Reid Brignac: what is happening?

That's what I think of it as.  Brignac and McCutchen are two of the most disappoining players right now.  Rasmus, Longoria, Upton, and Martinez are passing the test easily so far.  The next ones up for the challenge is Maybin and Bruce and I think Bruce will handle AA very well while I think Maybin will struggle.

Not worried about the OPS - his low batting average is killing his overall numbers. But he's making contact more often than ever before so I suspect that won't be a long-term problem.

The only concern I have is his power production, but it's still too early to declare him overmatched at Double-A in my opinion.

A .293 OBP - He's definitely not on the fast track any longer.  2009 now at the earliest.  

in Mississippi...he made some great plays in the field so it is apparently not carrying over to the field in his case.  

He did look overmatched by Lance Cormier (or outsmarted maybe) and it doesn't get any easier with Matt Harrison, Jo Jo Reyes and Francisley Bueno, all lefties, coming up.

Longoria looks bigger (muscle tone-wise) than last season, but it is obvious to anyone he is a special player...clutch 2-run double in the 8th inning.  He also made the Brooks Robinson/Scott Rolen play where he crosses the bag into foul territory on an almost-foul ball and guns the runner out at first with an off balance throw.  Braves fans were cheering for that one.

Brignac's in the middle of a stretch where he is facing some of the better pitching prospects in the SL. Birmingham has Russell, Gonzalez, Whisler, and Jack Egbert; Missisippi has Harrison, Reyes, and Kelvin Villa (who's struggled with his control this year but still has an outstanding repertoire). The good news is that he's making contact consistently.