Daily Cubs Minors Recap: Five Pelicans combine for No-Hitter; Pitching leads the way in Iowa and South Bend victories as well; Hill hits walkoff homer; Nwogu homers for 2nd straight day; Uelmen promoted
Tyler Schlaffer (photo by Stephanie Lynn)
MLB
Injuries, Updates, and Trends
Daniel Norris was DFA to make room on the roster for reliever Erich Uelmen. Norris had developed into a good reliever a couple of years ago before struggling in 2021. The Cubs hoped they could help him bounce back, but it just wasn’t happening, and they’ve now moved on. With veteran lefty Steven Brault finally healthy and rookie Brandon Hughes pitching well, they apparently feel better about their depth from that side. Sean Newcomb is also showing signs of turnaround in Iowa. At this point it seemed unlikely Norris could gain enough traction prior to the trade deadline, so there was no further point in trying.
As for Uelmen, he’s looked sharp the majority of the season in Iowa. Attacking from a low 3/4 arm slot, there has always been some platoon concerns with him, and its no doubt a major reason why he was moved to the pen last season. The 2017 4th rounder has sharpened his slider and changeup, which has helped him battle lefties better this season, but we’ll have to see how it goes at the MLB level. He’s held LHB to a sub-.200 batting average this season, but he’s allowed a high OBP because 17 of the 23 walks he’s issued have come against lefties.
AAA
Game Recap
DARIUS HILL WALKOFF HOMER!
First walkoff dinger for the @IowaCubs since 2019 gives them a 6-4 victory and a series split with the @BuffaloBisons.
Heck of a way to finish the first half!
Top Performers
Darius Hill: 1-5, HR (2), 2 R, 2 RBI (.326)Dixon Machado: 2-2, 2 R, RBI (.309)Levi Jordan: 2-4, 2B, R, RBI (.234)Jared Young: 2-4, 2B, RBI (.254)John Hicks: 2-4, R, SB (4) (.257)Cayne Ueckert: 1.1 IP, H, 0 R, 0 BB, K (7.36)Michael Rucker: 2 IP, H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K (0.68)Blake Whitney: 2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 0 ER, BB, 2 K (1.86)Ben Leeper: IP, H, 0 R, 0 BB< 2 K (W, 1-2, 4.78)
AA
Game Recap
Jordan Wicks got his first AA start. It wasn’t great, wasn’t bad. Lots of traffic during his three innings of work. Wasn’t a great day for pretty much anyone on the Smokies, outside of Matt Mervis, who reached base four times. Jeremiah Estrada was the only one of the five Tennessee pitchers to not allow a run.
Jordan Wicks with 3 strikeouts through 2 innings. pic.twitter.com/Dfw6aTMILi
Top Performers
Matt Mervis: 1-2, R, 3 BB, SB 92) (.300)Luis Vazquez: 1-3, 2B, HBP (.227)Jeremiah Estrada: IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, K (2.08)
High-A
Game Recap
Luis Devers delivered a strong pitching line yesterday. Between watching the big league club close out their 1st half and the draft happening, I didn’t get a chance to watch any Minor League action, but I would assume Devers pounded the zone and changed speeds effectively, because that’s what he does pretty much every time out, and zero walks issued is a pretty good indicator.
South Bend got some great work from its pen too. Michael McAvene has been on a roll which he kept going. Riley Martin has also been sharp since coming off the Developmental List, throwing more strikes, and that also continued.
Michael McAvene in July after today’s outing….5 games5.2 IP9 Ks0.00 ERA0.90 WHIP———————–.133 BAA heading into today. pic.twitter.com/jRGAcv6Qe4
Top Performers
Luis Devers: 5 IP, 4 H, R, 0 BB, K (W, 1-0, 0.84)Riley Martin: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K (4.50)Michael McAvene: 1.1 IP, H, 0 R, 0 BB, K (2.38)Eduarniel Nunez: IP, 0 H, 0 R, BB, 3 K (S, 2, 3.67)Jordan Nwogu: 1-5, HR (6), R, RBI (.238)Yohendrick Pinango: 2-3, 3B, R, RBI, BB (.294)Pablo Aliendo: 2-4, SB (2) (.254)Scott McKeon: 1-3, R, BB (.165)
Low-A
Myrtle Beach 5, Fayetteville 1
Game Recap
I did catch the final inning of this one, to see Alfredo Zarraga close out the Pelican’s second combined no-hitter of the season. But unfortunately I missed the early game action where starter Tyler Schlaffer and piggyback Luis Rodriguez combined to punch out 14 batters through the first six innings. Gregori Montano and Angel Hernandez kept the no-hitter going with an inning apiece before handing the reigns to Zarraga in the 9th.
“THE SPECIAL SEASON CONTINUES TO GET BETTER!”
This. Team. pic.twitter.com/VUTHeq6JHp
Another special night in a special season.
Congratulations to these five pitchers for the combined no-hitter, and catcher Ethan Hearn with his second no-hitter of the season behind the plate. #MBPelicans pic.twitter.com/3OKJCoSvQX
Top Performers
Tyler Schlaffer: 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K (3.82)Luis Rodriguez: 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 3 BB, HBP, 8 K (W, 5-1, 3.40)Gregori Montano: IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, K (0.00)Angel Hernandez: IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, K (4.40)Alfredo Zarraga: IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K (2.51)Ezequiel Pagan: 2-4, 2B, HR (9), R, 3 RBI (.296)Juan Mora: 3-3, 2 2B, R, BB (.282)James Triantos: 1-4, 2B, R, 2 RBI (.276)Kevin Made: 1-4, 2B, R (.266)Kevin Alcantara: 1-3, R, BB, CS (2) (.267)
Injuries, Updates, and Trends
The Pelicans staff has been putting up some impressive numbers of late:
The Myrtle Beach Pelicans have struck out 75 hitters in their last five games. Good for 15 strikeouts per nine and a strikeout percentage of 53.6.
They’ve struck out over 50% of the hitters they’ve faced. And threw a no-hitter today. @Pelicanbaseball
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Daily Cubs Minors Recap
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