No. 1 JAY BRUCE, CF, REDS
Team: Triple-A Louisville (International)
Age: 21
Why He's Here: .632/.682/1.421 (12-for-19), 4 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, 9 RBIs, 7 R, 3 BB, 2 SO
The Scoop: Bruce was so good this week that superlatives alone cannot do him justice. (A 2.103 OPS—are you kidding?) In last week's Hot Sheet, we speculated that Bruce was just getting started, because he had reached base in 12 of his last 19 plate appearances. But even we could not have been prepared for this type of offensive onslaught.

Bruce is hitting as well now as he has at any point in his pro career. He finished a single shy of the cycle on Wednesday, though in an encouraging sign, he did draw two unintentional walks in the game. He's batting .366/.398/.662 overall and has hits in nine of his last 10. And for such a young lefty batter, he hangs in against his own side, batting .383/.380/.660 in 47 at-bats.

For a man who owns a .566 career slugging percentage at the Triple-A level (at ages 20 and 21, no less), Bruce needs only to refine his batting eye (seven unintentional walks in 39 games) to get that first call-up to Cincinnati.

IN THE TEAM PHOTO

High Class A Sarasota's Juan Francisco (Reds) continues to light up opposing pitchers. The 20-year-old third baseman went 10-for-18 this week with two doubles and two home runs and six RBIs. In May he's batting .360/.373/.600.

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