NEWSLETTER
Another day, another win in the final at bat. This time Peoria was the scene for the late inning dramatics, and it this one was as dramatic as they come. It was a good thing that Peoria found their bats in the ninth; they were the only Cubs’ farm team to come up with a win on Tuesday.
AAA – Iowa Cubs. 8 – 12
Travis Wood struck out eight, but the Cardinal’s top prospect Shelby Miller and an army of relievers were better. The Iowa Cubs were shut out 4-0.
Wood had a pretty good outing (7H, 2BB, 8K). He gave up two runs, but only one earned, in his six innings of work. The remaining Cardinal runs were scored off Esmailin Caridad in the ninth. In between those two Jeff Believaeu kept Memphis off the board for two innings.
The Cubs did not have a lot of offense in this one. Brett Jackson walked twice (and struck out twice), Luis Valbuena and Welington Castillo both had two hits, and that was pretty much it. Sometimes a team runs into a great pitcher, and that was the case on Tuesday. Shelby Miller is as good as they come.
AA – Tennesse Smokies. 10 – 10
Two first inning errors by the Smokies led to five Chattanooga runs and Tennessee could not quite make up that gap. The Smokies fell 7-5.
Dae-Eun Rhee‘s day looks bad in the box score, but most of the damage was done in the error-filled first inning. He did strike out five in his five innings of work. Scott Weismann, recently arrived from Peoria, pitched three innings of scoreless relief in his Double A debut.
Jae-Hoon Ha had one of those first inning errors, but with his 3 for 5 day (including two doubles), he almost made up for it. James Adduci, Michael Burgess and Nate Samson also doubled, but Ha had the only multi-hit day. Weismann’s good day continued at the plate where he collected a base hit in his lone at bat.
High A – Daytona Cubs. 5 – 13
It was a windy night in Florida, and the box score reflects that. Early in the game both offenses were relatively held in check, but late in the game both exploded. Lakeland got the best of things and defeated Daytona 13-5.
Hayden Simpson walked just one batter in his first 10 innings of work this season. He has walked 11 in his last seven, including seven in his four and a third innings last night. Even Simpson’s critics admit he has good command, and 11 walks in seven innings is not good command. Something is not right here. We’ll keep an eye on this trend as the season progresses.
Neither Eduardo Figueroa nor Brett Wallach pitched all that well when they came into the game, walking a combined four batters and giving up nine hits in the final three and two thirds.
At the plate, Matthew Szczur is starting to heat up. He had a 2 for 3 night that included a double and two walks and has raised his average to .225. Rubi Silva was 2 for 5 with a triple, his second of the season. Sergio Burrell (2 for 4, double) and Dustin Harrington (2 for 3, double) also had good nights.
Low A – Peoria Chiefs. 8 – 11
Drama was king in Peoria. For eight innings the game was knotted at zero, and then the bats arrived. Lansing took a two nothing lead in the top of inning, but Peoria tripled that tally on their way to a thrilling 6-2 win.
First of all, let’s credit the pitching. Kyler Burke was fantastic through six innings in his first start of the season (3H, 1BB, 4K). Benjamin Wells wasn’t too far behind him in three innings of relief. He did give up two runs in the ninth, but those runs were aided by an error.
For eight innings the Peoria bats were all but silent. And then, trailing by two in the ninth, a pair of singles and an error loaded the bases for Wes Darvill, and Darvill delivered a two run double to tie the game. After an intentional walk, Paul Hoilman sent five thousand fans home happy with a grand slam.
Minor League Debut
Gerardo Concepcion, the prize Cuban pitching prospect signed by the Cubs over the winter, is scheduled to make his American professional debut for the Peoria Chiefs at Lake County. Game time is 5:30 local time, and as always you can listen to the action for free online. If Concepcion does well in four or five starts for the Chiefs he is likely to be rapidly moved up the system. If you are in the Eastlake, OH area and are going to be at the game, be sure to drop by the Message Boards and give us your scouting report on the young lefty.
