Minor League Ball Gameday, July 1

Good morning prospect watchers. Can you believe it is July? I can't.

***Yesterday's Minor League Ball Gameday thread.

***Someone suggested adding Ian Desmond of the Washington Nationals to the prospect retro list along with Cole Hamels. That seems quite reasonable to me, so look for that later this week.

***Tomorrow is International Signing Day and we will cover that with a live thread beginning tomorrow morning.

***Philadelphia Phillies prospect Ethan Martin threw eight shutout innings for Triple-A Lehigh Valley yesterday, leading the Iron Pigs to a 5-0 victory over Toledo. He fanned just two and walked three. The hard-throwing Martin now has a 4.57 ERA in 86.2 innings, with a 75/52 K/BB and 72 hits allowed. His status hasn't changed much: he has plenty of stuff but his command remains inconsistent. He could turn into anything from a number two starter to a back-end rotation guy to a closer to a mop-up man.

***Baltimore Orioles knuckleball pitcher Eddie Gamboa threw a no-hitter yesterday for Double-A Bowie. It was a seven-inning doubleheader job, but a no-hitter is a no-hitter. The 28-year-old Gamboa has a 3.48 ERA with a 76/28 K/BB in 93 innings. Normally a pitcher his age in Double-A would have little interest, but the knuckleball factor makes him a name to at least track more than we otherwise might.

***Chris St. John at Beyond the Boxscore has a consensus Top 190 Prospect list update that is worth your time to examine. He looks at each player's performance so far in 2013 and breaks it down into success stories and busts.

Biggest Successes: Miguel Sano, Byron Buxton, Xander Bogaerts, Nick Castellanos, Garin Cecchini, Wil Myers, Maikel Franco, George Springer, Carlos Correa, Joc Pederson.

Biggest Flops: Trevor Story, Victor Roache, Bubba Starling, Jacob Realmuto, Gary Brown, Kaleb Cowart, Mason Williams, Richie Schaffer, Roman Quinn, Slade Heathcott.

***Today's minor league schedule.