Cubs Minor League Daily: Playoff Odds Not Looking Good

It is a good thing Arizona Cubs 1 is something of a juggernaut right now, because that might be the only team in the Cubs’ farm system to make the playoffs this year.

Iowa (43-74) is toast. They are nineteen games back and have an elimination number of six. The only real question is whether or not they will be the only team in the Pacific Coast League to finish with a sub-.400 winning percentage. I think they’ll definitely finish in the ultimate basement.

Tennessee (22-25) has just been too inconsistent to really make up any ground in the division. They have looked very good at times, but a couple losing streaks have left them five and a half out of first. If they got very hot down the stretch they could still make a run at the second half championship, but they are fast running out of time.

It looked briefly like Myrtle Beach (17-30) would carry their very hot stretch at the end of the first half into the second half, but it hasn’t happened. Despite having a pretty talented roster, the Pelicans are thirteen games out of first and keep getting bit by losing streaks. Like Iowa, they are toast.

And so is South Bend (20-28). The Cubs are in last place in the division, second to last in the league, are sitting nine game behind, and have an active four game losing streak.

Eugene (7-9), on the other hand, still has a shot. Despite being under .500, they are just two games back in the division and have been playing fairly well lately. I suspect this division is going to come down to the final weekend, but Eugene might be right there in the middle of it when it does. The Emeralds are our best chance to watch some minor league playoffs in September.

That’s because there is no video to watch from the Arizona Rookie League where AZL Cubs 1 has already clinched a playoff spot by winning the first half. They are also winning the second half (10-4) with a game and a half lead in the division and the best overall record in the Arizona Rookie League. The Cubs should have a good shot at winning back to back AZL titles.

And how much fun would it be if the AZL championship series was Cubs vs Cubs? That could happen, as AZL Cubs 2 (8-6) is just a game behind in the central division. That is a tightly packed division, but Cubs 2 has plenty of talent on board to make a run. If they stay hot for the next two weeks, we could get a shot at an all Cubs final.

Triple A: Iowa Cubs
New Orleans 9, Iowa 2
Cubs pitching allowed three homers in this one.

Duane Underwood: 4 IP, 4 R (3 ER), 7 H, 3 BB, 3 K

Rob Zastryzny: 1 IP, 3 R, 3 H, 2 BB

Randy Rosario: 2 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 2 K

Chris Coghlan: 2 for 4, HR, BB

Stephen Bruno: 2 for 5, 2B

Chris Gimenez: 2 for 4, 2B

Double A: Tennessee Smokies
Tennessee 7, Biloxi 0
The Smokies got their seven runs on just seven hits. Drawing five walks certainly helped.

Keegan Thompson: 6 IP, 3 H, 3 K

Allen Webster: 1 IP, 2 H, 2 K

James Buckelew: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 2 K

Scott Effross: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 K

Jeffrey Baez: 3 for 4, 2B

Yasiel Balaguert: 2 fo4 3, BB

Eddy Martinez: 1 for 4, 2B

Vimael Machin: 1 for 2, 2 BB

High A: Myrtle Beach Pelicans
Wilmington 5, Myrtle Beach 4
Somehow Myrtle Beach managed to turn sixteen hits into just four runs.

Bryan Hudson: 6 IP, 4 R, 6 H, 1 BB, 1 K

Manuel Rondon: 2 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 5 K

D.J. Wilson: 2 for 5

Zach Davis: 2 for 4, BB

Jhonny Pereda: 2 for 4, BB

Jared Young: 3 for 5, SB

Roberto Caro: 1 for 4, BB, SB

Tyler Alamo: 2 for 4

Yeiler Peguero: 3 for 4

Low A: South Bend Cubs
Lake County 9, South Bend 4
This game got away from the Cubs in the middle innings.

Ryan Williams: 5.1 IP, 8 R, 9 H, 4 BB, 2 K

Jake Steffens: 2.1 IP, 1 R, 4 H, 1 BB

Miguel Amaya: 1 for 3, 2 BB

Jimmy Herron: 1 for 2, 1 BB

Austin Filiere: 3 for 4, 2 2B

Short Season A: Eugene Emeralds
Everett 7, Eugene 2
Eugene was held to two hits.

Eury Ramos: 5 IP, 6 R, 5 H, 2 BB, 2 K

Riley McCauley: 1 IP, 2 K

Jake Slaughter: 1 for 2, 2B, BB

Luke Reynolds: 1 for 2, BB

Rookie: AZL Cubs 1
Cubs One 9, Padres 3
The Cubs did all their scoring in two innings, including a six run outburst in the sixth.

Chi-Feng Lee: 4.1 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 5 K

Riger Fernandez: 1.1 IP, 1 R, 3 BB, 3 K

Brady Miller: 2.1 IP, 2 R, 1 H, 2 BB, 5 K

Edmond Americaan: 1 for 4, BB

Mike Freeman: 2 for 4, 2 2B

Yovanny Cuevas: 1 for 5, 2B

Alexander Guerra: 1 for 4, 2B

Yonathan Perlaza: 2 for 4

Rafael Mejia: 2 for 4

Rookie: AZL Cubs 2
Cubs Two 6, Mariners 0
Cubs Two 12, Mariners 1
The first game was suspended in the first inning on July 30. Since it was a suspended game, it went a full nine innings. The other game in the doubleheader was the expected seven.

Chris Allen: 0.2 IP, 1 H

Jack Patterson: 5.1 IP, 7 H, 5 K

Sucre Valdez: 3 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 4 K

Cole Roederer: 0 for 2, 2 BB, SB

Alsonso Gaitan: 0 for 2, 2 BB, SB

Brennen Davis: 1 for 3, SB

Kevin Zamudio: 1 for 3, 2B

Richard Nunez: 1 for 3, 2B, BB

Game Two

Eduarniel Nunez: 5 IP, 1 H, 7 K

Fernando Calderon: 2 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 1 K

Reivaj Garcia: 2 for 4, 2B, BB

Luis Verdugo: 2 for 5

Brennen Davis: 2 for 3, BB

Carlos Pacheco: 3 for 3, 2B, BB, SB

Raymond Pena: 2 for 4, 2B

Other Notes

There are no Cubs connection on this story except that the broadcaster for Greenville used to call games for Myrtle Beach. Two days ago Greenville of the Appalachian League was traveling to a game and watched a very, very bad accident on I-81 take place literally right in front of the team bus. The trainer and players for Greenville tried to help some of the victims. Once they finally got to the ballpark it (understandably) took them a bit to shake off what they had seen and settle into playing baseball, eventually winning an eleven inning contest.

In his last start, Alec Mills struck out eight over five innings. In the start before that he threw six perfect innings. In the start before that he allowed just one run over six and two thirds innings. He is on the mound this afternoon for Iowa, just in case you wanted to take a look at someone who might be able to help out in Chicago when the calendar turns over.

In his last eight starts, all in Double A, Keegan Thompson has given up five runs.

Hudson gave up six hits in his six innings of work, but almost all six of those hits were on the ground, and that is in addition to the fifteen outs he produced on the ground. We don’t have exit velocity in the minors, so we can’t say for sure how hard those balls were hit, but I really do wonder how much better Hudson’s results would look if he played in front of a very good infield defense.

Thanks to all those grounders, there are plenty of defensive highlights in the latest Pelicans higlights package.