Rays name Minor League Player and Pitcher of the Month for August
The Tampa Bay Rays Baseball Operations Department named infielder Tre' Morgan as Minor League Player of the Month and right-handed pitcher Ty Johnson as Minor League Pitcher of the Month for August.
Morgan, who also earned Player of the Month honors in May, slashed .354/.416/.557 (28-for-79) with five doubles, one triple, three home runs, 18 RBI and nine walks in 22 games between Class-A Bowling Green and Double-A Montgomery.
He earned his second South Atlantic League Player of the Week award in 2024 (also May 13-19) for the week of August 5-11, hitting .455 (10-for-22) with four doubles, two home runs and 7 RBI in five games for the Hot Rods.
Morgan earned an August 20 promotion to Double-A Montgomery and was named Southern League Player of the Week for the week of August 19-25, batting .500 (8-for-16) with one double, one triple, one home run and 8 RBI in five games for the Biscuits.
His .345 batting average on the season ranks second among full-season minor leaguers behind teammate Chandler Simpson (.355). He ranks among Rays farmhands in OPS (1st, .934), slugging percentage (1st, .509), on-base percentage (3rd, .425), hits (4th, 116), RBI (T5th, 63), runs (T5th, 67), total bases (6th, 171) and doubles (T9th, 22). Through his first 104 professional games, Morgan is hitting .352 (135-for-384) with 24 doubles, four triples, 10 home runs, 69 RBI, 23 steals and 51 walks against 42 strikeouts. He is rated the Rays No. 11 prospect by MLB.com.
Johnson made five appearances (two starts) for Bowling Green in August, going 2-1 with 0.46 ERA (19.2IP, 1ER), .125 (8-for-64) opponent average, 0.61 WHIP and 35 strikeouts against four walks. On August 28 vs. Greenville, he threw 6.0 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and no walks while striking out a career-high 11 batters. His 35 strikeouts during the month were tied with teammate Jackson Baumeister for second most in the South Atlantic League.
In 11 appearances (seven starts) since June 25, Johnson has posted a 0.88 ERA (41.0IP, 4ER), .168 (23-for-137) opponent average and 60 strikeouts. The 22-year-old right-hander was acquired from the Cubs on July 28, along with right-handed pitcher Hunter Bigge and infielder Christopher Morel, in exchange for infielder Isaac Paredes.