Cubs Minor League Daily: Player Of The Month Honors For Caratini, Hatch

Iowa is no longer in last place!

The Triple A Cubs (41-48) hold a lead of .001 by win percentage over Omaha; both teams are 14.5 back of Colorado Springs for first place. Now, if they can claw their way back to .500, we might start looking for ways Iowa could get back into the division race that don’t involve meteor strikes.

The Double A Tennessee Smokies (9-7) are tied for second with Montgomery, four games behind Chattanooga. So long as Chattanooga stays in first place, though, it isn’t the second half standings we should be watching. It is the overall season standings. Since Chattanooga won the first half, if they also win the second half then the playoff slot that would have gone to the second half winner goes to the team with the second best overall record for the season. On those standings, the Smokies trail Montgomery by half a game for second place.

Since they did win the first half, that sort of calculus isn’t something the Myrtle Beach Pelicans (6-10) have to worry about. It would be nice to see them get back to winning and exit the basement though. They remain in last place, 4.5 games back of first place Buies Creek.

The South Bend Cubs (7-10) opened the second half in a very bad slump, but they appear to have finally emerged from it. Thanks to winning three straight, the Cubs are up to sixth place, six games behind leading West Michigan and three games out of the playoffs.

Eugene (13-11) are now tied for first place with Hillsboro, one game up over second place Boise. And even though it seems like the season just started, we are already seeing some single digit magic numbers for the first half. The Emeralds could significantly help their odds of winning the first half division title with a couple wins in Hillsboro later this week.

Meanwhile in the Arizona Rookie League, the Angels are starting to pull away from the pack. The Cubs (5-6) are sitting in fourth place, 3.5 games behind the first place Anaheim affiliate.

Triple A: Iowa Cubs
Omaha 5, Iowa 1
The Cubs just didn’t have much offense in this one.

Aaron Brooks: 7 IP, 4 R, 6 H, 9 K

Pierce Johnson: 1 IP, 3 K

Chesny Young: 2 for 5

Chris Dominguez: 2 for 4

Double A: Tennessee Smokies
Tennessee 5, Chattanooga 4
Late inning runs allowed the Smokies to overcome a pair of errors.

Zach Hedges: 6 IP, 4 R (0 ER), 8 H, 1 BB, 3 K

Craig Brooks: 1 IP, 2 BB, 3 K

Dillon Maples: 1 IP, 1 BB, 3 K

Yasiel Balaguert: 2 for 4, 2B

Ian Rice: 2 for 4

Cael Brockmeyer: 2 for 4, HR

Kevin Cornelius: 1 for 3, HR, BB

High A: Myrtle Beach Pelicans
Myrtle Beach 9, Frederick 5
A 2-1 Pelicans lead after the sixth held up in a wild finish.

Tom Hatch: 5 IP, 1 R, 6 H, 1 BB, 5 K

Dakota Mekkes: 2 IP, 4 K

Trent Giambrone: 1 for 4, HR, BB

Eddy Martinez: 2 for 5, HR

Jesse Hodges: 2 for 4, 2B, HR

Matt Rose: 2 for 4, 2B, HR

Connor Myers: 1 for 4, 2B

Low A: South Bend Cubs
South Bend 7, Dayton 3 in the eleventh.
A four run top of the ninth gave the Cubs their third straight win.

Tyson Miller: 6 IP, 2 R, 4 H, 8 K

Wyatt Short: 2 IP, 1 H, 2 K

Mark Malave: 1 IP, 1 H, 2 K

Roberto Caro: 2 for 4, BB

Vimael Machin: 2 for 5, BB

Austin Upshaw: 3 for 5, HR

Kevonte Mitchell: 3 for 5, 2B, BB, 2 SB

Tyler Payne: 1 for 5, 2B

Jhonny Pereda: 2 for 5

Andruw Monasterio: 2 for 5

Short Season A: Eugene Emeralds
Eugene 8, Tri-City 4
The Emeralds scored in each of the first three innings to put this one away early.

Yapson Gomez: 3 IP, 2 R, 4 H, 1 BB, 6 K

Manuel Rondon: 3 IP, 5 K

Jake Steffens: 1 IP, 1 BB, 2 K

Brian Glowicki: 1 IP, 2 K

Jhonny Bethencourt: 2 for 4, 3B, HR, BB

Aramis Ademan: 1 for 4, 3B

Jared Young: 2 for 4, SB

Rookie: AZL Cubs
Padres 14, Cubs 1
The Padres did all their scoring in three big innings.

Alfredo Colorado: 4.1 IP, 5 R, 6 H, 1 BB, 3K

Jose Mac Donna: 1.2 IP, 1 R, 3 H, 2 K

Cam Balego: 1 for 1, 2B

Delvin Zinn: 1 for 3, 2B

Fidel Mejia: 1 for 3, 2B

Other Notes

Dakota Mekkes make his first appearance for the High A Myrtle Beach Pelicans on June 4. He has pitched in 11 games there now, recorded between four and six outs in each of them, and has yet to allow a run. Not just an earned run. Any old run. Carolina League batters are hitting just .135 off him.

The Cubs Minor League Player of the Month for June did not actually finish the month in the minor leagues. Victor Caratini was called to Chicago on June 28 after hitting .345/.384/.586 with 8 walks and 16 strikeouts in 25 games for Iowa.

Thomas Hatch earned Pitcher of the Month after posting a 0.98 ERA over five starts. In his 27.2 innings of work he allowed just three earned runs and struck out 22.

If I were that weird statue thing in center field in Miami, I’d be worried. Eloy Jimenez, the Destroyer of Lights, the best prospect in the Cubs’ organization, one of the best power hitting prospects to come through this system in recent memory (and that’s saying quite a bit), is in Miami for the Futures Game. He’s taken out stadium lights twice already this season, maybe he can take out that statue thingy as well. We’ll find out when the Futures Game is played this afternoon.