The Tampa Bay Rays announced their list of 2026 Spring Training non-roster players on January 30. Tampa’s list includes several former first-round hitters, plus several of the team’s rising pitching prospects.
The prospects
Xavier Isaac is one of the more mercurial prospects in the Minors right now. A former first-round pick by the Rays in 2022, Isaac only played 41 games last season with Double-A Montgomery last season. The 22-year-old slashed .201/.366/.446 with nine home runs and 15 extra-base hits over 41 games with the Biscuits.
As we noted in our Southern League recap, Isaac had one of the 10 highest swing-and-miss rates in the circuit last season. Isaac has immense power and will work counts with regularity. However, how much contact he makes in the upper Minors will be interesting to see.
Speaking of first basemen, Tre’ Morgan will be in camp with the big club. Morgan, with Triple-A Durham last season, slashed .274/.398/.412 with eight home runs and 26 extra-base hits over 92 contests.
Morgan, part of LSU’s championship team from 2023, has been a high-walk, low-strikeout hitter in the Minors. The 23-year-old was around the league median in terms of Chase% (27.7%) and Whiff% (27.5%).
Former first-round pick Brayden Taylor has seen his prospect stock take a steep hit over the past two years. Even though Taylor didn’t swing-and-miss much and posted the highest FB% (42.5%) in the Southern League, the 23-year-old slashed .173/.289/.286 with eight home runs and 24 extra-base hits over 108 contests.
Taylor hit 20 home runs and posted a .858 OPS across two levels in 2024.
Right-hander Brody Hopkins, acquired in 2024 as part of the return for Randy Arozarena, struck out 141 batters over 116 innings last season with Double-A Montgomery. Hopkins walked 60 batters but opposing hitters only batted .204 off him.
The 24-year-old is a buzzsaw of a right-hander, thanks to a gyro slider with hard, downbreaking action, as well as a fastball that can reach up to the upper-90s and get on hitters fast. Hopkins, a former two-way player at Winthrop, was a sixth-round pick in 2023.
Ty Johnson, as we noted in our 2025 Rays farm review, had the second-highest swing-and-miss rate (35.7%) in the Southern League last season.
Logan Workman (29% Whiff% in Triple-A) will be with the big club one year after he led the International League in total strikeouts (152). Heavy combination of a low-to-mid-90s fastball, coupled with a slider. Workman will also use a changeup.
T.J. Nichols posted a Whiff% above 31% in the South Atlantic League last season.
Tatem Levins, Cooper Kinney, Kenny Piper, Austin Vernon, and Trevor Martin will also be among the names listed above.
Other notables
Several former MLB pitchers will be in the Rays camp this year.
Cam Booser, a left-handed reliever who pitched with the Red Sox and White Sox over the last two seasons, will look to make the Tampa Bay roster as a non-roster player. He recently signed a Minor League deal with the Rays.
Luis Guerrero, a hard-thrower formerly with the Red Sox, will be with the group in Port Charlotte. Guerrero was acquired this past November for Tristan Gray.
Former Angels pitcher Andrew Wantz, Jake Woodford, and Kodi Whitley are also among the relievers named to that list.
Catchers Blake Sabol and Logan Driscoll, former first-round pick Logan Davidson, and ex-Royals outfielder Edward Olivares round out the former MLB hitters.
Check out more of our MLB coverage, including a look at who the Marlins invited.