Rays' top prospect putting the HOT in Hot Rods at High-A
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After enduring an injury-plagued 2025 that included two separate stints on the injured list, Theo Gillen is healthy and hitting virtually everything in sight.
Tampa Bay's No. 1 prospect launched another homer and extended his hitting streak to six consecutive games to help lead High-A Bowling Green to a doubleheader sweep of Jersey Shore with a 5-2 win in the nightcap on Saturday at Bowling Green Ballpark.
The Hot Rods edged the Blue Claws in Game 1, 3-2, on the strength of Gillen's RBI double in the sixth.
There might be hitters in the Minors who are producing at a more prolific rate, but few have been as consistent through the first three weeks than Gillen. MLB's No. 66 prospect has reached safely in all but one of the 13 games he's appeared in and collected at least one hit 11 times.
His third-inning roundtripper in Game 2 was his sixth of the season -- all coming in his past seven contests -- highlighted by consecutive multihomer games on April 11-12. The power surge has pushed him toward the top of the South Atlantic League leaderboard, one behind co-leaders Caleb Bonemer (CWS No. 3/MLB No. 53), Eric Hartman (ATL No. 20) and Lonnie White Jr. (PIT).
Gillen's hitting prowess hasn't been limited to his early-season power display. The 20-year-old is slashing .333/.412/.867 with 11 extra-base hits and 17 RBIs. He's been especially hot since April 11, batting .400 with a 1.704 OPS across seven games. Gillen has already exceeded his home run total (5) from a year ago and is one RBI shy (18) of equaling his output in 70 fewer games.
His strong start is exactly what the Rays envisioned when they took Gillen 18th overall in the 2024 Draft out of Westlake High School in Austin, Texas. But seeing him on the field and healthy is an even bigger sigh of relief after an early-season calf injury caused the Chicago native to miss the first two weeks of '25 and a wrist injury sustained sliding into a base in mid-August put him on the sidelines for three more weeks.
When Gillen was on the field, he was impressive, even more so due to his age.
His 151 wRC+ was especially notable for a 19-year-old who entered last year with just eight pro games under his belt. Gillen finished with an .820 OPS, a .433 OBP and swiped 36 bases in 39 attempts in 73 contests for Single-A Charleston.