Cubs Minor League Daily: Checking In On The Dominican Summer League

The level of competition in the Dominican Summer League is somewhat uneven. The league does feature a lot of teenagers who signed their professional contract last summer or the summer before, but it also contains a lot of players in their early or even mid 20s. Some of those guys also just signed their first affiliated contract recently, and some have been around the league for years.

I’m going to stick to the younger guys today, simply because the younger prospects tend to be the ones who have the better shot at emerging from the DSL and perhaps making the majors one day.

And the Cubs do have some prospects with promising numbers in the DSL this year. One area where they are lacking, though, is power. There isn’t a standout slugger in the bunch. When you consider that tfhis group of players was put together while the Cubs were under their international spending limits (no player could sign for more than $300k), that makes sense. Power guys tend to get the really big signing bonuses. Sluggers should start reappearing in the DSL for the Cubs next year, since they were not under the penalties this year.

For now I’m just going to list a few players who standout to me, players that we might want to keep an eye out for in the instructional leagues this fall or in Arizona next summer.

Fabian Pertuz, 17, 3B, .304/.451/.393, 0 HR, 18 SB
A right handed hitter, Pertuz currently has a very good strikeout rate of 11.7%, and a fantatic walk rate of 17.9%.

Rochest Cruz, 19, 2B, .299/.417/. 418, 2 HR, 31 SB
Despite being just 5’11”, this lefty hitting infielder is probably the best power hitter on the list. He also walks (15.6%) a lot more than he strikes out (10.8%).

Pedro Martinez, 17, 2B. .329/.413/.407, 1 HR, 24 SB
A switch hitting infielder, Martinez also walks (11.1%) more than he strikes out (10.5%).

Ricardo Verenzuela, 18, OF. .276/.393/.343, 0 HR, 22 SB
Verenzuela is a 6’0″ left handed hitter who walks and strikes out at the same rate (14.6%). Defensively, he’s played center field almost exclusively for the Cubs.

Ervis Marchan, 17, 1B. .270/.337/.349, 0 HR, 8 SB
Marchan has already been relegated to first defensively (not a good sign) and isn’t even quite league average at the plate (98 wRC+), but I note him here anyway because of his strikeout rate. At just 7.5%, it is tiny even by the standards of the DSL.

Over the next year or two we should start to see these players filter into the Arizona Rookie League, and then hopefully into Eugene and South Bend were we can get some video of them in action.

Triple A: Iowa Cubs
New Orleans 1, Iowa 0
The Cubs walked six Babycakes in this one.

Trevor Clifton: 5.2 IP, 1 R, 4 H, 4 BB, 3 K

Dakota Mekkes: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 K

Kyle Ryan: 2 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 K

Mark Zagunis: 2 for 3, BB

David Bote: 1 for 4, 2B

Ryan Court: 2 for 4

Double A: Tennessee Smokies
Biloxi 4, Tennessee 1
The only run for the Smokies came on a solo homer.

Matt Swarmer: 6 IP, 4 R, 5 H, 7 K

Zach Hedges: 2 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 2K

Zack Short: 0 for 2, 2 BB

Eddy Martinez: 1 for 3, HR, BB

Wynton Bernard: 2 for 4, SB

High A: Myrtle Beach Pelicans
Winston-Salem 6, Myrtle Beach 0
Two Pelican errors turned into three unearned runs.

Cory Abbott: 5 IP, 5 R (2 ER), 7 H, 3 K

Tyler Peyton: 2 IP, 3 H, 1 BB, 2 K

Roberto Caro: 2 for 3, 2B, BB

Kevonte Mitchell: 0 for 2, 2 BB

Low A: South Bend Cubs
South Bend 4, Kane County 2
The Cubs rallied for three in the the ninth to take their first lead of the game.

Ryan Williams: 5.1 IP, 1 R, 4 H, 3 BB, 5 K

Jake Steffens: 3.2 IP, 1 R, 3 H, 1 K

Miguel Amaya: 2 for 4, 2B

Austin Filiere: 1 for 3, 2B, BB

Short Season A: Eugene Emeralds
Eugene 2, Tri-City 1 in ten innings
The Emeralds allowed just two hits.

Jose Albertos: 2 IP, 5 BB, 2 K

Casey Ryan: 2 IP, 1 BB, 3 K

Yan De La Cruz: 3 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 2 K

Eugenio Palma: 3 IP, 4 K

Jonathan Sierra: 3 for 4, 2B, HR

Levi Jordan: 1 for 4, 2B

Tyler Dunra: 1 for 4, 2B

Rookie: AZL Cubs 1
Cubs One 5, Rangers 4
The first place Cubs have won four in a row.

Jesus Tejada: 4 IP, 2 R, 5 H, 2 BB, 3 K

Ryan Webb: 1 IP, 1 H

Corey Black: 2 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 K

Jimmy Herron: 3 for 4, 2B

Orian Nunez: 1 for 2, 2B

Christopher Morel: 1 for 4, 2B

Yonathan Perlaza: 1 for 3, 2B

Rafael Mejia: 1 for 4, HR

Rookie: AZL Cubs 2

Cubs Two had the day off.

Other Notes

The seven strikeouts for Matt Swarmer are his highest total as a Smokie.

Not only has Eddy Martinez homered in consecutive games, he has an extra base hit of some sort in four of his last five games.

In his past two games (10.2 innings) Trevor Clifton has allowed just one run on six hits.

The AZL Cubs 1 are in first place with a half a game lead and a magic number of three. Their next three games are against the Brewers, Giants Orange, and those D-backs the trail by just half a game.