Cubs Minor League Daily: Eugene Clinches The First Half Title

After rampaging through the league to the tune of a .697 winning percentage, the Eugene Emeralds clinched the first half title in the Northwest League South Division with their win last night. Based on the first half results, the Emeralds have to be the prohibitive favorites when those playoffs arrive in September. The next best record in the league is .500.

Clinching the playoffs means celebration, and celebration in Eugene means a ton of coverage via social media. Looking at the coverage, I get the impression that the Emeralds are pretty happy about heading to the playoffs.

Triple A: Iowa Cubs
Salt Lake 5, Iowa 0
Iowa 6, Salt Lake 3
Despite trade distractions, the Cubs split the doubleheader.

• Drew Rucinski: 4 IP, 3 R (2 R), 5 H, 1 BB, 3 K
• Gerardo Concepcion: 2 IP, 1 K
• Joe Nathan: 0.1 IP, 2 R, 3 BB. He’s been very good until outing. Probably nothing to worry about.
• Game Two
• Jake Buchanan: 5.2 IP, 3 R (2 ER), 4 H, 2 BB, 4 K
• Corey Black: 1.1 IP, 1 K
• Mark Zagunis: 2 for 2, 2B, BB
• Tim Federowicz: 1 for 2, BB

Double A: Tennessee Smokies
Mississippi 8, Tennessee 2
The Smokies were behind by four before they ever came to the plate.

• Tyler Skulina: 5 IP, 8 R (7 ER), 9 H, 3 K
• Stephen Perakslis: 3 IP, 3 H, 1 BB, 4 K
• Juan Paniagua: 1 IP, 1 K
• Bijan Rademacher: 2 for 4, 2 2B
• David Freitas: 2 for 4
• Gioskar Amaya: 1 for 2, HR. He came in as a pinch hitter in the fifth, then stayed in to catch.

High A: Myrtle Beach Pelicans

The Pelicans had the day off.

Low A: South Bend Cubs
Burlington 7, South Bend 5
The Cubs allowed three runs in the ninth as this one slipped away.

• Justin Steele: 5 IP, 2 R, 5 H, 2 BB, 3 K
• Casey Bloomquist: 3 IP, 2 R, 5 H,
• Carlos Sepulveda: 1 for 3, 2B, 2 BB, SB. .319/.371/.382 and 19 years old.
• Donnie Dewees: 2 for 3, BB
• Eddy Martinez: 3 for 4, 2B, 3B, HR. Nine total bases is a very good day.

Short Season A: Eugene Emeralds
Eugene 4, Hillsboro 0
Holding your opponent to just two hits is a convincing way to clinch a first half title.

• Jose Paulino: 7 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 7 K. His ERA is now 0.51.
• Wyatt Short: 1 IP, 2 BB
• Jared Cheek: 1 IP and a line of zeroes.
• Robert Garcia: 1 for 4, HR
• Wladimir Galindo: 2 for 4
• Connor Myers: 1 for 3, 3B

Rookie: Arizona Cubs
Cubs 7, Angels 6
The Cubs are now back in first by half a game.

• Jose Leidenz: 3 IP, 2 R (0 ER), 4 H, 2 K
• Eugenio Palma: 2 IP, 1 H, 3 K
• Luis Ayala: 2 for 5
• Kevin Zamudio: 1 for 4, 2B
• Yohan Matos: 2 for 4, 3B
• Jhonny Bethencourt: 2 for 4

Other Notes

• Dexter Fowler and Jorge Soler went a combined 0 for 6 with 5 strikeouts in the first game of their rehab assignments. Soler did not play in the second game. Fowler was the DH and went 1 for 2 with a double and a walk.
• Based on the observations of Tommy Birch, the best Twitter follow for all things Iowa Cubs, it looks like Fowler is coming along very nicely and could be back in Chicago in short order. Soler is going to need some more time to get his swing working again. I suspect that means Soler will still be with Iowa for much of the rest of the month. [Brett: Which doesn’t hurt the roster crunch, for what it’s worth.]
• The Cubs may wait a bit before promoting a position player to Iowa to take Dan Vogelbach’s spot. With Fowler and Soler in house, I think they can fill first base and DH for a time without calling anyone from Tennessee. And they may be receiving a bat or two back from Chicago in the next few days as well.
• Tennessee, on the other hand, may need a starter to replace Paul Blackburn. That could come via a demotion from Iowa, or it could come from their own bullpen, or from Myrtle Beach.  There are cases to made in each of those scenarios, and it will be interesting to see how the Cubs fill that gap.
• On that note, immediately after the Eugene game it was announced that starter Jose Paulino is on his way to South Bend. That could be the start of a chain reaction that ends up with a promotion to Tennessee. We’ll see what happens today.
• Eloy Jimenez had missed a few games, but he was back in the lineup for South Bend yesterday as the DH.
• So, just how does a minor league team with a lot of under 21 players celebrate? Like this.

Here in Short-Season A, we have plenty of players still under 21, so we had to make sure we were prepared! #GoEms pic.twitter.com/99o2zY972M

— Eugene Emeralds (@EugeneEmeralds) July 21, 2016