Wil Myers Heating Up at Durham

Myers has a .283/.361/.507 line through 238 plate appearances for AAA Durham this season. Image: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Tampa Bay Rays prospect Wil Myers could be forgiven if he’s been a bit bored this season. The reigning Minor League Player of the Year expected to have already made his Major League debut. Heck, he probably could have assumed he’d be two months into his rookie campaign by now, and he likely would have been if not for the off-season trade that sent him from the Royals to the Rays.

With the calendar turning to June, the probable Super-Two cutoff date is rapidly approaching. As soon as Tampa Bay feel certain it won’t cost them millions of dollars through an extra year of arbitration, Myers should be on the first flight to the big leagues.

Myers was named International League Player of the Week after compiling a .423/.464/1.038 line with seven extra-base hits and 15 RBI during the week ending June 2. He followed that up with a pair of doubles in five trips to the plate on Monday. With that recent hot stretch, an ordinary looking statistical campaign for Myers has become much more impressive and his timing couldn’t be better.

The Rays are mired in fourth place in the AL East despite an offense that ranks fourth in the league in runs scored. That doesn’t mean that Myers couldn’t help. Regulars Ryan Roberts, Ben Zobrist, and Luke Scott that each sport slugging percentages well under .400 and Myers could provide the kind of middle-of-the-order bat to pair with Evan Longoria that the Rays haven’t had in years.

Myers has clubbed six home runs in his past 11 games and has 13 extra-base hits in that span. The recent hot streak has brought his season totals to a level more expected in his first foray in International League competition. Given how well he’s seeing the ball lately, the Rays would be wise to bring him up soon and try to take advantage of this hot streak.

There are no guarantees, of course, that Myers will be the same kind of impact hitter at the Major League level that he has been in the Minors. There are countless examples of elite minor league hitters that had their weaknesses exploited in the Show and couldn’t ever make that adjustment. Myers has a swing that can get long, but he does show a good approach at the plate, consistently posting quality walk rates throughout his professional career. While his strikeouts have crept upward as the competition has gotten more advanced, they aren’t alarmingly high at this point.

If nothing else, I think it’s safe to say that Myers has a better chance than most to succeed as a big league hitter. If he even scratches the surface of his potential, he’ll be one heck of a player for years to come.