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Daily Cubs Minors Recap: Thompson hits 2 bombs; Wick strikes out the side; Davis and Strumpf breakout; Chalmers fires 6 shutout innings; Nwogu and Made still red hot; Caissie homerson August 7, 2021 at 3:54 pm

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Daily Cubs Minors Recap: Thompson hits 2 bombs; Wick strikes out the side; Davis and Strumpf breakout; Chalmers fires 6 shutout innings; Nwogu and Made still red hot; Caissie homers

Brennen Davis (photo by Rikk Carlson)

MLB

Injuries, Updates, and Trends

With Jason Heyward heading to the IL with an injured finger, the Cubs called up Greg Deichmann from Iowa. The 26-year old corner outfielder was acquired from Oakland in the Andrew Chafin trade prior to the deadline. A left-handed hitter who has eschewed power for greater patience and contact this season, it has paid off in terms of OBP (.425 OBP in AAA), but he also spent the majority of that time in hitter friendly Las Vegas. Despite his age, Deichmann is still a work in progress. Injuries really slowed his ascent through the A’s system, and he has yet to tap into his above average raw power on a consistent basis. At the very least though, he seems like an interesting platoon option heading into next season as Deichmann batted .321/.467/.476 against RHP this year. He went 1-for-5 in his MLB debut.

AAA

Indianapolis 12, Iowa 8

Game Recap

Trayce Thompson homered twice and Nick Martini added another in a losing effort. The Cubs fell way behind in the 5th, when reliever Ryan Lawlor was rocked for seven runs in just a third of an inning of work. Lawlor has continued to miss bats this season, just as he did at lower levels, but he’s been extrememly homer prone (8 allowed in just 21.2 IP). All of the Cubs scoring after they fell behind 11-0.

The biggest bright spot on the day was the scoreless inning turned in by Rowan Wick. He required just 12 pitches to strike out the side in the 8th. His fastball was 95+ (always an important factor for his success) and his spike curve baffled a couple of hitters. My guess is the Cubs want him to get in an appearance of more than one inning (or at least pitch on back-to-back days) before his rehab ends, but his stuff looks to be fully back.

Top Performers

Trayce Thompson: 2-3, 2 HR (12, 13), 3 R, 4 RBI, 2 BB (.241)
Nick Martini: 3-3, 2B, HR (8), 3 R, 2 RBI, BB, HBP (.271)

Trent Giambrone: 3-4, 2B, BB (.183)
Levi Jordan: 2-5, RBI (.267)
Scott Efforss: 2.2 IP, H, 0 R, BB, 2 K (4.50)

Rowan Wick: IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K (13.50)

Tennessee 10, Montgomery 0 (Game 1)

Montgomery 5, Tennessee 3 (Game 2)

Game Recap

Dakota Chalmers hurled a 6 inning gem and the Smokies broke out the big bats in game one of the doubleheader. Chase Strumpf doubled and homered. Jared Young and Nelson Velazquez each homered and reached base twice. Brennen Davis doubled home two, and drove in another on a sac fly.

Davis and Strumpf delivered in game two as well. This time it was Davis’s turn to double and homer in the game. Strumpf settled for a single, double and walk in three trips to the plate.

Top Performers

Dakota Chalmers: 6 IPm H, 0 R, BB, 5 K (W, 2-2, 4.45)
Brennen Davis: 3-4, 2 2B, HR (10), 2 R, 5 RBI, 2 HBP, SF (.264)

Chase Strumpf: 4-5, 2 2B, HR (5), R, 3 RBI, 2 BB (.184)
Nelson Velazquez: 2-6, 2B, HR (1), 3 R, RBI, BB (.273)
Jared Young: 2-7, HR (4), R, 2 RBI (.306)

Tyler Payne: 1-3, 2 R (.222)
Chris Morel: 1-4, 2B, R (.200)
Delvin Zinn: 1-6, R, BB, SB (1) (.222)

Injuries, Updates, and Trends

Brennen Davis broke out of an 0-for-12 (with 7 K) streak with two doubles, a homer, while reaching safely in 5-of-his-7 plate appearances last night.

