Kes Carter selected to Arizona Fall League

One thing we pride ourselves at Wave the Red Towel is keeping you informed with our beloved ProToppers, regardless of the sport. Unfortunately, we haven’t done a great job with it in baseball, but come next spring that will change.

Actually, how does baseball coverage throughout the late fall sound? Because today, former Hilltopper and Tampa Bay Rays farmhand Kes Carter was named to Major League Baseball’s Arizona Fall League, a league that consists of six teams, with each of MLB’s 30 teams sharing an organization, and will begin their 13th season of play this October, to get top prospects more playing time outside of their regular MiLB teams. Carter will be heading to the Peoria Javelinas, a team the Rays share with the Atlanta Braves, Cleveland Indians, Kansas City Royals and St. Louis Cardinals.

Carter, who started the year in high-A Charlotte, will finish the year with the AA Montgomery Biscuits, and is posting a .261 batting average, .360 on-base percentage and .408 slugging percentage in 52 games with Montgomery this year. Since being drafted by the Rays from WKU in 2011, Carter has played in 278 games and has gone yard 14 times, pushing across 98 men and hitting .241/.326/.368.  In 2012, Kes spent time with the Hot Rods in Bowling Green, and played in 37 games, posting a .228/.363./.346 with two home runs and 16 RBI.

Carter’s career at WKU saw him hit a .350 batting average through 153 games with 35 doubles, 15 homers, 113 RBI and 26 stolen bases, as well as only making seven errors while playing college ball.

Carter will be joined by a native Kentuckian, pitcher Nick Maronde (Cleveland), who was born in Lexington. Carter will also be joined by two current Hot Rods and two former ones. In total, seven players who are property of Tampa Bay will represent Peoria.