NEWSLETTER
Checking in on the overall performance of the Cubs’ minor league clubs this morning is … a bit ugly.
The Iowa Cubs (4-16) have lost eight in a row and ten of their last eleven. They are now twelve games under .500, twelve games behind in the division, and have come about as close to eliminating themselves from contention in the first month of the season as it is mathematically possible to do. There is a very real chance they could finish the month of April with a winning percentage below .200. [Brett: Yes, but they’re on their way to the top spot in the AAA draft! … that’s a thing, right?]
This time last week, the Tennessee Smokies look poised to go on a run that could leave them all alone in second place. Instead they went 2-4, dropped back into fourth with a record of 10-11, and are still five and a half behind Jackson.
On a positive note, the Myrtle Beach Pelicans are playing better baseball of late. Since breaking their four-game losing streak on April 20, the Cubs’ High A affiliate is 5-3. As a result, they no longer have the worst record in the Carolina League. They have the second worst at 8-15. They are last in their division, though, and trail first place Buies Creek by eight games.
On April 13 the South Bend Cubs had a five-game winning streak going. They’ve won just three times since then. Now back under .500 at 9-10, the Cubs are four and a half out of first place and three out of a playoff slot. I still think the South Bend Cubs are the mostly likely of this group of teams to claim a playoff slot in the first half, but they are going to have to find some consistency in all parts of the game to do it.
Triple A: Iowa Cubs
Oklahoma City 7, Iowa 1
This time the bullpen allowed just two runs in six innings of work.
Double A: Tennessee Smokies
Chattanooga 6, Tennessee 4
The Smokies took the lead in the sixth, but lost it in the seventh.
High A: Myrtle Beach Pelicans
Myrtle Beach 5, Salem 1
Very good pitching carried the Pelicans in this one.
Low A: South Bend Cubs
Great Lakes 7, South Bend 4
The Cubs rallied in the ninth, but came up well short.
Other Notes
