• Logan Forsythe, 2b, and James Darnell, 3b, Padres. San Diego's righthanded-hitting farmhands hate playing in Double-A San Antonio, where the weather conditions serve to stifle their power production. Forsyth and Darnell, the 46th and 69th picks in the 2008 draft, have been no exceptions. They each punished the high Class A California League on their way to Texas, where each 23-year-old has taken a step backward in terms of production.

While Forsythe (broken hand) and Darnell (finger) have contended with injuries this season, that doesn't completely excuse their .748 and .661 OPS figures. The silver lining: Forsythe boasts a 46-to-50 walk-to-strikeout ratio overall while batting .357/.530/.452 in 25 games on the road; for his part, Darnell has hit .263/.337/.421 in 19 games on the road, a far sight better than his home production.

• Derek Norris, c, Nationals. After a breakout 2009 season with Hagerstown in which he hit .286/.413/.513 with 23 home runs, Norris asserted himself as the organization's catcher of the future. But thanks in part to complications from offseason hand surgery, Norris' progress has slowed considerably this season with high Class A Potomac. In his last 5 games, he is hitting just .071/.263/.071 with six strikeouts. He is still adept on getting on-base (.401 OBP) and his strikeout-to-walk ratio is a spiffy 45-to-45. But the cavernous ballparks in the Carolina League have sapped a lot of his power as he has just 5 home runs and is slugging just .354

• Reymond Fuentes, cf, Red Sox: The 19-year-old Fuentes has mostly held own with low Class A Greenville, but the Red Sox's 2009 first-round pick has had his growing pains. Fuentes hasn't had an extra-base hit since June 19 and is batting just .185/.241/.185 in 27 July at-bats. On the bright side, he's shown a feel for stealing bases, going 28-for-30, but he hasn't stood out much offensively otherwise, hitting .264/.316/.374 and drawing just 12 walks all season. He hit .158/.238/.158 (3-for-19) this week.

• Luke Bailey, c, Rays: When Tampa drafted Bailey in the fourth round last year, they knew they'd have to be patient as he rehabbed from Tommy John surgery. But this is a little slower than they may have expected. Bailey was considered one of the top high school catchers in the 2009 draft, but while Max Stassi has 11 home runs in the Midwest League and Wil Myers is already in high Class A, Bailey is 7-for-62 (.113) in the Gulf Coast League. He does have two home runs, but he also has struck out in more than a third of his at-bats.


• When the Royals promoted Mike Moustakas to Triple-A Omaha, Northwest Arkansas general manager Eric Edelstein called him the most impressive minor leaguer he's ever seen. So the Naturals could rightfully expect that they wouldn't find anyone who could come close to replacing his production. For at least one week, new third baseman Jamie Romak has managed to replace Moustakas. Since his promotion from high Class A Wilmington, Romak, 25, is hitting .550 (11-for-20) with three home runs, two doubles and six RBIs. Like a number of Royals, Romak is an ex-Brave, although in this case the Royals picked him up as a minor league free agent after a stint with the Pirates. Romak had failed to stick in his first two tries at Double-A, but this one's going a little better up to now.

• Exicardo Cayonez, of, Pirates: Two years ago the Pirates gave Cayonez $400,000 to sign out of Venezuela at age 16. That bonus still is a franchise record for an amateur player out of Latin America, and he has come as advertised. Now 18, Cayonez is a good athlete who stands out with an advanced feel for hitting for his age. Through 19 games in the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League, Cayonez is batting .371/.438/.486. A 6-foot, 183-pound lefthanded hitter, Cayonez's biggest question mark is how much power he'll grow into, but he's already able to use the whole field with a solid, line-drive swing.