The Cubs farm system opened the minor league season by losing all four games.
That’s the downside of following the minors. The good days can be very good (Daytona winning the Florida State League in 2011, for example), but then you get days like yesterday when there are just no wins to be found. Those are fairly rare, though. Hopefully this is the last one we see all year.
Despite the gloomy outcomes, there were some bright spots in the box scores.
[Iowa] We may as well pick up the Iowa coverage right where we left it off last year. Brett Jackson struck out twice in four at bats, but he also singled and scored. Jackson’s strikeouts will probably be one of the more talked about stories throughout the first part of this season.
[Iowa] Brian Bogusevic moved over to first base for the Cubs, and carried the offense with a three hit day. J.C. Boscan and Ty Wright each had two hits.
[Tennessee] Welcome to Double A Arismendy Alcantara. If a 2 for 3 day with a stolen base, a home run, and three RBIs isn’t starting a level off right, I don’t know what is.
[Tennessee] Matt Szczur had a nice game himself. Batting lead off, Szczur singled three times in four at bats.
[Daytona] On his first day in High A, Jorge Soler went 2 for 4 and was caught in one attempt at stealing. Javier Baez, on the other hand, went 0 for 3 with two strikeouts.
[Daytona] The Daytona offense was led by Timothy Saunders and Stephen Bruno, both of whom doubled for the team’s only two extra base hits.
[Kane County] Daniel Vogelbach had two hits, but it was Rock Shoulders (playing DH) who supplied the power with a two run homer in the fourth.
[Kane County] Jeimer Candelario was batting cleanup for the Cougars, and the young third baseman drew the team’s only walk in addition to his base hit.
Other News
Pitching did not have a great day anywhere in the system yesterday, with a few individual exceptions. Notably for the major league team, both Casey Coleman and Rafael Dolis pitched quite well for Iowa in relief. Either one could find himself in the Wrigley Field bullpen before the summer is out.
Last season Daytona was the most steal-happy team in the Cubs’ organization, and so far they appear likely to keep that title in 2013. The Cubs swiped four bases (Saunders 1, Taiwan Easterling 2, Zeke DeVoss 1) in five attempts.
Even though Baez had a rough start to the season, there is no reason to panic. Stats do not mean a whole lot this early in the year due to sample sizes. And even if they did mean anything, Baez will still have plenty of rough nights as he learns to lay off bad pitches and not give away at bats. Four home runs in four at bats during spring training was nice, but that is essentially meaningless now that the season has started.
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NEWSLETTER
The Cubs farm system opened the minor league season by losing all four games.
