The Class A all-star games are behind us, and we're about one week past the minor league season's midpoint. In other words, we have a meaningful sample of games with which to check in on the overall leaders from full-season leagues. Presented here are the top 15 players in eight categories—four batting and four pitching—with statistics running through Sunday, June 26.

BATTING LEADERS

Jose Altuve hit .301 at two Class A stops last season (561 plate appearances), on the heels of a cumulative .306 showing in two years in the Rookie-level Appalachian League (360 PA), so he has a clear track record of hitting for average. His crazy .395 average this year has been propped up by an otherworldly showing at home in the high Class A California League prior to his bump to Double-A. Altuve hit .464 (52-for-112) in 28 home games for Lancaster, collecting a hit slightly more than half the time he put the ball in play (50.5 percent). At his current pace, Altuve would collect 225 hits over the course of a 140-game minor league season. In case you're wondering, the highest hit total from 2005-10 belongs to the Mariners' Kyle Seager, who collected 192 last year . . . The average that may fall hardest to earth in the second half belongs to Mike Zuanich. The UC Santa Barbara product did most of his damage with Modesto in the Cal League, and his elevated strikeout rate (about 26 percent of at-bats) has necessitated a high average on balls in play (.446) to get him to that shiny .362 mark . . . Prior to their big league callups, Wily Mo Pena and Anthony Rizzo benefited from friendly hitting conditions in Reno and Tucson, Ariz., to hit .360, but the Cardinals' Matt Adams has quietly had a fine season, batting .354 with a manageable strikeout rate (18 percent) and plenty of punch (17 homers, 15 doubles, .325 isolated power).

Paul Goldschmidt led the California League with 35 home runs last season and tied for the Pioneer League lead with 18 during his ’09 pro debut. He may not need to hit many more this season to put the Southern League home run crown out of reach—and that's even if he earns a second-half promotion. Goldschmidt leads the SL runners-up, Luke Montz and Kyle Russell, by eight bombs . . . A special nod to Tim Wheeler of the Rockies, Ryan Lavarnway of the Red Sox and Trayvon Robinson of the Dodgers for being the only up-the-middle prospects among the minors' top home-run hitters. Robinson already has matched his career high for homers—he also hit 17 in ’09, mostly with high Class A Inland Empire. He enjoys a home-field advantage by playing half his games in Albuquerque's launching pad—where he's clubbed 10 of 17 homers—but that advantage has not been dramatic as you might think. Robinson's OPS (.958) is slightly higher on the road, and when the Isotopes go on the road, they're playing mostly their American Conference rivals in the Midwest. Robinson's seven road homers have come in Iowa, Tucson, New Orleans (two), Memphis, Round Rock and Oklahoma City. He's batting .332/.408/.631 with 15 homers as a lefthanded batter . . . The Rangers' Chris Davis has spent most of June in Triple-A, during which time he's played a lot of left field while hitting .380 with eight homers. (The Alex Gordon career path?) Davis already has four multi-homer games among the 31 he's played for Round Rock this season. In fact, Davis has averaged a home run once every eight plate appearances, by far the best rate among the leaders. Wily Mo Pena is next with a homer once every 12.9 PAs.

Kody Hinze, from Houston's Nimitz High, failed to come to terms with the Pirates as a 46th-round draft-and-follow selection in ’05. He twice went undrafted out of Angelina (Texas) JC before signing with Houston as a free agent that October ’07. (Astros correspondent Zachary Levine has the whole story, as well as a look at Hinze's high school contemporaries.) Hinze toiled for two years in rookie ball and has yet to advance past high Class A, but he's on to something this year with Lancaster. He's clubbed 19 homers and drawn 64 walks, the latter of which ranks second only to the Padres' Jaff Decker in the minors. Hinze's walk rate (20 percent of PAs) leads the way among this group . . . With 35 walks in 352 PAs this year, Jedd Gyorko has leaned most heavily on his average (.377) to excel in the on-base percentage category.

