It’s the moment San Francisco Giants fans have dreaded since that fateful day in 2011: Right-handed pitching prospect Zack Wheeler has been promoted to the big leagues and will make his first start of his MLB career on Tuesday evening.

On July 28, 2011, the hurler became the property of the New York Mets when the Giants traded the sixth overall pick of the 2009 amateur draft during a deadline deal for veteran outfielder Carlos Beltran. San Francisco was desperately trying to win a second consecutive World Series title and felt the risk was worth the potential reward when the front office parted ways with its top pitching prospect. Unfortunately for Giants fans, the club failed to reach the World Series and Wheeler continues to show the potential for developing into a front-line starter.

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The Pittsburgh Pirates starting rotation will receive an infusion of talent on Tuesday night.

The Pirates No. 1 prospect, Gerrit Cole, will make his major-league debut when he takes the mound against the defending World Series champion San Francisco Giants and two-time Cy Young award winner Tim Lincecum. Prior to the 2013 season, I ranked the 22-year-old pitcher as the No. 1 prospect in the Pirates’ system and the sixth-best prospect in all of baseball. The California native has been on the prospect landscape a long time. He was selected by the New York Yankees in the first round of the 2008 draft (28th overall) but spurned them for a career at UCLA. After his junior year, in 2011, the prospect’s value was at an all-time high and Cole was taken first overall by the Pirates.

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The Yasiel Puig era begins now for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Mired in a disappointing beginning to the 2013 season, the organization is looking to the 22-year-old outfield prospect with the hope of catching lightning in a bottle. A Cuban defector, Puig has just 63 games of North American professional experience under his belt, but he’s made the most of his time in the minor leagues . Well, at least in terms of his results at the plate. At Double-A this season, the young hitter produced a .313 batting average; 23 of his 46 hits going for extra bases.

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You can knock ’em down, but you can’t knock ’em out.

The St. Louis Cardinals’ pitching staff has been decimated by injuries early on in 2013, but the club continues to receive strong performances from rookie pitchers thanks to one of the deepest minor league systems in the game. The next pitching prospect to throw his hat into the ring will be 2012 first round draft pick Michael Wacha, who will face the Kansas City Royals in his big league debut tonight.

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It’s been well documented that the Toronto Blue Jays’ season hasn’t exactly gone as planned. A rash of injuries to the veteran pitching staff has created a number of holes. Those gaps have been difficult to fill with competent contributors because the organizational depth was compromised in an effort to beef up the big league product. It’s been speculated in the Toronto media that pitching prospect Sean Nolin, currently at the Double-A level, is viewed by the Jays front office as the next-in-line for a promotion, should the need arise.

Toronto has made a few moves this year that could be considered desperation moves and the promotion of Nolin may not be in the best long-term interests of the club or the young pitching prospect.

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It’s always fun to stumble upon a great pitching duel. Recently, I was able to take in the game between two top pitching prospects at the Double-A level on May 2: Cleveland’s Danny Salazar and Pittsburgh’s Jameson Taillon. Both hurlers come from very different backgrounds. Salazar signed as an amateur free agent out of Venezuela in 2006 but saw his career derailed by injuries, including Tommy John surgery in 2010. I ranked him as the seventh-best prospect in Cleveland’s system enter the 2013 season. Taillon was a higher-profile amateur pitcher as the second overall selection in the 2010 draft. I ranked the right-hander as the second-best prospect in the Pirates’ system prior to the start of the season.

Salazar, now 23, was absolutely dominant on this night. He allowed just three base runners (one hit, two walks) and 12 of his 18 outs were recorded via the strikeout. The right-hander overpowered the opposing hitters with his fastball/curveball combination — even though he struggled with the command of his heater.

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The 2013 season is still in its infancy but two organizations have already faced more than their fair share of struggles in their minor league systems. The Texas Rangers entered the year with one of the better systems in baseball, while the Toronto Blue Jays fell somewhere in the middle after nearly gutting the system in what may amount to a misguided attempt to rebuild the big league team in one off-season.

Just 20 years old, shortstop Jurickson Profar has already spent time in the majors and he opened the 2013 season in triple-A. The Curacao native, who entered the year as the club’s No. 1 prospect, struggled out of the gate but he’s hardly embarrassed himself. It’s a different story for second overall prospect Mike Olt and his struggles have been well documented. He hit just .139 with 32 strikeouts in 20 games before hitting the disabled list with vision problems. He has excellent defensive skills at third base but lacks a spot at the big league level so his bat is going to have to pick up if he’s going to shift to a corner outfield spot of first base.

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Two Double-A starting pitchers with volatile prospect values faced each other on May 1. Noel Arguelles of the Kansas City Royals and Seth Blair of the St. Louis Cardinals are in the midst of make-or-break seasons.

Cuban native Arguelles signed a massive five-year, big-league contract as an international amateur free agent in January of 2010. It will pay him $7 million over the life of the contract. The southpaw injured his shoulder before getting into an official game, underwent surgery and later made his debut in High-A ball in 2011. His stuff never fully rebounded, though, and his fastball went from averaging 89-93 mph to working more in the 87-90 mph range.

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Another week, another update on the prospects worth knowing — for both good and bad reasons — from around Minor League Baseball…

Tim Berry, LHP, Baltimore: You can’t get drafted any later than the 50th round… in fact, the amateur draft doesn’t even go that long anymore. But that’s where the Orioles found Berry, an up-and-coming prospect in Baltimore’s system. Prior to the 2013 season, I ranked the southpaw as the 12th best prospect in the system and he’s working hard to ascend that ranking.

Berry, 22, has made four starts at the high-A ball level and has accumulated 27 strikeouts in 22.0 innings of work. He’s also walked just four batters and allowed 16 hits. He has solid control and improving command of a repertoire that includes a fastball with average velocity, a solid changeup and a curveball with plus potential. He’s a prospect that definitely deserves some attention.

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Javier Baez, SS, Chicago (NL)

Baez, 20, hit .333 at the low-A ball level in 2012 but he did it while walking just nine times in 57 games. He then finished his injury-shortened season with another 23 games in high-A ball but struggled. His plate issues have continued into 2013 with 18 strikeouts and two walks in 58 at-bats. While his aggressive nature has not helped his batting average, the Puerto Rico native is hitting with authority and eight of his 12 hits have gone for extra bases.

After opening eyes and earning a lot of hype in 17 spring training games (four homers, .298 average), Baez may be dealing with the letdown of shifting from big league camp to A-ball. The immense talent is there for him to be a star and there is no rush for Baez to reach the majors, thanks to the presence of the Cubs’ incumbent shortstop, Starlin Castro.

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