Astros prospect Alex Bregman, the No. 2 pick in the 2015 Draft, will be promoted from Double-A to Triple-A following this week’s Texas League All-Star Game, reports MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart (links to Twitter). Bregman played shortstop at LSU and has played 114 of his 125 career games at short, but he’s seen some work at third base recently (11 games) and is often mentioned as a speculative fit to help the ’Stros at the hot corner. The 22-year-old slashed an outstanding .297/.415/.559 with 14 homers, 16 doubles and a pair of triples in his quick run through Double-A, and it’s certainly reasonable to think he could make an impact on the Major League club in the near future. Houston third baseman have batted a paltry .219/.304/.389 this season.
A few more notes from the American League…
- Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal draws parallels between the Rangers’ trade for Cole Hamels last July and the Red Sox’ need for a starter this season. Like the Rangers last summer, the Red Sox have four or five prospects that are regarded among the very best in the game — Yoan Moncada, Andrew Benintendi, Rafael Devers and Anderson Espinoza are widely considered to be within the game’s Top 35 prospects or so — meaning the Sox could part with one or even two in an effort to land an impact arm that is controllable beyond 2016. MacPherson lists Julio Teheran and Sonny Gray as potential fits in that regard, and I’d add that the Braves, in particular, provide a comparable opportunity to the Hamels swap; Atlanta is also open to moving Arodys Vizcaino, who could be packaged with Teheran as Jake Diekman was with Hamels last season. Rangers fans will want to take a look at MacPherson’s piece as well, as he spoke with Rangers GM Jon Daniels about last summer’s trade and has a number of quotes from Daniels on his thinking at the time.
- Speaking of the Rangers, they’re hoping to have Yu Darvish back in their rotation prior to the All-Star break, as MLB.com’s Ryan Posner writes. Darvish tossed a 30-pitch bullpen session yesterday — his first time throwing off a mound since landing back on the disabled list earlier this month — and he’s slated to throw a simulated game on Wednesday of this week. A quick return for Darvish would certainly be a breath of fresh air for the Rangers, who saw sixty percent of their rotation hit the DL within a span of 10 days, as Derek Holland and Colby Lewis followed Darvish to the disabled list in short order.
- The Rays have now lost 11 straight games, but Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times writes that the slump should not and will not cost manager Kevin Cash his job. Injuries have played a significant role in the Rays’ June swoon, as Kevin Kiermaier, Steven Souza, Brandon Guyer, Mikie Mahtook and Brad Boxberger all suffered injuries. Evan Longoria, Chris Archer and Logan Morrison all defended Cash when speaking to Topkin and offered plenty of praise for the second-year skipper. Cash is in the second season of a five-year deal that reportedly pays him a total of roughly $5MM.