The Florida Marlins recently promoted prospect Matt Dominguez and he made his major league debut last week. In most cases, a player’s debut is an equally joyous occasion for their parents as well. Dominguez’ father Fernando Dominguez happens to be a copy editor for the Los Angeles Times. Check out this great piece that Fernando wrote for the Times documenting the experience of he and his wife Cindy’s journey to see their son make his major league debut. It’s a great read.
Matt Dominguez is ‘living the dream’ — and so are his parents — LATimes.com
The Atlanta Braves have called up top pitching prospect Arodys Vizcaino according to multiple sources and he will make his major league debut this week. The 20 year old has pitched for the High-A Lynchburg Hillcats, Double-A Mississippi Braves, and Triple-A Gwinnett Braves in 2011. He began the season as a starter in Lynchburg going 2-2 with a 2.45ERA in 9 starts. He was then promoted to Mississippi where he was 2-3 with a 3.81ERA in 49.2 innings covering eight starts and three relief appearances. Vizcaino was converted exclusively to relief following a promotion to Triple-A in order to groom him for a role in the Braves bullpen, and he responded by going 1-0 with a 1.29ERA in six appearances out of the Gwinnett bullpen. Vizcaino began his career in the Yankees organization and came to the Braves in the trade that sent Javier Vazquez to New York. Braves fans can expect to see a lot of velocity from Vizcaino whose fastball can approach 100 MPH.
Multiple sources are reporting that the Kansas City Royals have promoted top catching prospect Salvador Perez to the big leagues. He is set to make his major league debut on Wednesday. The 21 year old is in the middle of a breakout 2011 season that has seen him hit a combined .290 with 19 Doubles, 10 Home Runs, and 53 RBI’s between the Double-A Northwest Arkansas Naturals and the Triple-A Omaha Storm Chasers. He has struck out just 36 times in 334 at bats. Perez is a home grown talent who originally signed with the Royals as a non drafted free agent back in 2006. He hit .290 with 21 Doubles and 7 Home Runs in a full season with the High-A Wilmington Blue Rocks in 2010.
The San Diego Padres have called up top third base prospect James Darnell after Chase Headley was placed on the 15 day DL with a fractured finger. The 24 year old was a second round pick of the Padres in the 2008 draft out of the University of South Carolina. 2011 has been a breakout season for Darnell. He started the year with the Double-A San Antonio Missions where he hit .333 with 25 Doubles, 17 Home Runs, and 62 RBI’s in 76 games. Since being promoted to Tucson, Darnell has hit .272 with 4 Doubles, 6 Home Runs, and 13 RBI’s. Darnell hit over .300 in each of his four seasons in the minors with the exception of 2010 when he hit .271 during an injury plagued season. Look for Darnell to get a number of at-bats for the foreseeable future.
It was quite a debut week for Arizona Diamondbacks rookie slugger Paul Goldschmidt. The 23 year old first baseman got a hit in his first big league at-bat and then hit his first major league Home Run the following night off none other than San Francisco Giants former Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum. Goldschmidt had 30 Home Runs and 94 RBI’s for the Double-A Mobile Bay Bears before getting the call to join the Diamondbacks. In the story, Goldschmidt talks about his debut, his approach at the plate, and his road through the minor leagues.
The Woodlands grad Goldschmidt relishes first week in big leagues — YourHoustonNews.com
The Houston Astros have called up Jose Altuve who has been one of Minor League Baseball’s biggest breakout prospects in 2011. The 21 year old second baseman began the year with the High-A Lancaster Jethawks batting .408 with 13(2B), 7(3B), 5HR, 39RBI, and 19 stolen bases in 52 games. Following a promotion to Double-A Corpus Christi, Altuve continued his hot hitting posting a .361 batting average with 9(2B), 3(3B), 5HR, and 25RBI. He has struck out just 40 times in 357 combined at-bats this season. Altuve will be one of the shortest players in the big leagues, officially listed at just 5’7″, but is possibly a little shorter than that. Altuve went 2-3 with a double during the 2011 Futures Game.
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