The Major League Baseball season schedule has turned to June and as the summer season hits a number of teams will be calling up top prospects, as their "Super 2" deadlines will pass and with franchises allowing themselves to control arbitration for more years, hot names like Wil Myers, Zack Wheeler and Gerrit Cole are expected to debut in the coming weeks and each could be fantasy assets going forward. Cole came up and looked impressive in his first start, allowing two runs and seven hits as the Pirates won 8-2 over the Giants.
According to ESPN.com, the New York Mets are expected to promote their top prospect in Wheeler this week and he will make his next start possibly on Friday against the Chicago Cubs. The Mets have been handling Wheeler carefully since acquiring him from the San Francisco Giants in the Carlos Beltran deal two years ago and now he appears ready to get work in the majors. Wheeler will join another young stud in Matt Harvey in the rotation and even though he struggled in his last start at Triple-A Las Vegas, that is not expected to factor into the team's decision to promote him.
Wheeler ended up pitching under five innings in the game and gave up four earned runs and eight hits and now his ERA will be above 4.00 with a 4-1 record unless the Mets let him make one more start before promoting him. The report says that the Mets could push back the date depending on what happens with the weather, but they would like him to make his debut at home at Citi Field. The 23-year-old is expected to be one of the best starters for the Mets and won't be the only top prospect to get the call to the big leagues, as the Pirates are expecting to do the same with former first overall pick Gerrit Cole.
According to ESPN.com, the Pirates are expected to promote Gerrit Cole to start against the San Francisco Giants after dealing with in injury to Wandy Rodriguez in the rotation. The 22-year-old Cole was drafted number one in 2011 and the team is reading to give him a chance after having a sub-3.00 ERA with 47 strikeouts in 68 innings. He has had a 19-inning scoreless streak and the team likes how he has been challenging hitters on the mound. Both Cole and Wheeler will be snapped up by smart fantasy owners and depending on how each of them start off, the two pitchers could become dependable fantasy starters for the rest of the year.
Reports also say that once his eligibility allows it, the Tampa Bay Rays will be calling up uber prospect Wil Myers after acquiring him in a trade with the Kansas City Royals for James Shield over the offseason. Myers is expected to help a struggling Rays offense and he has been killing it in the minors this season while showing a power stroke and he is a must grab in deep leagues.
