Prospect Watch

The past few weeks in Arizona has seen a handful of prospects being called up to the big leagues. 5 top prospects have been called up to the Diamondbacks in the past few weeks, pitchers Max Scherzer, Billy Buckner, and Daniel Schlereth, OF Gerardo Parra, and IF Josh Whitesell. 2 of the players, Buckner and Schlereth have fathers that were pro athletes(1B Bill Buckner and football offensive lineman, Mark Schlereth). Parra has hit .315 in 18 games with 16 RBIs. Whitesell has gotten off to a slow start in his first 12 games hitting only .133. Schlereth made his debut the other night, and Buckner and Scherzer are part of the D-Backs rotation. With the recent promotion of all these players, the D-Backs have a bright future, maybe not this year but certainly in the years to come.

Debut of the Week: Phillies P Antonio Bastardo
Bastardo made his first start Tuesday night in San Diego for the Phils. He went 6 innings, giving up only 1 run on 4 hits with 5 strikeouts. Bastardo started the year at Double-A Reading, he was eventually promoted to Triple-A Lehigh Valley and after a few starts there, the Phillies promoted Bastardo after Brett Myers went on the DL.

Players to Watch:
C Jesus Montero
The Yankees #2 prospect, Montero made his debut at Double-A Trenton Wednesday and could possibly be Jorge Posada's replacement in a year or two.
P Charlie Morton, OF Gorkys Hernandez
Both of these players were traded Wednesday by the Braves to Pittsburgh in the Nate McLouth trade. Both players are in the Braves' top 10 prospects list. If not immediately, these two will eventually make there debuts for Pittsburgh this year, as the Pirates continue adding the young talent to their roster.
P Tommy Hanson
The Braves have finally called up the young right-hander and will start this weekend. Hanson is replacing Tom Glavine on the roster after Glavine was released Wednesday during the Braves big shake-up of their roster.

Stay tuned for next week's prospect watch with more previews of the best young players in baseball.