Jared Young (photo by Rikk Carlson)
MLB
Injuries, Updates, and Trends
Signs are pointing toward the Cubs starting Caleb Kilian, their top pitching prospect, in Wednesday’s game against the Padres at Wrigley Field. Acquired from the Giants in last summer’s Kris Bryant trade, Kilian has a 2.51 ERA through 10 starts at Triple-A Iowa.
AAA
Game Recap
Jared Young, Narciso Crook, and Greg Deichmann hit back-to-back-to-back homers in the 2nd inning. The team wouldn’t hit any more home runs on the night but compiled two more big innings. That trio, and Crook and Deichmann in particular, have been bringing the power of late. Each continued their hot streaks with multi-hit games. The team also got two run scoring hits out of backup catcher Tyler Payne.
Three pitches, three home runs! Jared Young, Narciso Crook and Greg Deichmann give us a 3-0 lead over Omaha. pic.twitter.com/XW7L59UbdO
On the mound, Cam Sanders looked pretty darn good once again. There’s no doubt the stuff plays. He’s not always the most efficient and his command comes and goes, so it is still an open question if he can make it as a starter, but at some point this season the Cubs figure to give him a look as either a starter or reliever (or both).
Going to be in Chicago post TDL.
Painting the edges is not something he typically does, but with his stuff he doesn’t really need to. https://t.co/nFVCU0GKBa
Top Performers
Cam Sanders: 4 IP, H, 0 R, 4 BB, 3 K (2.73)Greg Deichmann: 2-3, 2B, HR (6), 3 R, 3 RBI, BB (.230)Jared Young: 3-4, 2B, HR (10), 3 R, 2 RBI, BB (.263)Narciso Crook: 2-5, HR (8), R, 2 RBI, SB (6) (.254)Tyler Payne: 2-4, 2B, 3 RBI (.333)Alfonso Rivas: 2-5, R (.500)Dixon Machado: 1-4, BB (.302)
Injuries, Updates, and Trends
Last year it felt like the focus was on strength training and making mechanical/velocity improvements. Now that most of the pitchers are healthier, stronger and throwing harder it makes upgrading their pitch profiles easier to implement. Developmentally lining up properly.
AA
Game Recap
Ryan Jensen returned from a month on the developmental list with slightly altered mechanics. Early returns… looked pretty solid. He threw two perfect innings, striking out two in the process. Dalton Stambaugh relieved him and pitched okay, but the Smokies got little out of their offense outside of good games from Chase Strumpf and Matt Mervis (big surprise) at the top of the order.
This has been a long time coming as Bryan says.
Results have never matched the stuff.
Consistency an issue, and I always got the sense opposing hitters saw the ball well and times him up easier than should. Shortening the arm action could help both issues. https://t.co/gJmO5J3J34
Then Matt Mervis did the same thing in the 4th. Nice to see him hit it hard center/oppo two games in a row. pic.twitter.com/dO8RdpQFlz
Top Performers
Chase Strumpf: 2-4, 2B (.235)Matt Mervis: 2-4, 2B, (.337)Yonathan Perlaza: 1-3, (.216)Bryce Windham: 1-3 (.217)Ryan Jensen: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K (4.91)Dalton Stambaugh: 5 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 ER, BB, K (L, 3-1, 4.58)
Injuries, Updates, and Trends
In addition to Ryan Jensen returning from the developmental list, it appears that he will be followed by Riley Thompson. Both were taken out of the Smokies rotation at the same time in early May, and Thompson will be re-joining the rotation with Jensen this time through. I’ll be curious if there will be visible mechanical tweaks with him as well.
Andy Weber was activated from the IL.
Jeremiah Estrada received a long overdue promotion from South Bend where he was regularly dominating.
