Cubs Minor League Daily: Injuries and Debuts
The injury plague that savaged Chicago before the All Star break is alive and well in the minors. Just this week we have had at least two good pitching prospects, Dylan Cease earlier in the week and Rob Zastryzny last night, leave a game early with some sort of likely medical issue.
The news isn’t all bad, though. Brian Matusz had a successful organizational debut this week as he works to come back to the majors, Joe Nathan could be ready to join Chicago any day now, and deep in the minors Ho-young Son, last seen as a shortstop in Eugene, took the mound as a pitcher for the first time in Mesa.
Injuries, unfortunately, are a normal part of baseball. But so are recoveries and debuts. Here’s hoping the second half of the season contains more of the recoveries and no more of the injuries.
Triple A: Iowa Cubs
Las Vegas 3, Iowa 2
The next Chicago reliever may have made his Iowa debut.
- Rob Zastryzny:5 IP, 3 R, 7 H, 3 BB, 3 K
- Joe Nathan: 1 IP, 2 K. He only needed 11 pitches, and 8 of them were strikes.
- John Andreoli: 1 for 3, BB, SB
- Mark Zagunis: 2 for 4
- Juan Perez: 2 for 2
Double A: Tennessee Smokies
Montgomery 6, Tennessee 1
Of the Smokies six hits, only one went for extra bases.
- Brad Markey: 6 IP, 4 R (3 ER), 6 H, 1 BB, 4 K
- Chesny Young: 1 for 3, BB, SB
- Ian Happ: 2 for 4
- Bijan Rademacher: 2 for 4
- Ben Carhart: 1 for 4, 2B
High A: Myrtle Beach Pelicans
Frederick 4, Myrtle Beach 3
Frederick broke the tie with a lone run in the eighth.
- Trevor Clifton: 6 Ip, 3 R, 6 H, 2 BB, 6 K
- Daury Torrez: 2 IP, 2 H, 2 K
- Jason Vosler: 1 for 4, 2B
- David Bote: 1 for 2, 2 BB
- Jeffrey Baez: 2 for 3
- Erick Castillo: 2 for 4
Low A: South Bend Cubs
Clinton 3, South Bend 0
South Bend 5, Clinton 4
The Cubs played thirteen straight innings of scoreless baseball, then scored enough in one inning to split the doubleheader.
- Preston Morrison: 5.1 IP, 3 R (1 ER), 8 H, 6 K
- Carlos Sepulveda: 1 for 2, BB
- Eloy Jimenez: 1 for 3
- Eddy Martinez: 2 for 3
- Game Two
- Justin Steele: 3 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 1 BB, 5 K. This was one of his best starts of the season.
- Dillon Maples: 0.2 IP, 1 BB
- Carlos Sepulveda: 2 for 4
- P.J. Higgins: 3 for 4, 2B
- Donnie Dewees: 2 for 4, 2B
- Jesse Hodges: 2 for 3
Short Season A: Eugene Emeralds
Eugene 4, Tri-City 2
As has usually been the case, the Emeralds benefited from some strong starting pitching.
- Jose Paulino: 6 IP, 1 R, 5 H, 8 K
- Robert Garcia: 2 for 5, SB
- Chris Pieters: 2 for 4
- Wladimir Galindo: 2 for 4, 2 2B
- Trent Giambrone: 0 for 2, 2 BB, SB
Rookie: Arizona Cubs
Cubs 8, Royals 2
Pretty good pitching in this one as well.
- Javier Assad: 4.2 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 8 K
- Ho-young Son: 1 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 2 K. This was the season debut for Son.
- Zach Davis: 2 for 4
- Luis Ayala: 0 for 2, BB, SB
- Isaac Paredes: 4 for 4, SB
- Kevin Zamudio: 2 for 4
- Jhonny Pareda: 1 for 4, 3B
Other Notes
- Rob Zastryzny took the mound to start the sixth inning for Iowa, but left shortly thereafter accompanied by the trainer. We have no update on his status yet, but you can pretty much bet that when updates to come available it will be Tommy Birch who has it first.
- Joe Nathan was very effective in his one inning of work. The expectation from various people around both Tennessee and Iowa is that he’ll be called to Chicago in short order – possibly as soon as this weekend.
- I have not seen any further reports on Dylan Cease, the high ceiling pitching prospect who left his last start with an apparent arm injury earlier this week. It isn’t uncommon for details to be scarce on injuries that low in the minors, though, so no news isn’t necessarily good news.
- If you missed watching him live, there are a couple good shots of Trevor Clifton pitching the Myrtle Beach highlight video.
