Rays’ top pitching prospect among non-roster invitees

ST. PETERSBURG -- In a few weeks, some of the Rays’ top pitching prospects will get a chance to show their strikeout stuff in Spring Training.

The Rays announced their non-roster invitees to Major League camp on Friday, including eight players who were signed to Minor League contracts and 17 players from their system. The latter group is headlined by starting pitchers Brody Hopkins, T.J. Nichols and Ty Johnson, three of Tampa Bay’s best young arms.

As of Friday, the Rays’ spring roster includes 65 players: 34 pitchers, seven catchers, 15 infielders and nine outfielders.

Hopkins, MLB Pipeline’s No. 85 overall prospect, will be in big league camp for the first time after joining the Rays in a July 2024 trade for star left fielder Randy Arozarena. The 24-year-old spent last season with Double-A Montgomery, recording a 2.72 ERA with 141 strikeouts and 60 walks in 116 innings over 25 starts.

The right-hander, who pitched in the All-Star Futures Game last summer, has a big arsenal featuring a 95-98 mph fastball, two power breaking balls, a cutter and a changeup. Walks have been an issue, but Hopkins’ stuff and athleticism give him a high ceiling as the top-ranked arm in the Rays’ system.

Nichols, 23, was the Rays’ Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 2025. A sixth-round pick in the 2023 Draft, the right-hander had a solid full-season debut in '24 then thrived at two levels last year. He finished 14-3 with a 2.90 ERA, 156 strikeouts and only 30 walks in 133 2/3 innings over 25 outings for High-A Bowling Green and Montgomery, leading Tampa Bay’s Minor Leaguers in wins and strikeouts while ranking fourth in innings.

Johnson, 24, joined the Rays in the July 2024 deal that sent Isaac Paredes to the Cubs. The 6-foot-6 righty creates deception with his lower arm slot and extension with his long limbs, leading to impressive strikeout totals and not a lot of hits allowed. Like Hopkins, Johnson spent all last season with Montgomery. In 26 outings, he posted a 2.61 ERA and 0.94 WHIP with 149 strikeouts and 38 walks in 110 1/3 innings.

Johnson ended last year as the Rays’ No. 25 prospect, followed by Nichols at No. 26, but both are likely to see their stock rise heading into this season. And they won’t be the only highly regarded prospects in the Major League clubhouse at Charlotte Sports Park.

First basemen Xavier Isaac and Tre' Morgan, slick-fielding infielder Gregory Barrios, former first-round pick Brayden Taylor and infielder Cooper Kinney were also extended invitations to big league camp. It will be a big opportunity for Isaac, MLB Pipeline’s No. 9 first-base prospect, in his return from what he called “life-saving” brain surgery last year.

Morgan, MLB Pipeline’s No. 10 first-base prospect, finished last year as the Rays’ No. 11 prospect. Kinney was ranked No. 23, while Taylor and Barrios were both ranked among the Rays’ Top 30 Prospects heading into last season. This is a potentially pivotal spring for Taylor, the 2023 Draft pick who was on the rise before a miserable season in Montgomery last year.

There will also be four of the Rays’ top prospects in camp as members of the 40-man roster: shortstop Carson Williams (No. 1, No. 63 overall), outfielder Jacob Melton (No. 4), catcher Dominic Keegan (No. 20) and infielder Jadher Areinamo (No. 29).

The Rays invited three other Minor League catchers to big league camp: Logan Driscoll, who was sidelined all last season; Kenny Piper, who bounced between Montgomery and Triple-A Durham the past two years; and Tatem Levins, a 26-year-old who recorded a .405 on-base percentage in Double-A last season.

The other Minor League pitchers invited to Major League Spring Training are right-handers Luis Guerrero, who was acquired from the Red Sox for Tristan Gray in November, Trevor Martin, Austin Vernon, Andrew Wantz, Kodi Whitley and Logan Workman. Wantz signed a two-year Minor League contract with the Rays a year ago, and Whitley re-signed on another Minor League deal late last year.

Most of the players who signed Minor League deals with invitations to Spring Training have been previously reported: catcher Blake Sabol; infielders Logan Davidson and Raynel Delgado; outfielder Edward Olivares; right-handers Chase Solesky and Jake Woodford; and left-handers Cam Booser and John Rooney.

Booser signed with the Rays on Monday. The 33-year-old lefty reliever pitched to a 3.38 ERA in 43 appearances for the Red Sox in 2024 before logging a 5.52 ERA in 39 outings for the White Sox last season. He has struck out 23.9% of the batters he’s faced in the Majors but walked 10.7% of them. He could compete for a spot in the Opening Day bullpen as a second left-hander behind Garrett Cleavinger.