempts as well. Again what's especially encouraging is that he got a pretty aggressive promotion after struggling, and responded very well. Bodes well going forward. Santana and Phillips are struggling, so if he keeps this up he can be a useful player. I think it's more worth it to stick with him and see how he develops, rather than use him as a 3rd piece thrown into some trade.

[Roderick]

So would he be considered defensively? An average centerfielder, above average, excellent? Arm? How good does his defense play?

[splitterpfj]

Ray has made huge strides this season, which is a big deal - on physical skills, Corey Ray is not one of the Brewers ten best prospects, he's one of their best five. There's a lot of work left to do, he's come quite a ways this season, but the K rate is still too high - offensively, he's got speed and power, it's all about making enough contact.

 

Defensively, I'm still not convinced Ray is a center fielder - the minor leagues are there to find these things out, maybe he will be, but he may play best in left field, despite his speed.

 

Don't give up on Corey Ray, don't even think about it, there's immense talent here if he can keep growing - the work ethic and positive attitude are both there too.

 

The Brewers need Corey Ray to pan out, and before this season he played like a bust, for sure - I'm happy for him, and excited again about his future; if he hadn't been the fifth pick overall, people would be talking about the extra base hits and the speed right now, but he'll always have major expectations to live up to.

 

I'm root, root, rooting for Corey Ray, if he don't win it's a shame.

[TooLiveBrew]

He had a mediocre April, awesome May, & fairly pedestrian June. Hopefully he can build some consistency at the plate. Seems like the other skills are there.

[clancyphile]

I'll say it, I think Brevard County stunted him a bit.

 

Now, though... I think he'll be my second-best OF, behind Stokes, who is putting together a very good year for the second year in a row.

[NYChez]

Corey Ray is #1 in the Southern League in HR’s, #1 in triples, #2 in doubles, #6 in walks, and #1 in stolen bases.

[LouisEly]

Prior to today's game, one of these was Corey Ray and one of these was Troy Stokes:

 

Player A - 386 PA, 82 H, 21 2B, 6 3B, 13 HR, 45 RBI, 21 SB, 44 BB, 105 K, .243 BA, .337 OBP, .792 OPS

Player B - 383 PA, 82 H, 18 2B, 6 3B, 13 HR, 44 RBI, 14 SB, 45 BB, 106 K, .253 BA, .360 OBP, .826 OPS

 

Kind of eerie, huh? Troy Stokes should get some love too.

[homer]

Prior to today's game, one of these was Corey Ray and one of these was Troy Stokes:

 

Player A - 386 PA, 82 H, 21 2B, 6 3B, 13 HR, 45 RBI, 21 SB, 44 BB, 105 K, .243 BA, .337 OBP, .792 OPS

Player B - 383 PA, 82 H, 18 2B, 6 3B, 13 HR, 44 RBI, 14 SB, 45 BB, 106 K, .253 BA, .360 OBP, .826 OPS

 

Kind of eerie, huh? Troy Stokes should get some love too.

 

And Stokes is a year younger.

[NYChez]

Prior to today's game, one of these was Corey Ray and one of these was Troy Stokes:

 

Player A - 386 PA, 82 H, 21 2B, 6 3B, 13 HR, 45 RBI, 21 SB, 44 BB, 105 K, .243 BA, .337 OBP, .792 OPS

Player B - 383 PA, 82 H, 18 2B, 6 3B, 13 HR, 44 RBI, 14 SB, 45 BB, 106 K, .253 BA, .360 OBP, .826 OPS

 

Kind of eerie, huh? Troy Stokes should get some love too.

 

And Stokes is a year younger.

 

I like Stokes a lot, but it seems like his only position is left field, which significantly lowers his value compared to Ray.

[jonescm128]

I have been really impressed with what Corey Ray has been able to do this year. This is the guy the Brewers thought they were getting with the #5 pick in the draft. Let's take a look at where he ranks in the Southern League - a notoriously difficult hitters league:

 

Doubles - 25 (1st)

Triples - 6 (3rd)

Home Runs - 18 (1st)

Walks - 48 (5th)

Stolen Bases - 30 (1st)

SLG - .500 (2nd)

OPS - .849 (3rd)

 

A lot of people on these boards are talking about packaging him in a trade but I don't think that will happen. I think Stearns realizes what a dynamic player he is and the impact he could have if he continues his trajectory.

[Outlander]

I would tend to agree, the first player drafted bt Stearns so certainly won't give him away. Didn't really hear his name with Machado.

[igor67]

I'm very excited about how little of his breakout is driven by batting average increase. Those are always the most volatile. At the same time he has upped the walk rate a fair bit and dropped the K rate to help support the increase in his stat line. I would definitely put him and Hiura as high top 100 prospects right up there with Prince and Braun back in the day. If Gatewood could have a similar break out we'd really be in business.

