It’s Friday.  And this season, Friday has been a day highlighted by the MLB debuts of baseball’s best and most exciting prospects.  On June 10 it was Mike Moustakas.  A week later it was Dustin Ackley.  On July 8 we celebrated Mike Trout’s arrival.

And today, July 22, 2011, The Golden Sombrero once again celebrates the debut of another top-notch prospect: Jason Kipnis.  Kipnis announced his arrival yesterday on Twitter:

This debut carries a bit more significance than the others, surprisingly, as Kipnis and I have a long history on the field.

A year younger than me, Kipnis and I both played in the same high school conference outside of Chicago.  While I manned shortstop for Deerfield High School, Kipnis was my counterpart for rival Glenbrook North.  In 2004 we were both named All-Conference shortstops in the Central Suburban North.

These days I’m writing, scouting and coaching baseball while Kipnis is, well, playing in the Major Leagues.  In the end, I’m going to say that he came out on top..barely.

Anyway, prior to his call up, The Golden Sombrero’s No. 26 prospect was slashing .281/.363/.849 with 15 doubles, nine triples, 12 home runs and 54 RBI for Triple-A Columbus.  He also swiped 12 bases and coaxed 43 walks compared to 71 strikeouts.

With Orlando Cabrera struggling for the Tribe, it seems as though Kipnis will almost exclusively play second base, although he does have plenty of experience in the outfield.

Here are some videos of Kipnis in action:

Welcome to The Show, dude.

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The San Francisco Giants selected Buster Posey 5th overall in the 2008 MLB First Year Player Draft.  After being called up on May 29th, Posey played a major role in the Giants’ late-season surge to reach the playoffs, and ultimately win the World Series.  In just 108 games, he hit .305 with 23 doubles, 18 home runs and 67 RBI.  On Monday, the 23-year old was named the National League’s Rookie of the Year after receiving 20 1st-place votes.  Here is a video of the always-impressive Posey taking batting practice as a California League All-Star in 2009:

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It appears that the Chicago White Sox decision to convert 21-year old Chris Sale into a starting pitcher will be contingent on the health of veteran Jake Peavy entering Spring Training of the 2011 season.

If the decision were up to pitching coach Don Cooper, however, Sale would remain in the White Sox bullpen, where he is best suited to significantly help the team.

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Did Aroldis Chapman really hit 105 mph on the radar gun last Friday? Does it matter?  In his major league debut on Tuesday night, Chapman challenged all of his skeptics with a perfect, 1-2-3, 8th inning against the Milwaukee Brewers.

The first hitter that the 22 year-old Chapman faced was Jonathon LuCroy, whom he retired on 3 straight pitches: 98mph fastball, a filthy 86mph slider, 102 mph fastball, and then another untouchable 87 mph slider.

He then retired the next two hitters, Craig Counsell and Carlos Gomez, on weak groundouts that more than likely have their hands hurting today.

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