Dallas McPherson, 3B, Marlins - McPherson homered in his seventh straight game on Friday for Triple-A Albuquerque. He now has 28 on the year. He's hitting .394 over his last 10 games with the seven home runs and 14 RBI. He has also struck out 13 times and has 97 thus far this year. When he is ahead in the count, his line is .420/.647/.913.

Craig Italiano, P, Athletics - Italiano has been promoted to High-A Stockton. At Low-A Kane County, he was 7-0/1.16 over 14 starts with a 79:35 K:BB over 70 innings, two home runs, a .177 BAA and a 1.23 GO:AO. He did not give up an earned run in five May starts, during which he compiled a BAA of .149. In his first outing at Stockton last week, he gave up six hits and three walks over four innings.

Jason Heyward, OF, Braves - Heyward went 3-for-4 on Tuesday for Low-A Rome. He is hitting .314 over his last 10 games. He's been pretty steady most of the year and is at .326/.388/.480 with 12 steals and seven home runs. It would not be surprising to see him move up a level relatively soon.

Brett Cecil, P, Blue Jays - Cecil's five June starts for Double-A New Hampshire through Monday have been excellent. He has posted a .213 BAA, a 2.12 GO:AO, a 31:8 K:BB over 29 1/3 innings and just one home run. He should be moving up the prospect charts for 2009.

Casey Weathers, P, Rockies - Weathers has struck out 14 over his last 10 1/3 innings through Sunday for Double-A Tulsa. He has allowed just six hits and five walks in that span. This year, he has a .179 BAA, a 1.95 GO:AO and one home run over 31 1/3 innings. He walks a few too many people, if you're looking for a weakness, but everything else seems to be superb.

Kyle Blanks, 1B, Padres - Blanks is hitting .368 over his last 10 games at Double-A San Antonio. He's hitting .367/.426/.600 for the month and .316/.404/.463 for the year. He is not, however, hitting lefties very well, showing a line of .192/.236/.250 in just 52 at-bats (272 total), and this could eventually hamper his progress and his playing time.

Kennil Gomez, P, Rangers - Gomez has a 16:3 K:BB over his 20 June innings at Low-A Clinton through Sunday. He has been very consistent thus far, posting an 8-3 record, a 2.81 ERA, a 61:16 K:BB over 77 innings and six home runs. His BAA is at .213 and his GO:AO is at 2.04. All the numbers indicate a promotion will happen in the near future.

Fernando Martinez, OF, Mets - Martinez is 7-for-12 through Sunday in his first three games at Double-A Binghamton since returning from the DL. He has picked up where he left off in May, when he posted a .349/.370/.558 line.

Jeremy McBryde, P, Padres - McBryde struck out six and walked none over five innings on Sunday for Low-A Fort Wayne. His June K:BB is 28:3 over 28 2/3 innings. Confoundingly, his BAA is .309. On the year, he is 2-5, 4.61, but when you go beyond these superficial numbers, he gets interesting: a 74:14 K:BB that pops to 21:3 over 21 1/3 innings with runners in scoring position. It may be that he is throwing too many strikes, leading to the high BAA.

Jonathan Van Every, OF, Red Sox - Van Every hit three home runs in three at-bats on Sunday for Triple-A Pawtucket. He has 21 home runs on the year, six in his last 31 at-bats, and a line of .294/.373/.592. He could see some action with the Red Sox depending on what happens with David Ortiz and how Brandon Moss does. He could also be dangled in a trade for middle-relief pitching seeing as the Red Sox corps is having some difficulty lately.

Edgar Estanga, P, Blue Jays - Estanga gave up two hits and a walk over five innings on Saturday for Low-A Lansing. He is 8-1 with a 1.45 ERA over 26 appearances, all in relief, with a 56:12 K:BB, one home run, a 1.42 GO:AO and a .205 BAA. His inning column indicates the Blue Jays may be stretching him out, and if he can maintain his numbers as a starter, he will be worth following.

NOT

Billy Rowell, SS, Orioles - Rowell went 0-for-4 on Sunday for High-A Frederick and is hitting .088 over his last 10 games. He is hitting .195/.253/.312 in June, and the only positive thing that can be said is that his strikeout rate is down - he has a K:BB this month of 14:6 over 77 at-bats. That's not enough, however, so he is unlikely to see Double-A this year.

Ross Detwiler, P, Nationals - Detwiler walked seven and gave up two hits over three innings on Saturday for High-A Potomac. His walk ratio has been off all year, now his BAA is up to .305, his June BAA is at .348, and there are only minimal stats that show any hope for the near term: a 1.46 GO:AO and a low home-run rate of five over 63 innings.

Angel Villalona, 1B, Giants - Villalona has a 15:1 K:BB ratio over his last 40 at-bats, a 27:2 ratio over 72 June at-bats and a 74:13 ratio over 252 at-bats thus far this year. He is hitting .238/.292/.417 with 10 runs and zero stolen bases, so he is not offsetting the prodigious strikeout totals with anything on the offensive side of the ledger whatsoever. He has taken multiple steps backward compared to last year, and all of his owners should be somewhat concerned, though he does not turn 18 until mid-August.

Jonathan Meloan, P, Dodgers - Meloan's control problems did not let up in June at Triple-A Las Vegas. Over his six starts, he compiled a 26:16 K:BB over 28 1/3 innings. The control issues should keep him at Triple-A for longer than anticipated.

SOMEWHERE IN BETWEEN

Will Inman, P, Padres – Inman walked four and gave up seven hits over 5 2/3 innings on Sunday for Double-A San Antonio. In his prior start last Monday, he struck out 11 and walked one while giving up three hits over seven innings. He's having a good year, though he still lapses into wildness and is getting few groundballs lately. He'll surely move up at some point, and it'll be interesting to see how he will maintain the low BAA (.213), the low GO:AO (0.66), and the relatively high walk rate (40 over 90 2/3 innings).

Jaime Garcia, P, Cardinals - Garcia has had some control problems in his four June starts at Triple-A Memphis, compiling a 19:12 K:BB over 23 2/3 innings before his June 26 start, when he struck out 10 and walked none over 6 2/3 innings. He has maintained a GO:AO above 2.00 and has complied a BAA of .239 for the month.

Kevin Mulvey, P, Twins - Mulvey has been inconsistent over the last eight weeks or so at Triple-A Rochester. On June 13, he struck out seven and walked one over four innings while giving up just one hit. In his next start, he gave up seven hits and walked two over 4 2/3 innings. His control continues to be a concern: he has a 72:30 K:BB ratio over 82 innings, though it has been better lately. It would be surprising if the Twins added him to the major league roster for any length of time while the wildness and inconsistency continue.

Chris Volstad, P, Marlins - Volstad walked three and gave up three hits on Friday for Double-A Carolina. He struck out two and gave up an earned run. This is somewhat reassuring. However, his BAA has gone up each month and stands at .295 for June, and he has a puny 6:3 K:BB over 15 innings. Offsetting this is a decent GO:AO of 2.21, much of it having been built up during April, however. With all of the base stats, he has not given up a home run over 85 innings, and there is a lot to be said for that.

Article first appeared 7/1/08