NEWSLETTER
One very nice thing in your Cubs orbit today, if you’re desperate for something positive after last night’s crushing loss. Start your day with this, because maybe you missed it in the swirl of doom: The Cubs have a championship in the organization! The Double-A Tennessee Smokies won last night, sweeping the Southern League Championship Series!
It’s their first Southern League title as part of the Cubs organization, and first outright Southern League title in 55 years:
The Smokies won the decisive game 10-3, with Cade Horton throwing five innings of one-run ball, Matt Shaw scoring three runs, with Owen Caissie and Kevin Alcántara and Haydn McGeary and B.J. Murray Jr. all having extra-base hits. Moises Ballesteros had two hits and a walk. It’s a prospect-loaded roster, and the prospect came out to shine last night.
Getting to experience a championship – complete with a little playoff pressure and champagne at the end – can be great for player development, especially as guys move through the system together. You also just like to see the joy that these guys have at the end of a long season. The roster changes a lot on a Double-A squad like this, and a lot of the players who helped set it up are no longer there, but I’m sure they’re celebrating from afar.
As Cubs co-minor league hitting coordinator Rachel Folden points out, a lot of this group was part of the championship run last year in the Midwest League with South Bend:
Just keep on developing a taste for championships, and winning them on your way up the ladder, gents. I think this means the Iowa Cubs are in for an International League title next year, and then the big league Cubs in 2025 …
