Lansing Lugnuts infielder Bo Bichette raised his batting average to .400 with a 7-for-8 performance in Thursday’s doubleheader against the South Bend Cubs. (Photo by Tyler Marcotte)

Bo Bichette raised his batting average to .400 by going 7-for-8 in the Lansing Lugnuts’ doubleheader sweep of the South Bend Cubs on Thursday.

The Toronto Blue Jays prospect has the second-highest batting average in Minor League Baseball, behind only Colorado Rockies prospect Brendan Rodgers, who is hitting .404 for the Lancaster JetHawks of the High-A California League.

Bichette has a huge lead in the Midwest League batting race, with a 71-point lead over West Michigan Whitecaps outfielder Jake Robson. Even though he is only 19, Bichette — the son of former major-leaguer Dante Bichette — looks to be a very likely candidate for promotion in the second half of the minor-league season. It’s certainly possible he’ll get bumped up after Tuesday’s All-Star Game in Midland — Bichette is scheduled to start at shortstop for the Eastern Division team — in which case this weekend’s series in Lansing will be a good one to watch for two reasons: the Lugnuts are still alive in the wild-card race, and Bichette could end the first half with a .400 or better batting average.

I’ll be at the last two games of the series (Saturday and Sunday), so I’ll be live-tweeting about Bichette’s plate performance and the games in general (follow me on Twitter here), and writing posts about them (with photos) on this website. The Lugnuts will be playing against the Whitecaps, the only Midwest League team that has clinched a first-half playoff berth so far.