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Playing the prospect game is often a game of waiting. Sometimes a player is ready for a shot in the big leagues, but for whatever reason, the timing or the team situation isn't right.

Let's take a look at two prospects many thought would be in the majors already given their performance and their team circumstances.

Gaby Sanchez, 1B/3B, Marlins: If not for a right-knee injury suffered during a play at the plate in early May, Sanchez might have been in the big leagues already. Instead it was Chris Coghlan who was called up as Sanchez missed a month of action. Sanchez was the favorite to earn the first-base job in spring training, but bat struggles and a bone bruise in his left knee suffered in a collision late in camp caused him to open the season at Triple-A.

However, Emilio Bonifacio is continuing to do very little at the plate with a .289 on-base percentage and .290 slugging percentage. Meanwhile, Sanchez has started 11 of his past 12 games at third base in the minors. He could earn a big league call and a chance at regular playing time soon.

Sanchez was a fourth-round pick in the 2005 draft out of the University of Miami and was originally a catcher before moving to a corner-infield spot. He immediately established himself by winning a batting title in his short-season league, but his 2006 season was marred by both a broken hand and broken foot that limited him to playing 74 games. He fell off the radar screen a bit with a mildly disappointing campaign in 2007, during which he hit .279 with nine homers. Still, it was in a good pitcher's environment in the high Class A Florida State League, and he hit 40 doubles.

Sanchez rebounded last year with a .314 average, 60 extra-base hits and as many walks as strikeouts in the Double-A Southern League, winning the league MVP and earning a cup of coffee in the big leagues in September. In 38 games this season at Triple-A, he has hit .322 with seven homers and a .387 on-base percentage.

Sanchez's calling card is consistently squaring the ball up when he makes contact, and although he doesn't have the greatest bat speed, he compensates with good pitch recognition, strong plate discipline and knowledge of the strike zone. He takes the ball to all fields and projects to hit for average with doubles power in the majors. He has a lot of what scouts call "5 o'clock power," which means he can put on a show in batting practice with his raw pop. Yet that power doesn't always translate to balls' leaving the yard during games, partly because his best power is to dead center and partly because sometimes he pulls off the ball.

He will get into the occasional rut when he gets away from his approach and chases a bit too much, but those ruts are becoming less frequent, and one opposing pitcher told me, "You can't pitch him the same way twice."

Defensively, Sanchez's thick 6-foot-2 frame limits his side-to-side mobility a bit, but he does have soft hands and the arm to play third and can make the routine plays at the position.

Although some scouts think the 25-year-old may just be a solid platoon player in the big leagues, he could be a right-handed version of Lyle Overbay (the good version of 2004 to 2006 before a hand injury changed his offensive output). He should bring batting average and a homer potential in the teens to the plate, and given the relative scarcity at the corner-infield position this season compared to recent years, he could be worth a look if he earns extended playing time.

Alcides Escobar, SS, Brewers: In 2005, Escobar was a last-minute replacement for J.J. Hardy at the Arizona Fall League. When Hardy was a late scratch, the Brewers organization was required to send another shortstop to replace him, so it sent Escobar even though he was coming off just his first full pro season in low Class A ball.

Despite being just 18 years old and the youngest player in the league, he more than held his own against advanced pitching -- hitting better than .300 -- and flashed some serious leather, so I've watched him closely ever since.

The 22-year-old has consistently been among the youngest players in the leagues in which he has played, and although he always has been known for his glove, his bat has developed nicely during the past couple of seasons. After a horrible 2006 campaign at high Class A, when he broke a finger, posted an OBP worse than .300 and slugged just .306 in the 87 games he did play, Escobar hit .306 across two levels in 2007. He then hit .328 at Double-A last year, ranking third in the minor leagues in hits.

Escobar has proper hitting mechanics and can slash line drives to all fields, as he's adept at going the other way. He's also much better at recognizing breaking balls than he was earlier in his career, though he still has a tendency to expand the strike zone. He used to be a big hacker, sporting a swing too big for his meager power potential and getting into trouble by trying to be something he wasn't. Although he doesn't draw a ton of walks, Escobar improved last year and continues to improve while making the same amount of contact as he has advanced to Triple-A. However, he likely won't ever be a huge OBP guy.

Escobar is hitting .294 with a .339 on-base percentage this season, and although his wiry frame likely will allow him to hit only seven to 10 homers per season at the big league level, fantasy owners will be interested in the 27 steals he has racked up. It's worth noting that Escobar has greatly improved as a base stealer in the past season and half, as he has swiped 61 bases and has been caught just 14 times during that time, a success rate of 81 percent.

His calling card is still his defense at short, which is Gold Glove-caliber. He has fluid actions and a plus arm and makes the ball disappear into his glove. When Rickie Weeks went down for the season, the Brewers slid him over to second base for a little bit. Although he struggled to make the adjustment in his short time there, he can play it if he has to. For now, he's just taking pregame grounders there.

"It's a little bit difficult, but I can play it," Escobar told The Tennessean recently. "If the team decides to call me up, I can play it. I'm more comfortable at shortstop, but I can play second base."

"[Craig] Counsell and [Casey] McGehee have done a good job for us, so we don't really need to make that change, but we wanted to be prepared if we did," Brewers assistant general manager Gord Ash told The Tennessean. "At this stage of his development, we don't feel it's good to bring him up if he's not going to play every day, and at this point, that's probably not going to happen."

General manager Bob Melvin also said that the team is not looking to deal Escobar at the trade deadline. So for now, unless the team changes its mind about putting him at second, Escobar would need Hardy to get injured, traded or benched to earn his shot. Hardy has had a ton of poor luck this season and has not hit nearly as poorly as his batting average would indicate, but if Escobar does find his way to the Milwaukee middle infield in some fashion, his speed can pay some immediate dividends for steals-starved owners.

Rookie league notes

Rookie league play began this week in both Arizona and Florida, with some recent draftees and international players making their stateside debuts taking the field. Two of the biggest names in last year's international signing period are supposed to be pitching in Arizona.

Oakland pitcher Michael Ynoa -- he of the record $4.25 million signing bonus -- has a strained elbow and won't be pitching for "a while," according to a team source. Meanwhile, I watched Adys Portillo of San Diego, an 18-year-old widely regarded as the second-best pitcher in last year's class, make his pro debut with three innings of work, allowing one run and striking out one. Portillo showed a clean delivery and touched 95 mph on the gun. He also showed feel for an 84-85 mph change and a 78 mph curveball that is still a work in progress. There's a lot to like, and you can see why he got $2 million from the Padres last year.

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