Minor League Ball Gameday, July 10

Good morning prospect watchers. Let's get down to business.

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

***Danny Salazar makes his major league debut for the Cleveland Indians today, and is my choice for Prospect of the Day. I will likely do Erasmo Ramirez of the Seattle Mariners tomorrow then Sonny Gray of the Oakland Athletics over the weekend. You should also check out Doug Gray's spray charts for Miami Marlins prospect Christian Yelich. I am also planning something about Nick Castellanos in the Tigers system soon in addition to the prospect list update and the roster reviews for the All-Star game and Futures game.

***Seattle Mariners prospect Danny Hultzen is still suffering with shoulder problems and will be shut down for at least another week according to Greg Johns at MLB.com. He last pitched June 27th. The southpaw has been very effective this year with a 2.14 ERA and a 39/7 K/BB in 34 innings between Triple-A Tacoma and one rehab outing in the Arizona Rookie League, but the persistent shoulder soreness is troublesome and has kept him sidelined more often than not.

Discussion topic, TRUE OR FALSE: "Danny Hultzen will have shoulder surgery within the next 12 months."

***Arizona Diamondbacks shortstop prospect Chris Owings hit three homers yesterday for Triple-A Reno, giving him 11 on the season along with an overall .355/.375/.509 line. He's also stolen 15 bases in 22 attempts. Owings has an intriguing power/speed combination, but his plate discipline is shaky and he's error-prone at shortstop, although with Didi Gregorius developing well this year Owings could wind up at another position. We should see him in the majors later this year if there's an injury or, more likely, a trade. He's been playing second base some to enhance his versatility.

***Houston Astros prospect George Springer hit two more homers for Triple-A Oklahoma yesterday, giving him four in his last three games. He's hitting .422 with a .889 SLG in his first 13 games since moving up from Double-A.

***Lucas Giolito's Tommy John rehab has gone well and he looked excellent yesterday in the Gulf Coast League, the Nationals prospect fanning three in two innings of work and reportedly hitting 98 MPH.

***Six shutout innings from Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander Tyler Glasnow yesterday, with seven strikeouts for Low-A West Virginia. He now has 110 whiffs in 76 innings with only 40 hits allowed; that's a .153 average against, and he isn't doing it with junk pitches. This is a genuine breakout campaign.

***Today's Minor League Baseball schedule.

***Ryan Potter writes about Eric Stultz of the San Diego Padres, one of the breakout pitchers of 2013. Seems like a good candidate for a prospect retrospective, no?

***Jason Hunt looks at Javier Baez, Maikel Franco, and Marcus Stroman, reviewing their Double-A performances along with other notes from around the minors.

***Craig Goldstein looks at Astros prospect Rio Ruiz.