NEWSLETTER
Kyle Schwarber’s career so far: two games, six hits, one home run, no walks, one strikeout, and six runs batted in.
Repeat after me: Kyle Schwarber is not ready for the majors. Kyle Schwarber is not ready for the majors. Kyle Schwarber is not ready for the majors. Kyle Schwarber…
… is going to have a lot of stuff written about him arguing that he should go straight to Wrigley because the Cubs are hurting at catcher while Welington Castillo is out. I would not be surprised if even some very good writers who should know better fall for Schwarbermania and write some articles they will later regret.
I would be sympathetic to an argument that Rafael Lopez moving to Chicago might be a good move, but not Schwarber. Not yet.
Next June? We’ll see. If absolutely everything breaks right, maybe we can then have the arguments about Schwarber that we’re having about Kris Bryant.
Iowa Cubs : 33-33
The West Coast trip has not been kind to the Cubs, and they have slid out of second place. This remains a tight, three team race, though, and the Cubs are very much in it.
The Cubs finally come home on Tuesday to start a series against El Paso, followed by Albuquerque coming in on Saturday. I will be in the stands for that final game against El Paso on Friday, and back in the stands again for the Albuquerque opener on Saturday.
Tennessee Smokies : 32-36
Another rough week finds Tennessee right where they started – in second place in the division just a game ahead of third place Jackson.
The Southern League All-Star Game is on Tuesday this week, but first the Smokies finish up their series against Mississippi this afternoon. After the three days offs they stay home and welcome Chattanooga.
Daytona Cubs : 25-40
The Cubs slid into their All-Star break on a six game losing streak.
When they emerge from their time off on Tuesday, they will be at home against Tampa. One of those home/home series against Brevard County takes up Thursday and Friday, and then the Cubs are off to Tampa for the rest of the weekend.
Kane County Cougars : 45-24
Kane County dropped their last two games of the week, but they still sit very comfortably atop the division. In fact, they locked up that division and punched their playoff ticket over a week ago.
The Midwest League All-Star game is also this week, and also on Tuesday. After the Cougars finish up in Beloit tonight they are off until a homestand against Cedar Rapids on Thursday.
Boise Hawks : 2-0
Boise is off to a perfect start so far. Trevor Clifton gets the ball to start their third game of the season tonight, followed by Josh Conway on Monday.
Boise remains at home through Tuesday. On Wednesday they begin their first road trip with a stops in Eugene and Spokane.
FSL All-Star Game
The Daytona Cubs have one of the worst records in the Florida State League, but it was prospects from those Cubs who propelled the FSL North to an All-Star Game win.
Bijan Rademacher started the festivities for the Cubs by making the Home Run Derby finals, ultimately finishing second. Rademacher gets lost among sluggers like Bryant and Baez and Vogelbach and Soler (and Schwarber) in the Cubs system, but even though he is not quite in that class he has some legitimate power of his own.
Rademacher finished 1 for 3 in the All Star game as the starting right fielder. He also picked up an outfield assist.
The game saving hits, though, came from the infield. Marco Hernandez, the starting shortstop, singled as part of a four run ninth inning rally, but the big blow, a go-ahead two run double, came off the bat of starting second baseman Gioskar Amaya. Amaya’s double was the only two bagger for the North in this game, and one of just three extra base hits in the game.
The pitching Cubs acquitted themselves equally well. Felix Pena allowed just one hit in a scoreless fifth inning, and Andrew McKirahan‘s scoreless eighth set the stage for the ninth inning rally led by Amaya and Hernandez.
