The Mobile BayBears begin the 2015 season on Thursday at Birmingham, and they'll do so with a starting rotation that is the envy of the Southern League, if not all of minor league baseball.

Pitchers Braden Shipley and Aaron Blair -- both former first-round picks and Top 100 overall prospects in baseball according the major scouting services -- are back this season after finishing 2014 in Mobile. The two right-handers have been all but joined at the hip for their entire professional careers, both drafted in the first round in 2013 and teammates at three different minor-league levels last season.

First-year BayBears manager Robby Hammock certainly sees the pitching talent with which he's been blessed.

"It's fun to see this on paper and think of the possibilities, but at the same time a lot of guys aren't proven," said Hammock, who managed many of this year's BayBears at High Class-A Visalia of the California League last season. "This is that level where it really takes a jump. ... You draft those guys early and they have that talent, and then they start to learn and produce and put it in the field. It shows a lot for the scouting and the organization making the right decisions."

Hammock knows of what he speaks. The 37-year-old former University of Georgia star was a major-league catcher with the Diamondbacks for parts of six seasons, a career highlighted by being behind the plate for Hall of Famer Randy Johnson's perfect game in 2004.

Shipley and Blair are the latest hot pitching prospects for an Arizona Diamondbacks organization that continues to crank them out on a yearly bases. Chase Anderson and Archie Bradley are both in the Diamondbacks' Opening Day starting rotation after spending at least part of the 2014 season in Mobile, and current major-league pitchers Max Scherzer, Josh Collmenter, Patrick Corbin, Jarrod Parker and Trevor Bauer -- among many others -- have all pitched at Hank Aaron Stadium at some point since the BayBears became an Arizona affiliate in 2007.

"The organization does well with their pitching," Shipley said. "They definitely don't rush guys and they make sure they're ready to pitch in the big leagues before they send them there. It's going to be an exciting year, and I'm really curious to see what's going to happen. If Blair and I get called up, that would be really cool for us. But you never know about anything, so you just have to keep pitching and have fun with it."

Shipley, 23, was drafted No. 15 overall out of the University of Nevada in 2013 and posted a 7-8 record with a 3.86 ERA and 127 strikeouts in 126 innings between Mobile, Visalia and Low Class-A South Bend of the Midwest League in 2014. He is rated the Diamondbacks' No. 2 prospect (behind only Bradley) and No. 26 overall in the sport by Baseball America.

Blair, 22, was a supplemental first-round pick (No. 36 overall) out of Marshall in 2013 and went 9-5 with a 3.56 ERA and 171 strikeouts in 27 starts last season between Mobile, Visalia and South Bend. He is rated Arizona's No. 3 prospect and No. 40 overall according to Baseball America.

"It's fun," Blair said. "Me and Braden, we're really good friends. And we kind of have this competitiveness to us, not against each other, but we want to do better than the other. It's fun to have somebody like him -- he's a great guy, a great pitcher, and I'm just looking forward to what the season holds for us."

Mobile could have a third ace on its hands this season in Yoan Lopez, a Cuban defector who signed with Arizona for an $8.5 million bonus in January. The 21-year-old right-hander hasn't pitched in a professional game in nearly two years, but has a fastball that can reach into the mid-90s.

Lopez -- rated the Diamondbacks' No. 6 prospect by MLB.com -- spent all of spring training in big-league camp, so Hammock said he hasn't even seen him pitch yet. However, Blair and Shipley both did, and came away impressed.

"He's got a great arm," Blair said. "He's a little bit younger than Braden and I, but watching him in big-league camp, he knows what he's doing. And I'm looking forward to watching him during the season, too."

Said Shipley, "Obviously, he's got a really arm. It's live. He's going to do some big things for this team. And also, he's got a lot of room to develop as well, just like all of us do as well. That's why we're here."

After the five-game series in Birmingham, the BayBears return to Mobile for their Hank Aaron Stadium opener at 6:35 p.m. on Wednesday, April 15. Mobile's opponent that night will be the Biloxi Shuckers, the former Huntsville Stars and the Double-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers.