Class AAA Indianapolis: There must be something in the water in Indy, because Yurendell DeCaster, Brian Bixler and Rajai Davis all have OBPs of .400 or higher so far. Several other hitters have high OBPs, too. It helps that the Indians lead the league in batting average. Bixler has a ten-game hitting streak going. I've already mentioned that I think too much has been made of Brian Bullington's supposed resurgence; John VanBenschoten is actually the failed prospect who looks closest to the majors, if the stats are to be believed. He has 19 strikeouts against 11 walks and a 2.45 ERA. Brian Rogers continues to make mincemeat of Class AAA hitters; he has a 0.71 ERA so far, with just one walk. The Indians have a number of other relievers with impressive ERAs so far, but, like Bullington, it's probably wise to ignore them until they start striking batters out. (Dan Kolb, I'm not looking at you.) It's too early to make judgements about anyone - maybe some of these guys can actually contribute - but you'd like to see them do something impressive before you call them up.
Class AA Altoona: Steve Pearce has only played in three games at Indy, but he already has three extra-base hits, including a homer. Neil Walker has been going berserk all week and now has an .881 OPS; he's hit four homers in his past five games. Andrew McCutchen, Yoslan Herrera and Wardell Starling continue to struggle.
Class A+ Lynchburg: It may be time to move Jason Delaney up the chain to see if he's a prospect. Delaney, 24, has a .922 OPS after hitting pretty well at Hickory last year. Jamie Romak is 0-for-10 since joining the Hillcats. Todd Redmond allowed just one hit in seven shutout innings against Kinston on Wednesday and now has a 3.46 ERA and a 4-to-1 K:BB ratio. He's one of the few Hillcats who's actually age-appropriate, so that's nice to see.
Class A Hickory: The Crawdads' bats have cooled considerably lately; James Boone is the only prospect (or semi-prospect) still hitting. Unfortunately, there's nothing especially interesting to report on the pitching side, either. The Crawdads have been outscored 34-12 since Monday; that's an arbitrary endpoint, and a lot of that was one 16-0 drubbing by Lake County, but still. Count Vertigo notices that the Crawdads also appear to have moved 2006 second-rounder Mike Felix to the bullpen. That's looking like a busted pick only months after it was made.