The 2014 Minor League Regular Season is over. Now comes the playoffs, the call ups, and the early speculations for what looks to be a very interesting and exciting winter for the Cubs.
For now, though, we’ll focus on the playoffs. Â Iowa and Tennessee are finished, but Daytona, Kane County, and Boise will all three enjoy some post season action.
Daytona sends Rob Zastryzny to the mound tonight against Dunedin in Daytona as they look to defend their 2013 Florida State League Championship. Zastryzny gave up four runs in five innings when he faced Dunedin on August 26th, but that was the only time in August he allowed more than two earned runs in a start. He also struck out nine in that game.
Kane County travels to Wisconsin for Game One of their best of three series on Wednesday. The rest of the series will take place in Kane County on Thursday and (if necessary) Friday. Kane County has not yet announced their starter for Game One, but it looks like Jen-Ho Tseng should be fully rested. I would not be surprised if the Cougars go with their 19-year-old ace.
Hillsboro travels to Boise for tonight’s Game One of that best of three series. Jake Stinnett, the second round pick who pitched in the College World Series for Maryland earlier in the summer, will take the mound for the Hawks in the opener. Game Two will be in Hillsboro on Wednesday, and in that one the Hawks will send fellow 2014 draftee Jeremy Null, a 6’7″ right hander, to the mound.
Scores From Yesterday
Iowa – Iowa ended their season on a high note, winning 11-1.
Tennessee – The Smokies’ season ended with this 5-1 loss.
Daytona – Daytona had the day off.
Kane County – Kane County took a game into extra innings yet again, losing this one 6-5 in twelve.
Boise Hawks – Boise mounted a ninth inning come back and won their season finale 6-5.
Performances of Note
[Iowa] Dae-Eun Rhee struck out 11 over 7 shutout innings (105 pitches). He walked one and allowed just 6 hits.
[Iowa] Kris Bryant went 1 for 4 and scored 3 times in his final game of the season.
[Iowa] Ryan Kalish led the Cubs with 4 hits, including a double. Eli Whiteside and Elliot Soto each had 3 hits.
[Tennessee] Addison Russell (with a double) and Pin-Chieh Chen each finished with 2 hits.
[Tennessee] Charles Cutler doubled and walked twice.
[Kane County] The Cougars opted to get a lot of their pitchers some work in this game. Paul Blackburn allowed a hit and a walk in his 2 innings on the mound, and Zak Hermans struck out 4 while allowing a run on 3 hits in his 2 frames.
[Kane County] Mark Zagunis, as a catcher, was batting leadoff and, in addition to doubling and finishing with 2 hits and 2 walks, stole his 5th base of the season.
[Kane County] Chesny Young, Cael Brockmeyer, and Yasiel Balaguert each also had 2 hits.
[Boise] Josh Conway struck out 4 in his 3 shutout innings. He allowed just 2 hits.
[Boise] Outfielder Charlie White singled, walked, and pitched the ninth inning for the Hawks. That means, thanks to Boise’s ninth inning comeback, he was credited with the Meaningless Statistical Notation That Shall Not Be Named. It was his second MSNTSNBN of the season.
[Boise] Gleyber Torres put together another very good game. The young shortstop doubled and tripled on his way to a 3 for 5 performance.
Other News
Judging from his recent retweets, catcher Rafael Lopez might be on his way to the majors (and, Twitter being what it is, might not be). Lopez is not currently on the 40-man roster, so if the Cubs did want to bring up Lopez along with any other non-rostered player (Eric Jokisch or Armando Rivero, for example), a move would be required since the Cubs have just one open spot on the 40-man. Whether he sees time in Chicago this year or not, Lopez should be a strong candidate for a backup catching position in spring training next year.
NEWSLETTER
