Prospects Arrive

MIAMI - Though the Florida Marlins were just swept by the New York Mets, South Florida can celebrate; their future star has arrived. His name is Mike Stanton and the 6-foot-5, 210-pound top prospect is making his MLB debut for the Marlins in Tuesday's game against the rival Philadelphia Phillies.

Another highly touted debut will take place on Tuesday. Stephen Strasburg, making his first MLB start, after months of hype, both franchises will finally see how ready their prospects are.

Strasburg has been touted as an all-around solid pitcher and has dominated his Minor League competition. For the Marlins, Mike Stanton is known for his power, but his Minor League batting average wasn't very good and he also had a high strike out rate. Although, any time Stanton makes contact he can pull it for a huge hit. He'll be playing the outfield and be somewhere in the middle of the batting line up.

It'll be interesting to see which player shines in their MLB debut. For the Marlins, this series marks an important NL East showdown with both teams trailing the Atlanta Braves. The NL East is all packed together, where any team that starts to get hot can jump out into first place. This MLB season has been exciting up to this point, but it's just getting warmed up. Which team catches fire and which player makes an immediate impact, only time will tell.

-b.r.