Minor League Level Review (AAA): Taveras Activated, Bogaerts and Ventura Arrive

Every other Sunday, I will be taking a quick look at some of the top prospects at the AAA level, including their stats for for the season, and if anything stands out about the performance. The season stats may not always tell us the whole story, but there are usually also some updates on how they are doing these things as opposed to just the numbers themselves. All statistics are courtesy of Fangraphs.com and are through the games of Friday, 6/14/13.

• The Mariners called up top prospect Mike Zunino on Tuesday, and he's already hit his first home run in the Majors. Alex Carson of Lookout Landing took a look at what could be the bane of Zunino.
• The hits just keep coming for Jesus Montero, who will be out another 3-5 weeks with a knee injury. Hopefully he will return and start hitting quickly, and get back to the form that made him a top prospect to begin with.
• Take it for what it is worth at this point, but Dustin Ackley has been playing the outfield with Brad Miller getting time at 2B, and even Stefen Romero seeing time there in Saturday's game with Miller out of the lineup.
• Over the Monster provided another update on a few of the prospects at Pawtucket, including Bryce Brentz and Jackie Bradley.
• Xander Bogaerts was promoted to AAA Pawtucket, and homered in his first game there this week.
• Nathaniel Stoltz looked at whether there were upgrades to be found in AAA Sacramento for Athletics Nation.
• Mets' prospect Travis d'Arnaud has begun workouts as he tries to return to action.
• Cardinals' top prospect Oscar Taveras was activated from the disabled list, and appears to have picked up right where he left off.

• Yordano Ventura was promoted to AAA Omaha back on the 3^rd, and so far the 9 innings he has thrown have been a bit of a mixed bag. It's a very small sample size, so let's see how it looks in another two weeks.
• The Pirates called up Gerrit Cole, who went out and threw 6 1/3 innings against the Giants en route to his first major league win. He'll start again today against the Dodgers, and honestly I think he's up to stay.
• The Orioles sent Kevin Gausman back to AAA after struggling through his last few starts in the Majors. He'll be back up at some point, but it may not be until later in the season.
• Tony Cingrani is getting very familiar with the flight from Louisville to Cincinnati, as he was called up for a start on the 11th, and then sent back right after. It will drive fantasy owners nuts, but this is probably how he's going to be used for the short term as the Reds' rotation continues to pitch well.
• With the return of Jake Westbrook from the disabled list, the Cardinals' sent Michael Wacha back to AAA Memphis.
• Zack Wheeler is expected to be called up for a start on Tuesday, and Craig Goldstein has the info you need to know about Wheeler going forward (including GIFs!)