High-A
Game Recap
D.J. Herz rebounded from a tough outing by allowing just one run in three innings of work, albeit while navigating through quite a bit of traffic on the bases. Joe Nahas followed with two perfect innings, and it looked like South Bend was on the way to victory. Quad Cities would tie the game at 3-3 in the 7th though with a pair of runs off Sheldon Reed. Yohendrick Piñango quickly responded with his second runs scoring hit of the night to retake the lead in the 8th, but once again Quad Cities fought back, this time with a pair of runs off closer Hunter Bigge in the 9th to win in walk off fashion.
Top Performers
Yohendrick Piñango: 2-4, R, 2 RBI, SB (8) (.269)Yeison Santana: 2-4, R, SB (6) (.300)Jordan Nwogu: 2-4, R (.252)Owen Caissie: 1-3, RBI, BB (.238)Fabian Pertuz: 1-3, RBI, CS (2) (.231)
Injuries, Updates, and Trends
After hitting really well in Low-A B.J. Murray Jr. will now be getting a long look in South Bend. A switch hitter, he was a late bloomer in college who tore it up in his draft year for Florida Atlantic, but because he hadn’t done much in previous seasons was still available for the Cubs in the 15th round. A third baseman by trade, he got most of his looks with the Pelicans at 1B/DH due to the presence of so many top infield prospects, but figures to get more time there now. I’ll be interested to see how he handles the position, because it would help his prospect profile immensely. He’s got a quiet approach at the plate and has shown an ability to hit hard line drives, but he lacks the size and power one looks for as a 1B. He’s had a good start to his first full pro season, but South Bend is a more appropriate level for someone of his experience and I want to see how the native of the Bahamas responds. If he can keep putting up good numbers at the plate and play solid defense at the hot corner he puts himself much more firmly on the prospect map.
On his way to South Bend.
Late bloomer in college. Good opening couple of months in Low-A. Quiet at the plate. Hits line drives all over. Tough D profile as maybe 3B, but maybe only 1B/DH. Gotta hit for 2 out of 3 of AVG/OBP/SLG. Doing it so far. High-A will be a better barometer https://t.co/AvDhWc15KZ
There was quite a bit of roster churn on the South Bend roster outside of the addition of Murray. The club also activated Michael McAvene and Gabriel Jaramillo from the IL. It has been a rough 18 months or so for McAvene who came to the Cubs as a hard throwing reliever from Louisville in the 3rd round of the 2019 draft. He missed most of 2021 battling shoulder issues, and when he was on the mound the results were ugly, and the reports on his stuff from Mesa were not good. He’s had more time to recover now, and I saw scattered reports he has been throwing better in EXST. Hopefully he is back on track.
Jaramillo was an under the radar reliever who put up good numbers at a couple of different levels last year before going on the IL in the 2nd half. He’ll also be seeing his first game action in a while.
To make room, reliever Bailey Reid was placed on the Developmental List, and utility man Grayson Byrd was released. The son of former MLB pitcher Paul Byrd, Grayson filled in at a number of positions across several levels in the Cubs system the past few years, but with the additional prospect depth on the farm this season, a role never materialized for him in 2022.
Low-A
Myrtle Beach 2, Fredicksburg 0
Game Recap
Luke Little kicked off the shutout with 2.2 innings of no hit ball before handing the keys over to Tyler Santana, who gave up just six hits and issued no free passes over the following 5.1 innings. Lefty Angel Hernandez has looked promising since coming up from Mesa a couple of weeks ago, and earned his first save with the Pelicans with two strikeouts in a perfect 9th.
Top Performers
Luke Little: 2.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K (2.45)Tyler Santana: 5.1 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K (W, 6-0, 2.36)Angel Hernandez: IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K (S, 1, 0.00)
Injuries, Updates, and Trends
As great as the Pelicans have been this year it is crazy that they are only a game up in the division. The two best team W/L records in all of Minor League Baseball are playing in the same division. https://t.co/R37NCEyJM0
ACL
DSL
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Daily Cubs Minors Recap
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