On Sunday Duane Underwood, Jr. was placed on the disabled list. As is generally the case in the minors, the exact nature of his injury is unknown. Also hitting the DL from Myrtle Beach was Tyler Skulina and Shawon Dunston, Jr.
To reinforce the suddenly depleted Pelicans, the Cubs promoted Jeremy Null and David Garner to High A. Of these two, Null is the more recognizable promotion. Along with Ryan Williams, Null was one of the pair of right handed starters who opened the South Bend season by pretty much shutting down all offenses that faced them. Williams has since lept up to Double A (where he is pitching well), and now Null gets his chance at some tougher competition. Garner is a pure relief prospect, but he’s recently started striking everyone out.
South Bend, in turn, received Corbin Hoffner and Sam Wilson from Eugene. These two upside relievers have been kicking around the low levels of the Cubs’ system for a few seasons now, and for Wilson it will be his first crack at full-season ball. Both have breakout potential (probably a little more likely in the case of Wilson), and both are well worth keeping an eye on.
That meant Eugene needed some pitching help, and they got it in the form of three left handers: John Williamson, Ryan Kellogg, and Heath Dwyer. Williamson was drafted on Day 3 of the 2015 draft out of Rice, and Kellogg was taken on Day 2 from Arizona State. Kellogg is one of the tall lefties I have been looking forward to seeing in action since the Cubs called their names.
Heath Dwyer followed a bit of a different path to professional baseball. On June 16th, after the draft, the Cubs announced that they had signed Dwyer as a non-drafted free agent. The Cubs likely got a good look at Dwyer while they were scouting Vimael Machin and apparently they liked what they saw. Now that he’s with the Emeralds, we’ll get to see as well.