Tony Brown was named Pioneer League Hitter of the Week:

Tony Brown, Billings
.455 (10-22), 9 R, 2 2B, 0 3B, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 3 BB, 5 SO, 1 SB, .818 SLG
Brown has hit safely in 13 of his last 14 games and carries a nine-game hitting streak into the sixth week of the season. He notched three multi-hit games last week and knocked in a team-high nine RBIs, giving him 25 on the season. His two homers this week gave him eight on the season — tops in the Pioneer League. The 6-foot left fielder is hitting .327 with an OBP of .405 an OPS of 1.012.

Matt Klinker was named Midwest League Pitcher of the Week:

Matthew Klinker, Dayton
2-0, 1.50 ERA, 2 G, 2 GS, 12.0 IP, 11 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 9 SO
Klinker recorded two wins this week, giving him three straight starts with a win. In both outings, he lasted six innings, allowing one earned run in each and scattering a combined 11 hits. He struck out a total of nine batters while walking one and lowering his ERA to 3.40 on the season.

Scott Carroll was named Florida State League Pitcher of the Week:

Scott Carroll, Sarasota
1-0, 0.00 ERA, 2 G, 2 GS, 15.0 IP, 10 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 10 SO
Carroll picked up his first win since June 20 with an eight-inning shutout on Saturday against Palm Beach and may have had an even more impressive performance Monday against Sarasota in a 1-0 loss in which he fanned eight in seven scoreless frames. It’s the first time a Sarasota pitcher has tossed back-to-back shutouts this season and the performances helped lower his ERA to 3.39.

The guys over at Redlegnation.com have up their most recent podcast and one of their writers sat down with Matt Klinker (attended Lakota West HS here in the Cincinnati area and was a 2007 draft pick out of Furman College) and talked about all kinds of stuff. Its nearly 40 minutes long, but well worth listening to, so go check it out.

Mixing the past and the present

C. Trent Rosecrans has a piece up right now on his blog about some of the past players stopping by and talking with todays young guns. Talks about Homer Bailey talking with Jim Maloney and Jay Bruce asking questions of George Foster.

Baseballanalysts.com ran an article today reviewing the ‘Young Guns: NL Central’ and take a look at Bailey, Bruce, Votto and Cueto. Nothing too earth shattering there and they also think handing over these kids to Dusty Baker is ‘a train wreck waiting to happen’.

And how about a picture from spring training:

Joey Votto asking Dusty Baker if he will get any playing time with the Reds (Photo by Al Behrman/AP)