Trent Giambrone

AAA

Iowa 3, Toledo 2

Game Recap

The Iowa staff kept the Cubs within striking distance while their offense struggled through the first eight innings. With the score 2-0 and heading into the bottom of the 9th, the I-Cubs bats finally woke up. Jared Young and John Hicks reached to kick off the rally. Brennen Davis followed with a double to put the Cubs first run on the board, and runners at second and third with no outs. A single by Greg Deichmann tied the score. The Mud Hens intentionally walked Estaban Quiroz to load the bases.

Brennen Davis narrowly missing the walk off HR to straight away CF: pic.twitter.com/en6JS0w0EB

— Brad (@ballskwok) April 14, 2022 >

One out later Trent Giambrone delivered the game winner, with a sacrifice fly to score Davis from third.

Also, here’s Giant Trombone driving Brennen in for the actual walk off. pic.twitter.com/HHfY9KtlDm

April 14, 2022

Top Performers

Adrian Sampson: 4 IP, H, R, 0 BB, K (6.00)Stephen Gonsalves: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 4 K (0.00)Erich Uelmen: 2 IP, H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K (0.00)Brennen Davis: 2-4, 2B, R, RBI (.217)Greg Deichmann: 2-4, RBI, SB (1) (.231)

Injuries, Updates, and Trends

Iowa placed RHP Manuel Rodriguez on the 7-day IL. His velo was down a couple ticks in his last outing. Hopefully, it is nothing serious. It does put the Cubs in a tough spot heading into a 4-game series at Coors. If the team needs pitching reinforcements Cory Abbott is the only healthy arm on the 40-man roster in Iowa. It is a situation I addressed on Twitter quite often during the offseason. The Cubs are carrying more position players than I can ever remember on their 40-man roster. They also have a handful of players at the AA and even High-A levels who are not viable candidates for recall right now. It leaves them perilously thin on the pitching side in the event minor injuries strike.

AA

Montgomery 7, Tennessee 3

Game Recap

Not much good happened on the scoreboard so I’ll just address the solid starts by a trio of hitters on the club. Darius Hill, Chris Morel, and Bryce Ball are all sporting an OBP of at least .400.

Hill seems to reach base twice out of the leadoff spot every game. Morel is showing improved plate discipline and pitch recognition, something he’s slowly built up in each successive season. I’m not sure it’s quite where it needs to be in order for him to succeed in the Majors as anything more than versatile defense oriented utility man, but it is encouraging that it continues to trend in the right direction.

Walks were never an issue for Ball, but he did struggle to hit for average or to consistently access his power last year. I haven’t done a side by side comparison to last year, but he seems to be a little more loose and free with his swing this year.

I also continue to be encouraged by the Bryce Windham catcher conversion:

Bryce Windham. 1 inning. 2 runners caught stealing. pic.twitter.com/PpQRZAHCA3

April 14, 2022

Top Performers

Bryce Ball: 2-3, 2B, R, 2 RBI, BB (.368)Darius Hill: 2-4, R (.350)Yonathan Perlaza: 1-3, BB (.263)Chris Morel: 0-2, 2 BB (.294)

High-A

South Bend PPD

Low-A

Augusta 1, Myrtle Beach 0

Game Recap

Starter Luis Devers and piggyback Riley Martin did their job, striking out a combined 13 batters while allowing just one run. However, the Pelicans offense were shutdown entirely by the GreenJackets staff. They managed just two hits, three baserunners, and failed to get a single guy into scoring position.

Top Performers

Luis Devers: 3.1 IP, 5 H, R, 3 BB, 5 K (L, 0-1, 1.69)Riley Martin: 4.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, BB, 8 K (1.50)Felix Stevens: 1-3Liam Spence: 1-3