Well, I figure it's been about three weeks, time to give another progress report about how the pirates minor league world is turning. One month is a nice chunk of time, but I don't feel like waiting til then, so 19 days later will suffice (wasnt that a movie or something?)

Indy (AAA) - Andrew McCutchen finished June on a continued slump, and wound up finishing the month with a .257 average and .642 OPS (yikes). He's been better so far this month, but his .370/870 line shows the complete absence of power that has been going on for a while now. I won't worry about it. Yet?

Brian Bixler has continued his good hitting, finishing June with a .294/.837 line and starting July off hot with a .292/.969 line through the first eight games. This good showing by Bixler certainly makes me feel a little less bad about possibly losing He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named-So-As-Not-To-Jinx-It.

Ty Taubenheim got lit up for 8 runs on 7 hits in 3 2/3 innings in his first start after being sent back to Indy. Hopefully It's a blip and not a trend. Jimmy Barthmaier also struggled a bit in his first start back at Indy, not pitching poorly, but only making it through four innings. He came back strong Monday night, throwing six shutout innings against Columbus.

Altoona (AA) - Our two lone bright spots at Altoona, Shelby Ford and Derek Hankins, have nothing to shout about as of late. Hankins has gone only 15 1/3 innings in his past three starts, giving up eight runs in that span. Ford is 2-for-28 in his last eight games, and has started sharing playing time with Melvin Dorta at 2B.

Lynchburg (A+) - Now to the reason I couldnt wait to write this post. Down in Lynchburg, Jim Negrych and Jamie Romak are still absolutely killing the ball. Romak went 2-for-4 with two home runs for the second night in a row, and is now hitting .375 with a 1.37 OPS over his past ten games. He is now up to a .306 average and 1.023 OPS for the season, and his AVG, SLG< and OPS have gone up every month so far. Think it's time for him to finish solving his deficiancies in Altoona. Negrych went 2-for-4 for the second night in a row after ending his 16 game hitting streak, and is now up to a .365/.920 line for the season.

Mike Crotta has righted his ship after getting pounded by Kinston on Ju8ne 19th, posting a 1.89 ERA and 1.05 WHIP in 19 innings over his last three outings.

Hickory (A-) - Albert Laboy continues to hit reasonably well, going 2-4 with a solo homerun tonight to bring himself to a .312/.891 line since his demotion at the beginning of June. Good to get that confidence rebuilt, hopefully.

Matt Hague also went 2-for-4 with a solo home run, and is now hitting .413 with a 1.26 OPS in his first 14 games as a Crawdad after a .333/.844 line in State College.

Brad Lincoln, unfortunately, has been roughed up for 19 runs on 25 hits in only 16 innings in his last three starts, with the one bright point being 13 strikeouts and no walks. Have to keep an eye on this one.

State College (SS) - Short season has kicked into gear since the last update, but not everyone can shoot through State College like Mr. Hague. Of course, there's still some hitters to talk about. OF Cole White went 3-for-4 with a double tonight and has now posted a .410/1.09 line in his first 11 games as  Spike.

3B Matt Payne has also looked respectable, posting a .333/.808 line in 17 games in spite of a three-game hitless streak.

Bradenton - Lastly, the results arent up from this afternoon's game, but even so, 18th round draft pick and SS Jarek Cunningham looks not too terrible so far. He has notched a .412/.1.15 line in his first ten games as a Pirate, so we'll see what happens.

It would seem that it is about time to bump Negrych and Romak up to Altoona, and Negrych being replaced in Lynchburg by 3B Hague probably wouldnt be far behind. I know small sample sizes and whatnot, but it seems at this particular moment, third base has suddenly gone from devoid to somewhat deep.