Prospect Pipeline

It will be several years until most of the 2014 draft picks are ready for the major leagues, but that doesn't mean we can’t get excited about the professional debuts of some of baseball’s brightest young players.

Thanks to an accelerated signing deadline in mid-July that was ushered in in 2012 as part of the new collective bargaining agreement—it used to be mid-August—draft picks are now encouraged to quickly begin their professional careers.

The Chicago Cubs are ticketed for another last-place finish in the National League Central this year, but there won’t be a more exciting team to watch over the final month of the season.

The door to The Show opened for some of baseball’s top prospects Monday with the expansion of the active roster from 25 to 40 players.

The Los Angeles Dodgers wasted no time promoting outfielder Joc Pederson, as the team purchased his contract from Triple-A Albuquerque before Monday’s game.

The Blue Jays and Royals took advantage of the expanded rosters by each calling up a pair of non-roster prospects.

The 2014 season has seen a number of notable prospects receive call-ups to the major leagues. With the final month and the corresponding roster expansion approaching, there will be more to come—and soon.

September brings with it 40-man rosters, so Monday should be filled with prospects getting promoted.

During the past week or so, Jorge Soler and Daniel Corcino debuted, among a handful of others.

The final month of Major League Baseball’s regular season is just around the corner. For many teams, that means help is on the way.

With rosters set to expand from 25 to 40 players on Monday, September call-up fever is officially in the air.

The 2013 playoff races were defined by strong rookie performances.

There was Michael Wacha, who went from first-round draft pick in 2012 to No. 2 starter for the St. Louis Cardinals down the stretch and well into the postseason. Gerrit Cole and Sonny Gray had similar impacts on their respective teams, as both right-handers reached the major leagues in the middle of the season and ultimately shined in their first tastes of playoff baseball.

The Los Angeles Angels suffered a potentially crushing blow Wednesday night when they lost ace Garrett Richards for the next six to nine months with a torn patellar tendon in his left knee.

Twitter erupted Saturday night following news that Kris Bryant was pulled during the middle of Triple-A Iowa’s game. He didn’t appear to suffer an injury in the game, which only fueled speculation that the 22-year-old slugger was headed for The Show.

Apparently 10 is the magic number for Corey Kluber.

The Cleveland Indians ace was brilliant on Friday night against the Baltimore Orioles, allowing one run on five hits and two walks while striking out 10 batters over 7.2 innings.