Smoak promoted to Triple-A

Hot prospect Justin Smoak was promoted to Triple-A by the Texas Rangers on Saturday.

Smoak (Stratford High School/South Carolina) is moving up to Oklahoma City in the Pacific Coast League.

"We decided he was ready," Rangers general manager Jon Daniels said of Smoak, a first baseman and a first-round pick of the Rangers last year.

Smoak, 6-4 and 220 pounds, was hitting .339 with eight homers and 34 RBIs at Double-A Frisco and in a brief rehab assignment in the Arizona League, despite missing almost a month with a strained oblique.

His promotion is sure to spark speculation as to when Smoak will make it to the majors.

"I'll get the ball rolling: early to mid-August," Jeff Wilson of the Dallas Morning News predicted Saturday.

Fast start for Jones

Former Citadel catcher Richard Jones, a ninth-round pick of the Cubs last month, went 3 for 5 with two home runs and drove in five runs in his debut with the AZL Cubs in the rookie Arizona League last Wednesday.

He followed that up with two hits and an RBI in his second game, and went 1 for 1 with another RBI in his third game.

That means Jones got at least one hit and drove in at least one run in each of his first three games as a pro, and after three games he was batting .545 with two homers and seven RBIs.

"It was a pretty good way to start," Jones told his hometown paper, the Sumter Item.

Jones' first pro homer was actually an inside-the-park job, as he banged a ball off the center-field wall. The outfielder went for the catch and missed, and the ball bounced almost all the way back to the infield while Jones raced around the bases.

Jones said he will likely be in the Arizona League for about a week, then move up to the rookie Pioneer League with the Cubs' affiliate in Boise. He's also been practicing at first base.

Around the bases

--Pitcher Michael Kohn (College of Charleston) has been moved up to Single-A Rancho Cucamonga, the Angels' affiliate in the California League. Kohn was 4-1 with a 2.19 ERA and six saves at Cedar Rapids before moving up. He got a win in his first appearance with Rancho Cucamonga, pitching 1 1/3 innings of one-hit ball against High Desert.

--Pitcher Wes Wrenn (The Citadel) settled down after a rough debut with Brooklyn in the New York-Penn League. Wrenn has allowed just one earned run in seven innings in his last two appearances, and earned a save with three innings of no-hit relief against Hudson Valley on June 28.

--Pitcher Matt Crim (The Citadel) already is 2-0 with the Danville Braves in the rookie Appalachian League. He gave up five hits and two earned runs in 3 2/3 innings against Kingsport Wednesday but still got the victory.

--Outfielder Justin Greene (Stratford High School) is seventh in the Class A South Atlantic League in hitting, batting .318 for Kannapolis. He's tied for fifth with 48 runs and sixth in on-base percentage at .393.

--Pitcher Jesse Simpson (College of Charleston) did not give up an earned run in his first two appearances with Johnson City in the rookie Appalachian League, covering 4 1/3 innings … Pitcher Mike Cisco (Wando HS/USC) got his fourth win Wednesday, working five innings, allowing four hits and no earned runs, walking one and striking out three against Palm Beach.