Flewelling one of many standouts in Rays' Spring Breakout shutout

Talk to anyone on the Rays’ player development staff, and it probably won’t be long before you hear about Nathan Flewelling.

He’s tough behind the plate, the kind of thing you’d expect from someone who played hockey until he was 14 years old. He’s a tough out at the plate, having posted a .393 on-base percentage in 107 games between Single-A Charleston and High-A Bowling Green last year. And he doesn’t turn 20 until November, suggesting he’s well ahead of his years in his development.

Flewelling played a key role in the Rays’ 2-0 win over a squad of Mets prospects during Thursday night’s annual Spring Breakout showcase at Clover Park in Port St. Lucie, Fla. He drove in the Rays’ first run and caught five innings in just the second nine-inning shutout in the short history of Spring Breakout, joining the Blue Jays’ 10-0 win over the Twins last year.

“It was pretty great, honestly,” Flewelling said afterward. “It was really cool to be able to share the field with those guys and learn about pieces of their game that I can bring into my game.”

Flewelling, the club’s No. 11 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, has quickly become an organizational favorite since being selected in the third round of the 2024 Draft out of St. Joseph High School in the Canadian city of Red Deer, Alberta.

Playing through the sorts of minor dings and dents you’d expect a catcher to sustain, Flewelling said he learned a lot in his professional debut last year about how to manage a full season’s workload, develop routines and handle failure. As advanced as he is physically, his mental approach sets him apart as well.

“His leadership and his maturity, for being so young, really stands out,” Rays assistant GM Kevin Ibach said. “Just being in this lineup, being in this clubhouse with some veteran players … Flew fit in really well. Really enjoyed seeing him on this platform, on this stage.”

Flewelling’s performance was just one of the highlights from the Rays’ Spring Breakout victory. Let’s look at a few more.

Web gems
Brayden Taylor, the former Top 100 prospect in line for a bounceback season, worked two walks, stole third base, scored a run and made a handful of nice plays at third base while playing the entire game.

Taylor punctuated his defensive gem of a night by snaring a 100.5 mph hot shot from D’Andre Smith for the second out of the ninth inning.

“Brayden showed a national audience how good he is defensively,” Ibach said. “Even though he struggled through things with the bat last year in Montgomery, he played solid defense from big league Spring Training all the way through the Arizona Fall League. We saw another glimpse of that tonight.”

Flamethrowers
Hard-throwing right-hander Jose Urbina, the Rays’ No. 17 prospect, brought the heat in his three-inning start. Urbina allowed three hits, didn’t walk anybody and struck out three, and he threw 33 of his 49 pitches for strikes -- a good sign for a pitcher who’s battled occasional control issues.

Urbina’s stuff was electric, too. The 20-year-old, who spent most of the 2025 season with Single-A Charleston, touched 99.3 mph in the first inning, and he finished each of his strikeouts with cutters in the 86-89 mph range.

“I’ve caught him before, but he was on one tonight,” Flewelling said. “It was coming out pretty easy for him, and it was fun to catch.”

Right-hander Anderson Brito, Tampa Bay’s No. 6 prospect, also flashed a high-octane fastball as he handled the final three innings. Acquired alongside Jacob Melton from the Astros in a three-team trade over the winter, Brito breezed through his outing while allowing only two hits and striking out three on 36 pitches (25 strikes).

The 21-year-old Brito ran his fastball up to 97.6 mph, struck out two batters in the seventh with a runner on third base and worked around a two-out baserunner in both the eighth and ninth.

“It’s a guy we saw prior to the trade as having elite arm strength and can spin a breaking ball. He showed all that tonight,” Ibach said. “But he also showed in just a few short weeks on the backfields how he can get in the zone and really challenge hitters and be on the attack from pitch one.”

Young up the middle
Slick-fielding infielder Adrian Santana played the entire game at second base, singled, doubled and walked. He shared the middle infield to start the night with Daniel Pierce, the Rays’ No. 5 prospect and first-round Draft pick last year who got the start when top prospect Carson Williams was pulled off the Spring Breakout roster to join the big league team in Clearwater.

Pierce was one of four players on the Rays’ roster who hasn’t suited up for a professional game, joining fellow 2025 Draft picks Cooper Flemming (No. 28), Dean Moss (No. 29) and Taitn Gray (No. 30).