The full complement of Cubs affiliates got underway last night, with only Tennessee pulling out the win. Whatever. It’s just good to have minor league baseball back, to get these prospects into action, and give us the many stories to track for the very important season ahead.
⇒ That Tennessee Smokies game is where the best of the best happened last night, with great nights from Bryce Ball, Chase Strumpf, and Luis Vazquez at the plate, and some EXTREME dominance by the pitching staff:
1-0.
Sanders, Hudson, Assad, and Hughes shutout the visiting Lookouts on Opening Night. pic.twitter.com/EBp02oSeIK— Tennessee Smokies (@smokiesbaseball) April 9, 2022
⇒ Cam Sanders went four scoreless with EIGHT strikeouts. Bryan Hudson followed him with two scoreless with FOUR strikeouts. Both are guys who took huge steps forward with stuff/velo last year, and man, if they took ANOTHER big step forward this offseason? That would obviously be huge.
A batter tried sticking his elbow out on a Cam Sanders hammer tonight. Cam let him know how he felt and then set him down on the next pitch! pic.twitter.com/iytzfCgg9M
— Greg Huss (@OutOfTheVines) April 9, 2022
https://twitter.com/CubsCentral08/status/1512597660049551362
⇒ Ed Howard’s South Bend debut – where he was hitting 2nd – came with a walk and a sac fly:
Really liked what I saw from Ed Howard up at the plate with the bases loaded, ninth inning one out, @SBCubs down 3-2.
Closer is throwing strikes up to 97, and Howard falls in a quick 0-2 hole, fouls back a good fastball and then adjusts and waits on a breaking ball for sac fly.
— Cubs Prospects – Bryan Smith (@cubprospects) April 9, 2022
⇒ Interesting to see Fabian Pertuz with an absolute rocket homer to start his year at South Bend, as he was a guy who was not really on many of our radars last year, but was getting some love for how he was looking in the fall:
https://twitter.com/CubsCentral08/status/1512594353641897992
⇒ MLB Pipeline offered up a prospect prediction for each organization, and the Cubs one comes with a lofty projection for James Triantos: “Originally set to graduate from high school in 2022, Triantos reclassified with the intent to attend the University of North Carolina a year ahead of schedule. Instead, he signed as a second-round pick last July and will spend this year winning the Single-A Carolina League batting title with a .337 average.” Obviously if Triantos does that – having just turned 19, and in his first full pro season – he will be a consensus top 100 prospect, and maybe even top 50 to some.
⇒ Triantos’ debut at Myrtle Beach came without a hit (just one walk), but he’s part of the group that got Myrtle Beach tabbed as one of the ten most stacked prospect rosters in MiLB, per Baseball America.
We saw James Triantos expand a couple more times in the game. It's a massive adjustment from the Complex League to Low-A (especially facing Charleston) and I like the small steps he's taking. There will be some ups and downs, but he's got the skills. https://t.co/7hPNrsEvKP
— Greg Zumach (@IvyFutures) April 9, 2022
⇒ So THAT’s what it’s like to be tall and athletic:
CD Pelham made this look way too easy pic.twitter.com/RYl3WZxteX
— Greg Huss (@OutOfTheVines) April 8, 2022
⇒ C.D. Pelham has been in the Cubs organization since late 2019, but has yet to throw a single game pitch for the organization thanks to injuries and the pandemic. The 6’6″ power lefty is still only 27, so he remains worth keeping an eye on.
https://twitter.com/cubprospects/status/1512622798388318211