As San Diego keeps digging deeper and deeper into the NL West basement, Chase Headley just keeps getting hotter and hotter.

INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE

Prospect Of The Day

Reid Brignac (Rays) homered in both halves of a doubleheader. Brignac went 3-for-3 with a double and a home run in the opener, and followed it up with a home run as part of a 1-for-3 nightcap. The shortstop hasn’t torn up the International League, but it’s also easy to forget that as a 22-year-old, he’s one of the youngest players in the league. He’s now hitting .286/.313/.487 thanks to 14 doubles.

Prospect Nuggets

I know it’s getting repetitive, but we almost tapped Jay Bruce (Reds) at the POTD again. Bruce had another two hits on Wednesday for his third-straight multi-hit game raising his International League-best batting average to .369. He’s now hitting .443/.474/.800 in May, and has seven multi-hit games in his last 10 games . . . Jeff Niemann (Rays) has been kept on a very short leash–he’s thrown only 10 1/3 innings in his last three starts, but it was an effective four innings on Wednesday as he allowed four hits and an unearned run in four innings . . . Chuck James (Braves) knows how to pitch in Richmond, it’s pitching in the National League that gives him problems. James allowed two runs in seven innings to raise his IL ERA to 1.88 in four games. His big league ERA is a much uglier 8.22 in five starts . . . Hayden Penn (Orioles) outdueled James, allowing no runs in six innings.

What To Look For Today

Homer Bailey (Reds) will try to shut down Toledo while Jeremy Sowers (Indians) is traveling to Columbus.

PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE

Prospect Of The Day

Yes you can read whatever you want into the fact that Chase Headley is back at third base for the Beavers. With the Padres mired in last place, no one’s job in San Diego appears to be completely safe. After a slow start Headley is showing he’s about ready to help out–he had three hits in five at-bats, with a home run and a double on Wednesday. He’s now hitting .357/.413/.655 this month. He’ll likely soon be promoted as an outfielder, but a little versatility won’t hurt anything.

Prospect Nuggets

Will Venable (Padres) is just as hot as Headley. Venable went 4-for-5 with a home run. It was his fourth home run in the past seven games, which is encouraging since power is his biggest question mark . . . Joe Mather (Cardinals) was a pop-up prospect in 2007 with a strong season in Springfield. The outfielder is following up on last year’s success with a strong start in Memphis. Mather hit his ninth home run of the season on Wednesday, and is now hitting .318/.425/.664 . . . In his third game since being demoted from Seattle, Jeff Clement hit another home run. He’s now 3-for-10 since being demoted with all three hits going for extra bases (two home runs and a double) . . . So Felix Pie (Cubs) how are you enjoying being back in Triple-A? It doesn’t seem like the frequent flyer on the Chicago-Iowa shuttle is real happy to be back in the PCL. With an 0-for-5 night, he’s now hitting .043 (1-for-23) since his demotion.

What To Look For Today

By PCL standards, it’s a pretty impressive day of pitching matchups. Nick Adenhart (Angels) will face Fresno. Wade LeBlanc (Padres) will try to turnaround a brutal start to the season (2-4, 9.35) against Tucson. Carlos Rosa (Royals) will face Sean Marshall (Cubs) in Omaha and Eric Hurley (Rangers) will take the mound for Oklahoma.