Giants Minor League Report

This will be a new weekly section on the Giants Baseball Report, tracking the progress of the organization's prospects. Here are the performances for some key prospects so far this season.
Angel Villalona, Class A Augusta: Bad news (or at least poor performances) first. Despite the great expectations for Villalona, he has yet to produce. Last season, his power numbers were lacking. This season, his power has been better, but his average has dipped. To this point in the season, he is batting .231 with 5 HR. There is hope, however. Over the last 10 games, he has hit .341 with 4 HR. Just remember that he's 17, so there's plenty of time for him to develop into a star.
Madison Bumgarner, Class A Augusta: Over his first three starts, Bumgarner struggled. However, over his next four starts, he gave up no runs over 22 1/3 innings. Over the same period, he also struck out 30 while walking only 5. Overall, he is 4-2 with a 2.56 ERA and 47 strikeouts against only 9 walks. However, Bumgarner still has a long way to go. His success at this point is encouraging, but his main problem is developing pitches other than his fastball, which has been enough so far to get him through high school and the low minor leagues. However, before the Giants give him a shot much higher than this level, he will have to prove that he has other pitches, as well as post impressive numbers.
Tim Alderson, Class A San Jose: To much disagreement in the blogging world, Sabean projected Alderson's arrival in the majors as 2010. So far, he's making Sabean look very right. The Giants placed him in high-A to begin the season, which is even earlier than Matt Cain reached that milestone. Alderson has responded by posting a 6-1 record with a 3.14 ERA.
Eddy Martinez-Esteve, Class AA Connecticut: Martinez-Esteve is having a good season so far, hitting .300 with 2 HR and 2 SB.
Nate Schierholtz, Class AAA Fresno: It won't come as a surprise to anyone that Schierholtz is doing well. The only reason he wasn't in the majors to start the season is that he had options left, while Davis didn't. He is batting .302 with 4 HR and 8 SB. At this point he could be considered a "blocked prospect," as Winn, Rowand, Roberts, and Lewis have effectively cemented their places in the outfield.