Are you ready to wake up to more glum news?!
The minor league season is only about five months long for full season teams, so we are already about 20% of the way through the year. And, right now, every team in the Cubs’ farm system is under .500. Tennessee is under by only a game, but they are under. Iowa is in the worst shape at 16 games under and a win percentage of .192.
Fortunately, every team but Iowa gets to reset their records in June when the first half ends. If we figure that there will be some roster shuffling before that happens, I wouldn’t be surprised to see at least one team, likely Tennessee or Myrtle Beach, be in contention during the second half.
We also have Eugene’s projected outfield of Jonathan Sierra and Nelson Velazques (and hopefully Fernando Kelli) to look forward to. If nothing else, they should keep us supplied with a steady diet of homer videos.
In the meantime, we’ll have to take our bright spots where we can find them.
Triple A: Iowa Cubs
Round Rock 4, Cubs 3
The winning run scored on a wild pitch with two outs in the ninth.
Alec Mills: 7 IP, 3 R, 4 H, 2 BB, 7 K
Randy Rosario: 1 IP, 1 H, 2 K
Ryan Court: 1 for 5, HR
David Bote: 2 for 4, BB
Mike Freeman: 1 for 4, 2B
Double A: Tennessee Smokies
Birmingham 5, Tennessee 4
The Smokies got within one in the eighth, but they trailed in all nine innings.
Thomas Hatch: 4.1 IP, 3 R, 7 H, 4 BB, 3 K
Zach Hedges: 3.2 IP, 2 R, 5 H, 1 BB, 2 K
Yasiel Balaguert: 2 for 4
Charcer Burks: 1 for 3, 2B, BB
High A: Myrtle Beach Pelicans
Lynchburg 7, Myrtle Beach 3
The Pelicans gave up six runs in the sixth.
Alex Lange: 5 IP, 4 R, 6 H, 2 BB, 5 K
Jhon Romero: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 2 K
Andruw Monasterio: 1 for 4, BB
Vimael Machin: 1 for 3, 2 BB, SB
Wladimir Galindo: 2 for 4, 2B
Connor Myers: 2 for 3, BB
Low A: South Bend Cubs
Peoria 12, South Bend 3
The Cubs offense was effecient, scoring three times on just four hits.
Javier Assad: 2.2 IP, 6 R (4 ER), 6 H, 3 BB, 1 K
Yapson Gomez: 2.1 IP, 1 H, 3 K
Zach Davis: 3 for 3, 2B
Other Notes
If you missed it yesterday, Matt Swarmer and Jeffrey Baez were named Pitcher and Player of the Month, respectively, for April by the Cubs. They have been two of the bright spots in a very rough season start for the farm system so far.
Alec Mills turned in a pretty good performance yesterday. His 89 pitches were mostly in the strike zone, and he added six groundouts to his seven strikeouts while allowing just four hits. That was the second time this season he has pitched seven innings, and he did it with his second fewest pitches thrown so far this year.
Iowa remains one of the worst-performing baseball teams we have seen in a very long time, but believe it or not, even in their 5-21 record there is a silver lining. While Iowa’s offense is the worst in the Pacific Coast League by a mile (just 89 runs scored, the only team that hasn’t reached triple digits), their pitching has actually been solid. In fact, Iowa is fifth in the PCL with an ERA of 4.09 and has allowed the fourth fewest earned runs and second fewest hits.
Some of that comparative success is probably due to Iowa’s home park; the Cubs don’t have a field that is as hitter friendly as some other stadiums in the league. But most of it is due to the fact that Iowa’s bullpen has been pretty good this year. They currently have four relievers with more than 10 innings pitched and an ERA under 3.00 (Randy Rosario (0.75), Alberto Baldonado (2.19), Cory Mazzoni (2.31), and Rob Zastryzny (2.63)).
NEWSLETTER
