Xavier Isaac was playing the 2025 season with the Montgomery Biscuits, the Double-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays, when his season ended abruptly in July. At the time, the reason for this was not stated. But news has now filtered out, and things were worse than most imagined.
In a post to his Instagram account, Isaac told the story of how a regular scan revealed a brain tumor that required “life-saving” surgery. Although Isaac was put on the disabled list on July 7 due to what was being reported at the time as a “nagging elbow injury”, it turns out that something much worse had transpired; while it was true that Isaac did have a long-standing minor elbow injury, what began as an unrelated case of suspected dehydration turned into emergency surgery on Isaac’s brain. The elbow became the cover story, as Isaac fought for his life – and asked the Rays to keep it a secret.
Thankfully, however, in the same post, Isaac reports a complete recovery.
Among Top Rays Prospects
Isaac, who does not turn 22 until next month, consistently ranks amongst the best first base prospects in the whole of baseball, and is regarded as a top five prospect within the Rays organization by MLB.com. He had made his way to the Double-A level before his absence, a high grade for his age, and although he had struggled to hit lefties and needed further developing, the results were still there.
In his last full minor-league season, Isaac posted a .264 batting average across 102 games, with an on-base percentage of .370, a slugging percentage of .480 and 18 home runs, numbers that placed him among the more promising young players in the organization’s lower and middle levels. He had hit only .201 across the first half of the 2025 season with the Biscuits, but an extremely high walk rate led to a .366 on-base percentage, and Isaac retained a nice power stroke, even with the bad elbow.
The sudden medical crisis interrupted a developmental arc that the Rays and their talent evaluators had high hopes for. Showing steady improvement in his already-good strike zone judgement and defense, Isaac was on a path to the majors, one he will be hoping to smoothly step back onto.
Isaac’s Path To The Majors
While Isaac believes he will be ready to play in time for 2026 Spring Training, his MLB debut will have to wait a while longer.
Although the Rays have been in a period of transition – not least of which is a change in ownership after two decades of stability – first base is currently well-stocked. Yandy Diaz had a strong bounce-back season and remains one of the best hitters in the game, while Jonathan Aranda broke out in 2025 alongside him, and although his stock diminished after a relatively poor 2026, Tre Morgan exists one level above Isaac at the Triple-A Durham Bulls, waiting in the wings.
With the exception of two random starts in right field, first base (and designated hitter) is the only position that Isaac has ever played, and he will not be moved off of the position now. The Rays have always retained the right to trade their veterans and constantly reshuffle the deck – not always successfully, as evidenced by the absence of Isaac Paredes, someone who should also be blocking Isaac’s path right now had he not been lost in an unsuccessful trade with the Chicago Cubs – and despite chatter being quiet right now, both Diaz and Aranda might be moved at the Winter Meetings. Such is the Rays way.
Whatever happens to those in front of him, though, Isaac is at least back on his path.
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