Rays Name Minor League Player and Pitcher of the Month for July

The Tampa Bay Rays Baseball Operations Department named infielder Cooper Kinney as Minor League Player of the Month and right-handed pitcher Owen Wild Minor League Pitcher of the Month for July.

Kinney, 21, hit .359 (28-for-78) with 11 doubles, four home runs and 18 RBI across 21 games for Class-A Bowling in July. He ranked among the South Atlantic League during the month in hits (2nd), doubles (2nd), extra-base hits (2nd, 15), batting average (3rd), slugging percentage (3rd, .654), OPS (3rd, 1.047), total bases (3rd, 51), RBI (4th) and runs (6th, 16).

In 81 games for the Hot Rods this season, Kinney has hit .302/.364/.516 (93-for-308) with 32 doubles, two triples, 10 home runs, 61 RBI and six steals. He ranks among the SAL in doubles, (1st), extra-base hits (T1st, 44), batting average (T1st), hits (2nd), slugging percentage (2nd, .516), RBI (T2nd), OPS (3rd, .880) and total bases (3rd, 159). His 32 doubles are third most in all of Minor League Baseball. Rated by MLB.com as the Rays No. 30 prospect, the left-handed-hitting Kinney was selected in Competitive Balance Round A of the 2021 First-Year Player Draft out of Baylor (Tenn.) School.

Wild, 22, went 3-0 with a 2.74 ERA (23.0IP, 7ER) and 27 strikeouts in four starts for Bowling Green. On July 12 vs. Hickory, he threw a career-high 7.0 innings, allowing one run on five hits with zero walks and nine strikeouts.

Wild is 5-1 with a 2.90 ERA (59.0IP, 19ER) and 71 strikeouts in 11 starts for the Hot Rods since his May 22 promotion from Class-A Charleston. He leads Rays farmhands in strikeouts (109) and ranks highly in wins (T3rd, 6), ERA (4th, 2.96), innings pitched (6th, 94.1), starts (7th, 18) and WHIP (T8th, 1.17). Wild was selected in the seventh round of the 2023 First-Year Player Draft out of Gonzaga University.