Jake Arrieta pitched 3.2 innings in the start for the Smokies yesterday. On a rehab assignment, Arrieta threw 66 pitches and allowed no runs on 3 hits and 2 walks while striking out 4. This was his second rehab appearance with Tennessee, and between the two he has now struck out 7 over 6.2 innings without allowing a run.
Normally this would be about the time that I would project him moving up to Iowa for a start or two before heading to Chicago, but that Iowa rotation is so crowded the Cubs may opt to leave him in Tennessee. The Smokies rotation is also crowded, but at least with the Smokies they’ve already shuffled him into a slot. I can’t really argue with either plan, but I suspect the Cubs will wait until he throws more than 90 pitches in a game before the call him north.
Speaking of pitchers making rehab starts – fans living near Eastern Tennessee may want to keep a careful eye on their schedules next week. Taijuan Walker, one of the best young pitchers in the game, has been sent to Jackson for a rehab assignment by Seattle. Jackson visits the Smokies next week. If you do get the chance to see Walker pitch while the Generals are in town, I strongly recommend you take it. It isn’t too often you can see pitchers of his potential for the price of a minor league ticket.
Scores From Yesterday
Iowa – Iowa climbed back to .500 with this 5-1 win.
Tennessee – The Smokies were shut out, 1-0.
Daytona – It was not a good day in Daytona as the Cubs lost 12-2.
Kane County – Kane County moved to one game over .500 with this 7-5 win.
Performances of Note
[Iowa] Kyle Hendricks pitched a good one. Over 7 innings he allowed a walk and 5 hits while striking out 5. Neil Ramirez struck out one in the eighth and Blake Parker fanned two more in the ninth to preserve the win.
[Iowa] Matt Szczur singled twice and stole a base for the Cubs. Batting second was Arismendy Alcantara who doubled and singled. Chris Valaika also had a two hit game that included a double.
[Iowa] He had just one hit, but that hit happened to be the second homer of the season for Javier Baez. He also struck out once.
[Iowa] Josh Vitters had another good game. He scored twice on a single and two walks while striking out once.
[Tennessee] Rubi Silva walked twice. No joke. The outfielder whose 2013 season was marred only by his inability to take a walk has now walked three times in his last two games. He also stole his first base of the year.
[Tennessee] Stephen Bruno (double and a walk) had the only extra base hit for the Smokies. Zeke DeVoss and John Andreoli joined Silva in chipping in a steal, and Kris Bryant matched Silva by walking twice.
[Tennessee] On the mound, the Smokies were actually fairly effective. After Arrieta’s start, Lendy Castillo pitched a third of an inning and then handed the ball to Dae-Eun Rhee for 4.2. Rhee was charged with the only run of the night, but finished with a line of 4 H, 1R, 1 BB, 3 K. That’s really not bad at all. Tony Zych got the final out.
[Daytona] On an ugly day for Daytona, one bright spot was Bijan Rademacher. He finished 3 for 3 (all singles) with a walk. He was the only Cub to come up with a multi-hit game.
[Daytona] Tayler Scott had a very bad day. He lasted just 3 innings, and in that time coughed up 8 runs (only 4 of them earned) on 11 hits and 3 walks. He struck out just two. Austin Kirk and Austin Reed gave up two runs each.
[Daytona] The only Daytona pitcher who did not give up a run? Arodys Vizcaino. No hits, one walk, one strikeout, and his ERA remains flawless.
[Kane County] The good news is that Tyler Skulina struck out 6 over 5.2 innings. The bad news is that he also allowed 6 hits and a walk, and gave up 5 runs as a result. Justin Amlung followed up Skulina with 2.1 innings of scoreless ball, and Tyler Bremer pitched the ninth for his first save.
[Kane County] Carlos Penalver was batting second in this game, and he doubled, singled, and stole his third base of the season. Daniel Lockhart, the leadoff hitter, also finished 2 for 5 with two singles.
Other News
Even though they managed no runs, the Smokies walked seven times as compared to seven strikeouts. Normally I like seeing a team have as many or more walks in a game than strikeouts. It doesn’t often happen that a team walks seven times while being shut out, so all in all I’ll still take that as a good sign.
Kane County also matched their walks to their strikeouts with 5 in each column. Good times.
Yasiel Balaguert finished the day with 3 RBIs, but he did so despite his lone hit being a single, not walking in a run, and not hitting a sacrifice. The first RBI came when Balaguert reached on an error in the first inning and two runs scored on the play. His other two RBIs came in the second when he singled to center and plated two runners in the process. He actually factored into another run, as he was at the plate in the second when a wild pitch allowed Trey Martin to score.
Ready for more of Dylan Heuer’s photographs of the Iowa Cubs in action? Well, here you are! This edition features a cool shot of a golden domed building in the background, a Javier Baez home run just milliseconds before the ball hits the bat, the same Javier Baez home run apparently just after what was probably the bat flip to end all bat flips, and more pictures of Josh Vitters looking angry after doing good things. And for a special challenge for those of you who fancy yourselves baseball experts – Look at the next to last shot on that page. What pitch would you say Blake Parker was throwing?
NEWSLETTER
