Cubs Minor League News: Matt Shaw homers again for USA, AFL update

by Dustin Riese - Senior Writer - Tue Nov 12 08:23:08 GMT-04:00 2024

What was once a promising season for the Mesa Solar Sox has turned into a nightmare ending as Mesa is limping to the finish line. After going just 1-3 last week and 3-7 in their last 10, the Solar Sox entered the final week of competition with hopes of turning things around, or they will be in danger of missing the playoffs.

In order for that to happen, they need to take a one-game-at-a-time approach, and that all started with the Glendale Desert Dogs on Monday. It was more of the same for the Solar Sox as a lack of offense and a rough pitching performance that saw Mesa dig themselves an early hole proved to be too much as the Solar Sox fell to the Desert Dogs 7-3.

If you have noticed anything about the Solar Sox roster, in particular the Cubs prospects, it does seem like Mesa is going with a rotational lineup where certain guys play Monday and Wednesday, and other guys play Tuesday and Thursday. Monday saw Moises Ballesteros and Ben Cowles getting some reps, as both of them are looking to finish the season strong.

Ballesteros, in particular, would like to finish the season strong, as he has been stuck in a lengthy slump the past few weeks. Despite that, he still ranks near the tops in the AFL with five homers and 15 RBIs, but he has seen his average tumble nearly 50 points. After going 1-4 in this one, Ballesteros is hitting .306 for the season, and his goal for the rest of the year should be to finish above .300.

Cowles, on the other hand, has struggled since day one, so any positive takeaway is a good thing for him. You can give him his flowers when it comes to his defense this Fall, as he has played much better defense than most expected him to play, but it has been his offense that has been an issue. That continued to be the case in this one, as Cowles went hitless with another strikeout. He is now hitting just .211 for the season.

Those were the only two Cubs farmhands in the Solar Sox lineup, but they weren't the only players seeing action as Vince Reilly saw another appearance on the mound. Of all the Cubs pitchers, Reilly has been the lone player to post consistent success, as one shaky outing has inflated what has been an outstanding season.

With an ERA of 3.74, Reilly has proven he can handle any role given to him, and that continued with two scoreless frames in this one. He walked one and struck out three as he got back to doing what he does best as a pitcher: locating his pitches and throwing strikes. Mesa will return to the diamond tomorrow as they head to Scottsdale to take on the Scorpions.

While many baseball fans around the world follow the Arizona Fall League casually, another massive baseball event is taking place. The Premiere 12 tournament continued on Monday, meaning that Team USA was back on the diamond as they took on a very good Venezuela club.

Coming off an impressive 12-2 win over the Netherlands, USA was riding high, but that quickly ended as Venezuela handed them their second loss of the tournament 5-3. As has been the case this entire tournament, Matt Shaw continued to lead the way for Team USA as he has been their offense so far.

After going 4-5 with seven RBIs against the Netherlands, Shaw was at it again as he connected for his second homer in as many days in the fourth to tie things up 1-1. That was the only hit of the day for Shaw, but he added a sacrifice fly later in the game as he drove in both USA runs in the loss.