Interesting. BA‘s Jim Callis compared Ben Howard to Nick Neugebauer in a recent chat. I haven’t seen Neugie pitch, but from what I’ve read, the comparison is apt.

Second baseman Josh Barfield (.425/.425/.452) and catcher Nick Trzesniak (.385/.467/.692) are off to hot starts at Ft. Wayne.

First baseman Tagg Bozied (.375/.463/.813) is pretty much carrying the Storm right now, although DH Xavier Nady (.206/.357/.441) has turned up the heat after a slow start.

Right-hander Jake Peavy looked sharp in the Mobile home opener: 5.2-2-0-0-3-9. Center fielder Darren Blakely (.333/.429/.567), second baseman Bernie Castro (.355/.444/.387), and left fielder Vince Faison (.241/.333/.517) have started well at Double-A.

Catcher Adan Amezcua (.364/.417/.591), second baseman Cesar Crespo (.250/.438/.333), center fielder Kory DeHaan (.367/.441/.633), and shortstop Julius Matos (.308/.357/.577) are the hot bats at Portland.

It’s still very early, but there’s a look at some of the guys who are hot right now and who could make a difference in the future.

Here in San Diego, Kevin Jarvis continues to pitch extremely well and get no support. He’s 0-3 with a 3.32 ERA and strong peripheral numbers, but the Pads have managed to eke out exactly one run over those three starts.