Six Bulls Added to Rays’ 40-Man Roster

Last night was the ‘reserve deadline’ in the world of Major League Baseball. Long story short, this means that teams have to add certain players to the 40-man roster, or those players can be subjected to be taken by other teams in the Rule 5 Draft. (There’s a WHOLE lot more to it than that, but honestly don’t worry about it — it’s super confusing.)

Prior to that deadline, the Tampa Bay Rays added seven players to their 40-man roster, six of whom played for the Durham Bulls at some point this season: Brent Honeywell, Jake Bauers, Ryan Yarbrough, Yonny Chirinos, Diego Castillo, Justin Williams and Jose Mujica.

Of that list, Bauers and Yarbrough spent the entire season in the Bull City. Bauers, at age 21, slugged 13 homers and took home Governors’ Cup MVP honors, while Yarbrough was named the team’s Pitcher of the Year after going 13–6 with a 3.43 ERA in the regular season, and winning 2-of-3 postseason starts.

Honeywell, ranked the №11 prospect in all of baseball by MLB.com, went 12–8 with a 3.64 ERA in 24 starts for the Bulls in 2017, and his 152 punchouts ranked second in the IL only to Yarbrough’s mark of 159. The 22-year-old went 5–1 with a 1.79 ERA after July 1, and went 2–0 with a 1.80 ERA in three postseason appearances.

Chirinos rounded out Durham’s three-headed monster on the pitching staff, finishing the season going 12–5 with a 2.74 ERA in 23 regular season appearances with the Bulls. He was twice named the IL’s Pitcher of the Week, and following the season was named the organization’s Pitcher of the Year by the Rays Baseball Operations Department.

Castillo joined the Bulls in early June from Double-A, and proceeded to become the team’s closer. After Aug. 1 he allowed just three runs over 12 appearances (14.1 IP), and in the postseason recorded four saves in four chances while allowing just one hit in 6 1/3 innings.

Williams was added to the Bulls’ roster for the Governors’ Cup final and Triple-A National Championship Game, and batted 5-for-16 in his first taste of Triple-A baseball. The outfielder batted .301–14–72 for the Double-A Montgomery Biscuits in the regular season.

Rounding out the list is Mujica, who went 14–8 with a 3.04 ERA in 27 starts between Advanced-A Charlotte and Montgomery. He led all Rays minor leaguers in wins, and ranked fourth in ERA.