That's Headley

Chase Headley's early hitting woes seem to be behind him as we close in on Memorial Day. One of the Padres top prospects and a staple in the Portland lineup, Headley is starting to attack Pacific Coast League pitching with the same fervor that earned him such rave reviews last year in the Texas League. Headley's average was as low as .221 on April 29 but he's hitting .368 since and on Sunday against Las Vegas, he hit his fourth homer in his last five games for the Beavers, who have won 10 of their last 12 at home.

Headley has seven homers and 20 RBIs, though he still leads the team with 44 strikeouts [once every 3.7 at-bats]. He fanned once every 3.8 at-bats last year with San Antonio but he also hit .330 in the process, just to keep things in perspective. Headley can hit, that's for sure and now that he seems to have his bearings in Portland, you should see his average, now at .290, creep over the .300 mark before long. The Padres were looking to inject some enthusiasm in their lineup and Headley might just be what general manager Kevin Towers needs.

As for Vegas, it doesn't appear as if Terry Tiffee is going away or cooling off. Tiffee remains one of the hottest hitter on the planet, going five-for-nine in the last two games against the Beavers to keep his average at a robust .427. If the calendar turns to June and he's still hitting well over .400 then he's going to deserve some national attention. He may also deserve a call-from the Dodgers but they may just want to keep him in Vegas to see how things play out.

Not even Tiffee, though, is as hot as Tucson's Jamie D'Antona, a former second-round pick [2003] by the Diamondbacks. He's taking a nine-game hitting streak into Monday's action and has actually passed Tiffee as the Minor League batting leader at with a .430 He was actually hitting .402 when the streak started and has hit .514 [18-for-35] in the nine games to push his average into the stratosphere.

Not that you would know it by reading the Tucson Citizen, which is all fired up about the University of Arizona softball team but can't seem to see that there might be history in the making with the Sidewinders. If the season ended today, he'd only have the 23^rd-highest average in Minor League history. Gary Redus still holds the top spot with a .462 average for Billings in 1978. Redus is the only player in more than a half century to hit .400 in a U.S.-based league so it will be interesting to see if either Tiffee or D'Antona can keep this up over the summer when the weather gets warm and the pressure starts to mount.

Speaking of Tucson, let's hope the Diamondbacks don't send Max Scherzer back there when Doug Davis comes off the DL. Davis pitched well on Sunday for the Sidewinders on Sunday in what could be his last rehab start after undergoing surgery for thyroid cancer. Scherzer is 0-2 but has a 2.33 ERA and 23 strikeouts in 19 1/3 innings; numbers that suggest a return to Tucson would be unwarranted.

And in one college baseball note, it appears as if two-time defending national champs Oregon State won't be making a three-peat of it. The Beavers lost to USC on Sunday, falling to 25-23 and to 11-13 in the PAC-10. I won't be sad if I don't see OSU in Omaha next month. I never cared for the way head coach Pat Casey abused his pitching staff just for the sake of winning so maybe at least the OSU pitchers will get some rest instead of pitching till their arms fall off at Rosenblatt Stadium.