[Mass Haas]

I have been really impressed with what Corey Ray has been able to do this year. This is the guy the Brewers thought they were getting with the #5 pick in the draft. Let's take a look at where he ranks in the Southern League - a notoriously difficult hitters league:

 

Doubles - 25 (1st)

Triples - 6 (3rd)

Home Runs - 18 (1st)

Walks - 48 (5th)

Stolen Bases - 30 (1st)

SLG - .500 (2nd)

OPS - .849 (3rd)

 

A lot of people on these boards are talking about packaging him in a trade but I don't think that will happen. I think Stearns realizes what a dynamic player he is and the impact he could have if he continues his trajectory.

 

I guess the only thing I'd say is we have to be careful when looking at counting stat rankings within a particular league, given that so many players get promoted in-season.

 

That being said, clearly Ray has been very good in multiple ways.

[paul253]

Honestly if he can just get that average up in the .270-.280 range while keeping the same numbers elsewhere (maybe cut down on Ks a bit) then I don’t think I’d have much to complain about.

[splitterpfj]

I have been really impressed with what Corey Ray has been able to do this year. This is the guy the Brewers thought they were getting with the #5 pick in the draft. Let's take a look at where he ranks in the Southern League - a notoriously difficult hitters league:

 

Doubles - 25 (1st)

Triples - 6 (3rd)

Home Runs - 18 (1st)

Walks - 48 (5th)

Stolen Bases - 30 (1st)

SLG - .500 (2nd)

OPS - .849 (3rd)

 

A lot of people on these boards are talking about packaging him in a trade but I don't think that will happen. I think Stearns realizes what a dynamic player he is and the impact he could have if he continues his trajectory.

 

Ray also leads his league in total bases, and runs - the K rate, which is better, but still too high, is the big hurdle to clear here. Ray got too much credit in the prospect rankings at first because he was such a high pick, and now, he's not getting enough credit because last year was a dud. This is a true athlete playing baseball, he can already win a game in a multitude of ways, even with a (still) weak hit tool - that's a rare thing.

 

If you've ever wondered what Keon Broxton would be if he made consistent contact .... root for Corey Ray, he may show you.

[jonescm128]

I have been really impressed with what Corey Ray has been able to do this year. This is the guy the Brewers thought they were getting with the #5 pick in the draft. Let's take a look at where he ranks in the Southern League - a notoriously difficult hitters league:

 

Doubles - 25 (1st)

Triples - 6 (3rd)

Home Runs - 18 (1st)

Walks - 48 (5th)

Stolen Bases - 30 (1st)

SLG - .500 (2nd)

OPS - .849 (3rd)

 

A lot of people on these boards are talking about packaging him in a trade but I don't think that will happen. I think Stearns realizes what a dynamic player he is and the impact he could have if he continues his trajectory.

 

I guess the only thing I'd say is we have to be careful when looking at counting stat rankings within a particular league, given that so many players get promoted in-season.

 

That being said, clearly Ray has been very good in multiple ways.

 

Good point. He does have the second most games played and the most ABs. Gotta suspect a call-up should be happening sometime soon. Or maybe they go with the route Erceg took last year and call him up to AAA for the playoffs.

[MrTPlush]

Corey Ray doesn’t have that bad of a K-rate. He can easily be good at the MLB level with that kind of rate. Especially when he is adding so much value via SBs, value running the bases, walking, and providing solid power.

 

Will he be a star at that kind of K-rate? Probably not...but his stat line right now would be one hell of a good MLB player. CF is just sad across MLB these days. His slugging would be the only other one of .500 or more in the MLB outside of Mike Trout, his OPS would be Top 5, and his steals would easily be #1. It doesn’t take much to be a good offensive CFer these days.

 

Yah, I get the stats won’t translate perfectly (I would assume)...but it shows how much that kind of offense can play in CF. Could he move to the corner? Yah, but those stats are still floating around Top 15 in baseball.

 

Corey Ray has the athleticism to be a star still. The stats this year show that.

[WV Brew]

There is not a whole lot of difference in his left/right splits. However, Lorenzo Cain is significantly better against lefties and isn't getting any younger. They could ease Ray in as a platoon guy with occasional play at the corners.

[young guns]

Im 99% chance getting ahead of myself, but how fun would it be to have ray and hour a solve our 2nd base and rf issues next year.

[MillerParkSouth]

Should we be reading into his dramatic home/road splits?

[Jenkins5]

Should we be reading into his dramatic home/road splits?

 

I’ve noticed those but I’d say no. In the southern league the parks are fairly even to each other. I went through the whole teams splits to see if this was a trend (like it would be in CS) and it wasn’t.

[Eye Black]

I thought there was an interesting series of tweets from Alec Dopp yesterday on this subject. I don’t think MGM Park has been considered overly hitter friendly prior to this year. I did go back and check however, and in 2017 MGM Park did actually lead all of professional baseball in left handed hitter home runs.

 

Below are some of the highlights of what Alec shared via Twitter (Note: Everything listed below this point are Alec’s takes, not my own).

 

1.003 OPS in Biloxi; .709 everywhere else

 

Corey’s park-adjusted OPS is .795 this year per Statcorner, basically 50 points below his actual OPS

 

MGM Park has the third-highest HR park factor for lefties in all of professional baseball this year

 

 

 

 

Furthermore, check out the cluster HR at Biloxi compared to road.