Maybe Chase Strumpf (.214/.336/.349 in 66 games between High-A/AA) is about to turn the corner as well. He entered the game on August 3rd batting just .158 with Tennessee, but he’s gone 7-for-16 with 3 doubles, a homer and 2 walks since.

Stuff has never been an issue for Dakota Chalmers, He throws hard and with plenty of movement on his fastball and breaking pitches. Control is what has always held him back. That is why the Cubs were able to claim him on waivers, and then later pass him through waivers this summer. But the 24-year old has made strides since joining the organization. Take out one bad outing on July 13th where he walked 4 guys and gave up 7 runs in 3 innings and his overall numbers with the Smokies are pretty impressive: 29.1 IP, 15 H, 9 R, 12 BB, 28 K (2.76 ERA).

High-A

South Bend SUSP

Low-A

Myrtle Beach 3, Columbia 2 (10 Innings)

Game Recap

Jordan Nwogu went 3-for-5 at the dish, and drove home the winning run in the 10th. The pitchers did a good job battling through rain and mist for the majority of the game. Tyler Schlaffer turned in his first good performance in full season ball, striking out 6 over 5.1 innings. It was the Pelicans bullpen which proved key to the victory however. Myrtle Beach entered the 7th down 2-0. Jake Reindl and Gabriel Jaramillo slammed the door shut over the final 3.2 innings to allow the offense to chip away with a single run in the 7th, another in the 8th to tie it, and then made sure Nwogu’s run scoring single held up, as Jaramillo stranded the inherited runner in the bottom of the 10th.

Top Performers

Tyler Schlaffer: 5.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K (5.27)

Jake Reindl: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K (6.03)
Gabriel Jaramillo: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K (W, 3-1, 1.21)
Jordan Nwogu: 3-5, 2B, RBI, SB (10) (.228)

Kevin Made: 2-5, 2B (.258)
Fabian Pertuz: 1-2, BB, SAC (.241)

Injuries, Updates, and Trends

Make it 6 multi-hit games for Kevin Made (.258/.281/.323) over his last 8. He’s raised his average from .193 to .258 over his last 11 games (16-for-41, .390). He’s an aggressive hitter, who still needs to learn to lay off pitches outside the zone, but I’m impressed with his bat control and he is able to barrel up pitches in all quadrants of the strike zone (and even outside it at times). Made uses the whole field and his swing is simple, and geared toward line drives, and making solid contact. Just 18 years old, there is still plenty of time to refine his offensive game, as well as get stronger, which should turn more of his singles into extra base hits.

The Cubs have really toned down Jordan Nwogu‘s swing and mechanics, and it is paying huge dividends. He looks very relaxed at the plate, and his swing is now much direct to the zone, and smoother through it. Nwogu is simply letting his natural hand speed and raw strength do much of the heavy lifting right now. Since June 20th (40 G), he is batting .279/.388/.527 (147 wRC+). He’s been even better over his last 21 games (.333/.442/.611, 181 wRC+).

Gabriel Jaramillo (29.2 IP, 14 H, 4 R, 15 BB, 40 K) has given the Pelicans a big boost in the bullpen since he arrived from Mesa at the beginning of June. He uses a quiet delivery with a very short arm path to provide a bit of deception. I’m not sure what his fastball registers on the gun on a consistent basis, but he gets plenty of carry through the strike zone on it, so the backspin must be impressive. His curve doesn’t look real sharp, but the break seems to come fairly late, and hitters had issues timing it up last night. His command and control are spotty, but if the 22-year old can dial that in over the coming years, there may be some middle relief utility with him down the road.

ACL

Cubs 5, Indians 4 (completion of suspended game)

Indians 17, Cubs 8

Top Performers (Game 1)