With most baseball fans still consumed with the start of the 2013 MLB season, I feel as though it’s my duty as Lead Writer to inform the Prospect Pipeline readers that the minor league season is now underway.

Reds left-handed pitching prospect Tony Cingrani stole the show in his Triple-A debut last night, as the 22-year-old left-hander tossed six no-hit innings with 14/1 K/BB against Louisville. After beginning the 2012 season in High-A and finishing in the major leagues, Cingrani’s initial dominance isn’t entirely surprising.

That said, there are numerous top-ranked pitching prospects set to take the mound this weekend, a majority of which will be televised via MiLB.tv.

Here’s a look at 10 pitchers to watch this weekend.

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Even though prospects such as Jackie Bradley Jr., Jedd Gyorko and Aaron Hicks cracked their respective team’s Opening Day roster, the game’s best young hitters will open the 2013 season in the minor leagues.

Lacking a path to consistent playing time in the major leagues, Prospect Pipeline’s top offensive prospects Jurickson Profar, Oscar Taveras and Wil Myers will begin the year in Triple-A. Meanwhile, fast-rising mashers such as Christian Yelich, Mike Zunino and Yasiel Puig are ticketed for Double-A, although their stay may be short-lived.

After looking at the first pitching prospects expected to be recalled from the minor leagues earlier in the week, I thought that I’d do something similar involving hitters. So, based upon organizational needs as well as each player’s service-time situation, here are my predictions for the first 10 hitters to receive a promotion to the major leagues this season, presented in chronological order.

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The St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers both have glaring needs on their big league roster. And some have suggested they can fix this with a simple phone call between general managers John Mozeliak and Jon Daniels. 

Top prospects Oscar Taveras and Jurickson Profar have incredibly bright futures in Major League Baseball. But with both players just 20 years old and no vacancy St. Louis or Texas, they will start the 2013 season in Triple-A. 

However, what if there was a situation that came up where Taveras and Profar were to be swapped in a one-for-one trade?

The idea has been kicked around, mostly for fun, over the spring since the Cardinals need a shortstop and Rangers need a power-hitting outfielder. 

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With 25-man rosters set and the 2013 season now underway, there’s no question that this year’s extra-long spring training helped a large contingent of prospects break camp in the major leagues.

While players such as Shelby Miller and Adam Eaton were considered early favorites to make their team’s Opening Day roster, others forced their organization to make a difficult decision in the final days of camp.

Regarded as a long shot to make the team, Jackie Bradley Jr. gave the Red Sox no choice but to start the season with him in left field. Similarly, with Brian McCann on the disabled list to begin the season, 26-year-old Evan Gattis mashed his way into a reserve role with the Braves. However, those are only a few examples.

Here’s a look at the top 25 prospects opening the 2013 season in the major leagues.

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While Shelby Miller and Julio Teheran both won a spot in their teams' starting rotation, the majority of the game’s top pitching prospects are set to open the 2013 season back in the minor leagues.

That being said, the presence of so many great young arms in the upper levels also means that the  upcoming season will feature countless major league debuts. However, just because a top pitching prospect seems ready for the majors doesn’t mean he’ll receive a promotion.

The last thing any organization wants to do is impede the player’s development, so it’s unlikely for a prospect to be called up unless he's guaranteed the necessary innings. Furthermore, a player may be held in the minor leagues for a specific amount of time so as to retain an additional year of team control over his contract.

This year’s prospect class is absolutely loaded with talent. Here’s a look at 10 pitching prospects who should be among the first to arrive in the major leagues during the 2013 season.

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Any news that involves Dylan Bundy and an “elbow injury” is never good.

According to Steve Melewski of MASN, Bundy, who’s widely regarded as baseball’s top pitching prospect, has been shut down for a couple days after experiencing "mild" elbow tightness. Orioles’ general manager Dan Duquette has already downplayed the injury, stating that the right-hander is “resting until it’s resolved which we expect will be in a couple days.”

Regardless of how the story is spun, there’s obviously reason for concern.

Recently ranked as the Prospect Pipeline’s third-overall prospect headed into the 2013 season, Bundy reached the major leagues as a September call-up last year as a 19-year-old.

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Although unanimous top-prospect Jurickson Profar is ready for an everyday role in the major leagues, the Texas Rangers simply have nowhere to play him.

Blocked at both middle infield positions by Elvis Andrus and Ian Kinsler, respectively, the organization decided to send their phenom to Triple-A to open the 2013 season to ensure he receives regular playing time.

However, Profar’s long-term future with the Rangers may have been drastically altered late on Sunday night, as the organization announced an eight-year, $120 million contract extension with Andrus (via CBSSports). Including the remaining three years on his current contract, he will make approximately $131.275 million over the next 10 seasons and is now under team control through 2022. Meanwhile, Kinsler is locked up through the 2017 season with an option for 2018.

As for Profar, the Andrus extension could impact the 20-year-old’s future in several different ways.

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Sunday was a busy day for the Miami Marlins.

Seemingly out of nowhere, two of the team’s starting pitchers, Nathan Eovaldi and Henderson Alvarez, were both placed on the disabled list with respective shoulder injuries.

As a result of the roster moves, top prospect Jose Fernandez will now begin the 2013 season in the team’s starting rotation.

While many believed that the 20-year-old would reach the major leagues by the end of the year, nobody, and I mean nobody, expected the right-hander to arrive this early.

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