After a tough ’09 season with Triple-A Buffalo (.710 OPS), a 28-year-old Wily Mo Pena swallowed his pride and signed on with the independent Atlantic League's Bridgeport club for ’10. In late July he latched on with the Padres' Triple-A Portland affiliate, where he showed signs of life in his first taste of the Pacific Coast League's brand of baseball. Pena batted .324/.390/.556 with nine homers in 40 games for the Beavers. Arizona signed him last December, about a month after he hit the free agent market, and has benefited from his resurgence. Playing for Reno this season, Pena collected nearly as many extra-base hits (41) as strikeouts (48), something that would have seemed unimaginable five years ago. He's shown a more mature batting approach this season in Triple-A, but he still favors brute strength over selectivity. Now that the D-backs have called Pena up, they can't send him back to Reno without first passing him through waivers because he's out of options . . . As is usually the case, the slugging percentage leaderboard is dominated by California and Pacific Coast League players, with a few Texas Leaguers thrown in for variety. That's what makes Bryce Brentz's early showing so impressive. Of course, the 22-year-old did most of his damage in low Class A, batting .359/.414/.647 in 40 games for Greenville. The 36th overall pick in the ’10 draft, Brentz is off to a 10-for-44 (.227) start with high Class A Salem that includes four homers and two doubles.

PITCHING LEADERS

Giants lefty Eric Surkamp and Braves righty Julio Teheran stand as the stingiest pitchers above Class A, but they succeed with wildly contrasting styles. Thee and a half years older than Teheran, but a level behind him in Double-A, Surkamp sits in the high 80s and relies on quality secondary stuff to make his fastball play up. Teheran, on the other hand, has made dominating the International League seem like child's play. He leads the way in ERA and WHIP (0.95) while fashioning a 4-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He can pitch up and down as well as side to side with his fastball, which ranges from 92-96 mph, while showing quality secondary stuff on a consistent basis. Astonishingly, his walk rate checks in at just under two per nine innings . . . Expect Indians lefty Drew Pomeranz's ERA to hold up once he jumps to Double-A. He has the strikeout stuff to pitch his way out of jams, and his strikeout rate (11.3 per nine innings) leads the way among this group. Conversely, expect Cardinals lefty Kevin Siegrist to see his ERA rise in the second half. He has struck out 50 in 77 2/3 innings (5.8 per nine), mostly for low Class A Quad Cities, for whom he went 8-1, 1.15 in eight starts and a relief appearance.

Can the Rockies' Edwar Cabrera hold off his challengers now that he's jumped to the high Class A California League? He struck out eight over 6 2/3 innings in his first start for Modesto, suggesting that he can. Plus there's the fact that Cabrera topped the Northwest League in whiffs last years and has averaged 12 per nine innings in his young career. He's found more success this year by pairing his excellent changeup with improved fastball command to his glove side . . . On a rate basis, Shelby Miller and Jake Odorizzi rank neck-and-neck for the top spot with 12.1 strikeouts per nine innings. Miller has given the Cardinals nearly a full inning more per start, averaging 6.1 per turn.

One of eight minor league pitchers to amass 100 strikeouts so far this season, Robbie Erlin has been truly terrific, showing command and control that belies his young age. Sure, he's hit a speed bump with Double-A Frisco (4.79 ERA through 35 2/3 innings), but his peripherals—including 6.3 times as many strikeouts as walks—suggest a turnaround is likely. On the year, Erlin has allowed just 6.3 hits and 1.1 walks per nine innings to go with a healthy strikeout rate. Erlin's elevated hit rate in the Texas League (9.6 per nine) may fall, but it probably won't fall to Carolina League levels (4.1). That's because when putting the ball in play against Erlin, his opponents have collected hits just 22.3 percent of the time, the lowest rate among this group of pitchers . . . On the flip side of that coin, another Rangers prospect has given up more hits (and thus has a higher WHIP) than one might expect. Fellow Frisco pitcher Joe Wieland, a righthander, has allowed a .320 average on balls in play, possibly because his supreme control (just four walks over 85 2/3 innings) gives his opponents a pretty good idea they'll see a strike if he falls behind in the count.

Not only has the Yankees' Dellin Betances prevented hits, but he's also done a fine job of preventing extra-base hits, of which he's allowed just 10 (which includes four home runs) through 13 starts. Opposing righthanded batters have slugged .225; lefties haven't done much better at .303. Betances ranks third in the Eastern League ERA race (2.37).