Tampa Bay Rays' Standout Prospects Earn High Praise for Spring Breakout Performances

For the Tampa Bay Rays, Carson Williams and Cooper Kinney were the best of the best.

After evaluating all of the performances in the Spring Breakout games – the showcase that pitted top prospects from major league clubs in 15 games at spring training sites – Major League Baseball announced its All-Spring Breakout teams.

For their performances, Tampa Bay prospects Williams and Kinney were named to the first team.

The Rays played the Boston Red Sox in the opening game of the Spring Breakout series, and it was perhaps the most highly anticipated prospect vs. prospect contest. That’s because of the presence of Williams and the Big 3 of Boston – top prospects Roman Anthony (No. 2 overall, per MLB Pipeline), Kristian Campbell (No. 7) and Marcelo Mayer (No. 12).

The Rays won 7-5 with Williams (No. 9) going 2-for-4 at the plate with two RBIs, a run and a walk. One of his hits was a home run, matching the homers hit by the three Red Sox top prospects. And the 21-year-old also showed off his skills at shortstop.

As for Kinney, 22, he was 3-for-4 with a double, turning in three of the Rays’ 12 hits. The infielder is the No. 24 prospect in the Tampa Bay farm system. He was the designated hitter in the game.

The Spring Breakout featured 68 of MLB Pipeline’s current Top 100 prospects, including 12 of the top 20.

Williams said he appreciated the opportunity to take part.

“It goes to show you how good both teams are,” he said, per MLB.com. “Lot of hitting, lot of good defense. And it was pretty special to play in this game.”