The annual contest to choose the Best Name in the Minors is underway, but there appears to be only one Cubs prospect with a chance to follow in the legendary footsteps of Rock Shoulders. Giuseppe Papaccio is currently 30th on the leaderboard, and he has a lot of ground to be making up.
There are some strong candidates on the ballot this year (Mat Batts, Forrest Snow, Mark Hamburger, Zelous Wheeler, Kenneth Peoples-Walls, to name a few), but I have a hard time voting against Burt Reynolds.
For real. Burt Reynolds… or at least a Burt Reynolds… is in 22nd place as I write this. This Burt Reynolds spent some time in the low levels of the Tampa system before playing independent ball for three years. Now he’s an outfielder in the low levels of the Seattle system and isn’t really doing a whole lot.
Regardless, he has my vote.
Scores From The Weekend
Iowa –
Friday – Iowa was shut out in a 2-0 loss.
Saturday – Despite an early lead, Iowa lost again 5-3.
Sunday – A ninth inning rally came up short. The Cubs lost 3-2.
Tennessee –
Friday – The Smokies picked up the 2-0 shutout win.
Saturday – A seven run eighth put Tennessee in control for a 12-5 win.
Sunday – Another big inning, another Smokies win. The final in this one was 7-3.
Daytona –
Friday – The Cubs lost this one 7-2.
Saturday – The Cubs bounced back with a pair of big innings in this 10-2 win.
Sunday – An eighth inning rally did not make things close enough as the Cubs lost 8-7.
Kane County –
Friday – The Cougars made an early lead last in this 7-2 win.
Saturday – This game was rained out.
Sunday – Kane County opened the doubleheader with a 9-0 win, and concluded it with a 3-0 win.
Boise Hawks –
Friday – Boise scored first and last, but didn’t get enough in the middle. They lost 5-4.
Saturday – The Hawks bounced back with this 5-1 win.
Sunday – All their runs came in the final three innings, and the Hawks walked away with the 7-6 win.
Arizona Cubs –
Friday – This was an off day for the Cubs.
Saturday – Despite the early lead, the Cubs lost 4-3.
Sunday – The doubleheader opened with a 3-0 Cubs win, and concluded with a 2-1 loss.
Performances of Note
[Iowa] Matt Szczur doubled and Rafael Lopez had 2 hits. That covers the good news from Friday so far as the bats are concerned.
[Iowa] Eric Jokisch gave up 9 hits in his 6 innings on Friday, but thanks to just one walk and 6 strikeouts he limited the damage to just 2 runs.
[Iowa] Jorge Soler had two doubles and Rafael Lopez had two walks to lead the offense on Saturday. Josh Vitters, with a double and two hits, was the man on Sunday.
[Iowa] Felix Doubront allowed 3 runs on 8 hits over 6 innings on Sunday. He walked one and struck out 4. Armando Rivero struck out 2 in 2 scoreless innings of relief.
[Tennessee] Pierce Johnson allowed 3 hits and 3 walks over 4 innings on Friday, all while striking out 7. His ERA is down to 2.36. Matt Loosen followed up with 3 scoreless frames and a strikeout of his own.
[Tennessee] Ivan Pineyro allowed 2 runs on 4 hits and a walk in his 4.2 innings on Saturday. He also struck out 7.
[Tennessee] Newest Cub Blake Cooper made his Smokies debut and pitched 1.2 scoreless innings on Saturday.
[Tennessee] Felix Pena was at his best on Sunday. Over 6.1 innings he gave up 2 runs on 3 hits, walked 3, and struck out 4.
[Tennessee] Albert Almora‘s good weekend included a triple on Saturday and a 3 for 5 game on Sunday.
[Tennessee] Addison Russell had a pretty good weekend himself. He finished with 3 hits, including 2 doubles, and a walk.
[Tennessee] Jae-Hoon Ha hit his 5th Double A homer of the season on Sunday as part of a 3 hit game.
[Daytona] Rob Zastryzny pitched 5 innings in Saturday’s win, allowing 2 runs on 3 hits and 4 walks. He struck out 4. Gerardo Concepcion and Austin Kirk each struck out 3 in 2 innings of relief apiece.
[Daytona] Kyle Schwarber finished his weekend with 5 hits, including 3 doubles. Those doubles were his first extra base hits in about a week.
[Daytona] Dan Vogelbach also had 3 doubles as part of his 6 hit weekend.
[Daytona] Willson Contreras homered on both Saturday and Sunday and now has 4 for the season.
[Daytona] Bijan Rademacher also homered on Sunday, his 7th for the year.
[Kane County] The back to back shutouts in Sunday’s doubleheader came from Daury Torrez (5 IP) and David Garner (2 IP) in the first game, and from Ben Wells (5 IP), Michael Wagner (1 IP), and Francisco Carrillo (1 IP) in the second.
[Kane County] Home runs on Friday were supplied by Cael Brockmeyer (his 6th), Jacob Rogers (his 15th), and Trey Martin (his 3rd).
[Kane County] Jeffrey Baez homered on both Saturday and Sunday and now has 10 total long balls on the year (3 for Kane County). He also picked up his first Low A stolen base this weekend.
[Boise] Justin Marra walked and hit his 8th season homer on Friday.
[Boise] Jesse Hodges contributed his 7th homer on Sunday, and Kevin Brown hit his second.
[Boise] Rashad Crawford had 4 hits this weekend, raising his average to .278.
[Arizona] Jose Paulino (5 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, 8 K) and James Pugliese (2 IP, 2 K) shut down the White Sox in the first game of Sunday’s doubleheader.
[Arizona] Eloy Jimenez went 2 for 4 on Saturday with his 3rd home run. He finished the weekend with 3 hits.
[Arizona] Adonis Paula homered in the first game of Sunday’s doubleheader. It was his first of the year.
Other News
The control problems that plagued Dillon Maples last year appear to have returned. Over his last two games, totaling just under six innings, he has walked ten.
NEWSLETTER
