Wes Bankston #24

Was a three-year starter at quarterback for Plano East (TX) High School ... was selected District 9-5A Offensive Player of the Year his senior season ... committed to University of Texas prior to getting drafted by the Rays.

2008

Spent most of the season at Class AAA Sacramento but made his Major League debut with 17 apps and 16 starts during 2 stints with the A's (7/2-7/10, 7/19-7/30)...among all Athletics minor leaguers ranked sixth in slugging percentage (.496), seventh in HR (20) and T9th in RBI (73)...for Oak made 14 starts at 1B and 2 starts at DH...on 7/2 at LAA started at 1B in his Major League debut (0-4)...the next day at WSox produced his first career hit, a single off Javier Vazquez...that single began a 5-game hitting streak capped on 7/7 vs Sea by his first career home run (2-run off Jarrod Washburn)...was hitless in 22 at bats when he was optioned to Sacramento on 7/30...spent the rest of the season in the minors and in his last 23 regular season games hit .318 (5hr, 20rbi)...that hot streak included a season-best 12-game hitting streak (.435, 3hr, 13rbi)... was outrighted off the roster on 8/20...for Sacramento hit .343 with RISP...appeared in 54g at 1B, 8g at 3B and 36g as the DH...had 2 homers on 5/23 at Tucson, including a grand slam...hit another slam on 6/26, also against Tucson...had 10rbi in the playoffs, the most by a Pacific Coast League batter...following the season elected free agency...on 12/18 was signed by the Reds to a minor league contract and was invited to Major League spring training camp.

2007

At Class AAA Durham tied for the International League lead in sac flies (9)...ranked third on the Bulls in HR (15) and RBI (59)...in July spent time on the disabled list with a sprained right knee...had 2 homers on 8/21 vs Richmond, capping a 9-game stretch during which he produced 5hr and 10rbi...following the season twice was claimed off waivers, by the Royals on 9/21 and by the Athletics on 11/28.

2006

Split the season between Double-A Montgomery and Durham, his first action at the Triple-A level...Combined at both stops to bat .282 with 20 doubles, 9 home runs and 48 RBI...Compiled an All-Star first half with the Biscuits earning the starting nod at third base on the Southern League's Southern All-Star squad...Homered in the season opener April 6 against Tennessee (D-Backs)...went on to hit safely in 15 of his first 18 games of the year including 10 straight April 11-20...Had his season interrupted April 24 at Mississippi when he left the game in the 4th inning with a strained oblique...landed on the disabled list the next day...Missed over a month with the injury (April 25-June 7)...was batting .333 at the time he was sidelined, hit just .270 the remainder of the year...only Delmon Young (.348) and Reid Brignac (.356) had better averages in April among Rays minor leaguers...Hit his second HR of the year June 8 at Carolina (Marlins) in his first game back from the injury...Was promoted to Durham on July 13 taking over first base duties from Kevin Witt...Belted his eighth career grand slam Aug 26 against Charlotte (White Sox)...was his lone hit in 8 at-bats with the bases loaded...Hit at a .415 clip (22-53) with 4 of his 5 HR off lefties with the Bulls...batted just .254 off right-handers...Played in only 3 games with the Phoenix Desert Dogs of the Arizona Fall League due to a right ankle sprain...had 1 hit in 12 at-bats.

2005

Spent the majority of the year at AA Montgomery where he batted .292 with 17 doubles and 12 home runs in 82 contests ... His 6 errors were tied for the third fewest in the Southern League among all first basemen with at least 50 games played at the position ... His .991 fielding percentage also ranked third in the league ... Had his fifth career multi-home run game July 27 at Birmingham ... Opened the year at Single-A Visalia after missing the first month of action with a torn left meniscus (knee)...batted .387 (24-for-62, 4-2B, 3-HR) hitting safely in 15 of his 17 games before his promotion to the Biscuits ... Belted his seventh career grand slam on May 22 at Rancho Cucamonga ... also connected for a 2-run homer, his fourth career multi-HR game ... set a career high with 6 RBI in the contest ... Was a combined 5-for-9 on the year with the bases loaded with 3 doubles, a home run and 16 RBI ... Was named the Cal League's hitter of the week May 16-20 (.400, 2-2B, HR, 3-RBI) ... Named the 7th best prospect in the organization by Baseball America.

2004

Named Single-A Charleston's Player of the Year in 2004 setting career highs in nearly every offensive category ... Drove in a career-high 101 runs which was tied for the fourth most in the South Atlantic League ... He and fellow Riverdog Delmon Young became the first set of teammates in the SAL to each record 100 RBI in the same season since Ronald Wright (104) and Andruw Jones (101) did it for Macon in 1995 ... His 56 extra-base hits were tied for tops on the team and sixth most in the league ... Also led the team with 73 walks, 42 multi-hit games and a career-high .390 on-base percentage ... Connected for his fifth career grand slam May 20 vs. Augusta ... collected his sixth career GS July 20 on an inside-the-park home run ... Enjoyed his second career multi-homer game on May 24 at Capital City (NYM) then repeated the feat two games later at Greensboro (ATL) ... Belted a 2-run home run May 28 at Greensboro, one of 8 home runs by Charleston batters setting a league single-game record ... Awarded the Rays' May player of the month after batting .299 with 6 homers and 30 RBI ... Named to the SAL midseason All-Star team.

2003

Spent the 2003 season at Charleston ... Named Rays June player of the month after hitting .411 (37-for-90) with six doubles, three home runs and 18 RBI ... Hit safely in 25 of 26 games between May 15 and July 2 including a career-high 16 straight ... Belted his fourth career grand slam July 22 against Rome (ATL) ... Rated the 7th best prospect in the organization by Baseball America.

2002

Awarded Co-Player of the Year (also Jason Pridie) at Rookie Princeton in 2002 in his professional debut ... Named Appalachian League's MVP ... was the third Ray to win the honor (Jonny Gomes- 2001, Jared Sandberg-1997) ... Set the Princeton club record with a league most-18 home runs surpassing Sandberg's mark of 17 set in 1997 ... was one of three Rays farmhands that season to lead his respective league in homers ... was the fourth highest total among Rays minor leaguers that season ... Belted a home run in five consecutive games Aug. 10-14 ... Led the Rays organization with three grand slams (July 18, Aug. 12 and 18) ... Also captured the league's RBI title with 57, including two 4-RBI and two 5-RBI games ... had a streak of eight straight games with a RBI Aug. 6-14 (16 total) ... Ranked high in hits (3rd-74), extra-base hits (3rd-29) and slugging (2nd-.569) ... Named Topps Player of the Month for August after hitting .294 with nine home runs, 20 runs and 20 RBI ... Also awarded the Rays' co-minor league August player of the month ... Rated as the 2nd best prospect in the Appalachian League, 6th best prospect in the Rays' organization and an All-Star among 18-year-old players by Baseball America.