Isaac has been promoted from High-A Bowling Green to Double-A Montgomery, Sam Dykstra of MiLB.com reports.
Isaac won't turn 21 until December but has already reached the Double-A level after slashing .288/.380/.537 with 15 home runs and 14 stolen bases over 70 games with Bowling Green. He is arguably the top first base prospect in all of baseball.
Rays' Xavier Isaac: Returns to action for Bowling Green
Rotowire
Isaac (undisclosed) has started in two of High-A Bowling Green's last three games against Asheville, going 0-for-8 with a walk and an RBI.
Before checking back into the lineup Thursday, Isaac hadn't played for Bowling Green since June 13 due to an unspecified issue. Despite his two-week absence, Isaac was never placed on Bowling Green's 7-day injured list. The first base prospect is slashing .298/.384/.556 with 12 home runs and 13 stolen bases across 237 plate appearances in the South Atlantic League this season.
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Rays' Xavier Isaac: Sidelined with undisclosed injury
Rotowire
Isaac has not played in a game for High-A Bowling Green since June 13 due to an undisclosed injury.
Adam Sanford of DRays Bay looked at the video from Isaac's last game and said Isaac appeared fine during his most recent plate appearance and played two innings more in the field before a defensive replacement took his place. Isaac has not been placed on the injured list. He may have been on the cusp of earning a promotion to Double-A, as he was slashing .397/.480/.730 with four home runs, seven doubles and five steals in his most recent 63 at-bats.
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Rays' Xavier Isaac: Heating up for Hot Rods
Rotowire
Isaac is slashing .257/.350/.495 with six home runs, five steals and a 27.4 percent strikeout rate through 28 games for High-A Bowling Green.
Isaac has been red-hot of late, hitting .349 with four home runs, three doubles and as many walks (eight) as strikeouts over his last 13 games. The one statistical blemish in Isaac's profile coming into the year was his mediocre performance against same-handed pitchers, and that remains a struggle, as he has a .627 OPS against lefties and a .956 OPS against righties this season. Given the 20-year-old slugger is typically a couple years younger than the pitchers he is facing, the hope is that he eventually improves against southpaws enough to play every day.
Rays' Xavier Isaac: Two homers in Spring Breakout game
Rotowire
Isaac hit two home runs in Saturday's Spring Breakout game, an 8-8 tie against Minnesota, despite being limited to DH this spring due to a sore ankle, MLB.com reports. His second home run had an exit velocity of 110.4 mph.
It doesn't sound like an injury to be worried about for the regular season. The 6-foot-4, 240-pound lefty slugger has huge raw power, but he didn't sell out for it in his first full pro season, logging a 21 percent strikeout rate at Single-A and at High-A. He hit 19 home runs with a .916 OPS between the two levels. Isaac could be big-league ready in a year or two, and the main question is whether he will be platooned at the highest level since he had a .697 OPS in 94 plate appearances against southpaws.
Isaac, who was promoted to High-A Bowling Green on Tuesday, hit his first home run at that level Thursday against Winston-Salem.
Arguably the best first base prospect in the minors, Isaac has yet to face much resistance in pro ball, save for the fact he has a .672 OPS in 91 plate appearances against same-handed pitchers compared to a .907 OPS in 295 plate appearances against righties. The 6-foot-3, 240-pound 19-year-old will need to keep mashing at each level of the minors, given his lack of defensive versatility, but he has at least 70-grade raw power and has a 20.7 percent strikeout rate while being young for Single-A and High-A.
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Rays' Xavier Isaac: Mashing righties
Rotowire
Isaac is slashing .296/.372/.522 with four home runs, three steals and a 26:14 K:BB in 29 games since June 1 for Single-A Charleston.
The 6-foot-3 first baseman could end up with 80-grade raw power when it's all said and done, and his 18.2 percent strikeout rate and 15.4 percent walk rate at Single-A are encouraging marks. It's a small sample, but the lefty-hitting Isaac has a .648 OPS in 61 plate appearances against lefties and a .903 OPS in 192 plate appearances against righties. All seven of his home runs have come against opposite-handed pitching.
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Rays' Xavier Isaac: Dialed in for RiverDogs
Rotowire
Isaac slashed .289/.449/.605 with three home runs and five strikeouts in 12 May games for Single-A Charleston.
The Rays selected Isaac out of high school with the 29th overall pick in last year's draft because of his bat. The 6-foot-3 lefty-hitting first baseman has 70-grade raw power, and the early returns on his hit tool are very encouraging. In May, he had a 10.2 percent strikeout rate and 20.4 percent walk rate, and his 1.25 BB/K is the fifth-best mark in the Carolina League. He missed two weeks in the middle of the month with an undisclosed injury and never landed on the injured list.
