Cubs Minor League Daily: A Reason To Smile

May was terrible. The Cubs couldn’t win. Yesterday the entire farm system failed to come up with a single win. And, at least in Maryland, it seems like it rained virtually every single day in May.

But May is gone. No one likes May anyway.

This is June, the month in which Sammy Sosa clobbered twenty once upon a time. June is a happier month, and I can’t think of a better way to kick off a happier month than by spending large amounts of money on awesome memorabilia for a good cause.

The Myrtle Beach Pelicans online auction to benefit tornado victims is up, and the clock is ticking. An autographed Bryzzo bat … yes, both of them … starts at $750 and has no bids as of the time of me writing this. Signed balls from Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, Javy Baez, Jason Heyward, and Kerry Wood are all available, as is a Strop jersey and a game used broken bat signed by the best prospect in the organization.

You do know that the best prospect in the organization is Eloy Jimenez, right? Ok, good.

There’s even a OSU football helmet and a baseball signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates, just in case you happened to wander into the wrong blog and really wanted to buy something not tied to the Cubs.

You have less than three days to get bidding, so get bidding.

Triple A: Iowa Cubs

Iowa had the day off.

Double A: Tennessee Smokies
Montgomery 5, Tennessee 3
The Smokies led it late, but gave up four in the eighth.

  • Jen-Ho Tseng: 6 IP, 1 R, 4 H, 3 BB, 6 K
  • David Bote: 1 for 3, HR, BB
  • Carlos Penalver: 1 for 2, HR, BB
  • Erick Castillo: 1 for 3, 2B
  • High A: Myrtle Beach Pelicans
    Down East 4, Myrtle Beach 3 in 14 innings.
    The bullpen covered ten innings in this one.

  • Kyle Miller: 4 IP, 2 R, 4 H, 2 BB, 1 K
  • Scott Effross: 2 IP, 1 H
  • Dillon Maples: 1 IP, 1 BB, 2 K
  • Jordan Minch: 2 IP, 2 BB, 1 K
  • Bryant Flete: 1 for 5, 2B
  • Daniel Spingola: 2 for 6
  • Jesse Hodges: 3 for 6
  • Low A: South Bend Cubs
    Dayton 9, South Bend 8
    This game had 24 totals hits, 10 walks, and 4 errors.

  • Jose Paulino: 2.2 IP, 6 R, 8 H, 1 BB, 1 K
  • Dakota Mekkes: 2 IP, 1 R (0 ER), 2 H, 2 BB, 3 K
  • Alberto Mineo: 3 for 4, 2B
  • Wladimir Galindo: 1 for 4, BB
  • Vimael Machin: 1 for 5, HR
  • Roberto Caro: 1 for 3, 2 BB
  • Luis Ayala: 2 for 5, 3B
  • Other Notes

  • If we go by the highly scientific, super advanced metric called “How much does an autographed baseball sell for?”, Kris Bryant is as valuable as the entire Pittsburgh Pirates. Somehow I don’t see HMDAABSF displacing fWAR anytime soon.
  • Yesterday marked the first unearned run given up by 2016 draftee Dakota Mekkes, and just his third run total. In 28 innings pitched. For real. His ERA is 0.65, his WHIP is 0.98 and he already has 38 strikeouts on the season. If you are looking for candidates to be promoted mid-season, I think Mekkes makes a strong case.
  • written by

    Luke Blaize is the Minor League Editor at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @ltblaize.

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