Cubs Minor League News: Wicks and Sanders impressive, Ueckert rocked, Ramirez raking, more |
Dustin Riese
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- Saturday, April 05 2025
For the first time in six months, all four of the Cubs' full-season Minor League affiliates were in action as AA, High-A, and Low-A kicked off their 2025 campaigns. Despite all four teams being on the road this weekend, the overall results left the Cubs fans with mixed feelings as they posted a 1-2-1 record.
The tie isn't officially a tie, but more so a suspended game. The Iowa Cubs were tied with the Indianapolis Indians in extras before the game was suspended due to rain. They will resume that game on Saturday before playing their regularly scheduled game.
For the second time in as many days, the Cubs found themselves behind by multiple runs early, only to battle back late. The result saw Iowa tie things up in the later innings before Mother Nature forced this game to be suspended in the 10th. Jordan Wicks got the start for Iowa as he continues to battle his way back to the MLB roster. For the most part, Wicks gave the Cubs everything they needed, going five innings and allowing three runs. He turned things over to Luke Little, Phil Bickford, and Keegan Thompson, as those three combined to throw four shutout innings thus far. All of the damage against Wicks came in the third inning as the Indians scored three times to take a 3-0 lead. Matt Gorski got the scoring started with a two-RBI single while the Malcolm Nunez extended the Indians lead to 3-0. Indianapolis made that score hold until the sixth inning when Iowa scored all three of their runs. Like the Indians, an RBI single opened the scoring for Iowa, with Owen Caissie putting the Cubs on the board. CAISSIE DRIBBLER GETS I-CUBS ON THE BOARD! pic.twitter.com/sg0WSlVxlQ Iowa would add a second run later in the inning off a wild pitch, while the Moises Ballesteros single brought things back to even, which is where things stand. BALLEY TIES THE GAME! pic.twitter.com/1NBgQ6GyAI Bad news (again): Tonight's game has been suspended due to heavy rain.
It was the beginning of a new era for the Smokies, who opened the 2025 season with a new name but the same look. Standing in their way of a season-opening win was the defending Southern League Champion Birmingham Barons, who are expected to be a threat again this season. Despite the Smokies opening up a big lead early and holding a 4-1 lead into the late innings, the bullpen let this one get away, as Birmingham scored five times in the seventh inning to pick up the 6-4 win. It was a painful result for Will Sanders, who couldn't have asked for a better start to his AA career. Sanders gave the Smokies five impressive innings, allowing one run on five hits and striking out two before the Bullpen took over. Sanders was given a massive early lead as the Smokies jumped all over Barons lefty Noah Schultz and put up four runs in the first three innings. Three runs came in the second as the Hayden Cantrelle single led to the game's first two runs before the Jordan Nwogu single made things 3-0. Knoxville would tack on another run in the third off a Pedro Ramirez single to make things 4-0, but with no other runs coming the rest of the game, the pressure was on the Smokies staff to hold the lead. For the most part, they did their job, with Jacob Burke providing the Barons' only offense through six innings with a fifth-inning sacrifice fly. Then came the seventh, where Cayne Ueckert was not only bad but allowed five runs in the losing effort. Anytime you walk in a run during your outing, it typically isn't a good sign, but the bases-loaded triple from Jacob Gonzalez put the Barons on top for a good 5-4. Birmingham added a sacrifice fly later in the inning for the game's final run as the Barons held on for the 6-4 victory. Ramirez got off to a great start as he led the Smokies with three hits. Knoxville also saw Ben Leeper make his first appearance in nearly two years as the right-hander is recovering from a third Tommy John Surgery and went on to post a scoreless inning. It's not how you start the season, it's how you finish it. | @zips3mincarwash
Despite being shut out and what the final score shows, this was a much closer game than most realize, as the Cubs were down 2-0 most of the night. That was until a five-run eighth inning broke things open, as crooked numbers were a theme most of the night. Making his anticipated season debut was hard-throwing right-hander Jaxon Wiggins, who made a great first impression. The right-hander has emerged as one of the Cubs best pitching prospects, and with four strikeouts in 3 1/3 innings, he got off to a great start. Wiggins did have some command issues at times with three walks, but with only two runs allowed, he did his best to limit the damage. Both of the runs Wiggins allowed came on a pair of RBI singles, with Emaarion Boyd putting the Sky Carp in front in the second and Wilfredo Lara doubling the lead in the fourth. That would be all Thomas White and the Beloit staff would need as they combined to strike out 13 Cubs on the night. Seven came from White in his four innings as he was locked in. Still holding their 2-0 lead in the eighth, Beloit put the game away by pushing across five runs in that inning. Colby Shade and Lara provided three RBIs with a pair of singles, while Ryan Ignoffo capped off the scoring with a two-run double. South Bend was held to four hits in the loss, with Cristian Hernandez picking up one of those hits.
Despite a new face in Yovanny Cuevas taking over for Buddy Bailey, the goals remain the same for the Pelicans as they want to get back to the postseason. If game one was any indication of how things could go, 2025 will be a great year as the Pelicans scored early and often to pick up a 13-2 win. Evan Aschenbeck got the start for the Pelicans, and after allowing an unearned in four innings, he couldn't have asked for a better start. Aschenbeck allowed three hits and struck out seven as the Riverdogs gave him plenty of support in the early innings. The first of those runs came on the Leonel Espinoza second-inning single before the Pelicans tacked on three more runs in the third. BIRDS STRIKE FIRST! pic.twitter.com/8jirt6o9uR Cole Mathis added a bases-loaded walk as part of four walks from Trevor Harrison, who only lasted 2 1/3 innings in this start. Myrtle Beach added two more runs in the third off a forceout and a Cameron Sisneros double to take a 4-0 lead. Lights, CAMERON, Action! After Charleston plated a run in the third off an error, neither team was able to score again until the later innings, as the teams combined to score 10 runs over the final three innings. Nine runs came from the Pelicans, who pushed four of those runs across in the seventh. Michael Carico added a two-run double to his already strong night before coming home on a Matt Halbach single. This is fun, we're having fun. 🙂 pic.twitter.com/1uHzvIXxOC Myrtle Beach also scored a run on a wild pitch to break things open 8-1. The Pelicans continued to make life difficult for the Riverdogs in the eighth, with Carico and Eriandys Ramon adding two more RBI singles to push the lead to 10-1. Then came the ninth, when the Pelicans played long ball, as Halbach and Jose Escobar connected for homers to close out the 13-2 victory. Hal-back back back! Both Riverdogs runs came off of errors, with the first one coming in the third and the final run coming in the ninth. Carico had a great night at the plate and paced the offense with two hits and three RBIs. Myrtle Beach also received a four-hit, two-RBI game from Escobar, with Ramon, Halbach, and Espinoza all having multi-hit efforts. Undefeated. Never lost!#MBPelicans | @CampersInnRV pic.twitter.com/1BA83hMb46IOWA CUBS 3 - INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS 3 (Suspended)
We'll resume the game tomorrow at 5 PM. Gates will open at 4:30 PM, and only one ticket is needed to attend both games.BIRMINGHAM BARONS 6 - KNOXVILLE SMOKIES 4
Box Score: https://t.co/0Afjb9reyw pic.twitter.com/nXfcKCrpHTBELOIT SKY CARP 7 - SOUTH BEND CUBS 0
MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 13 - CHARLESTON RIVERDOGS 2
Sisneros extends the lead in the 3rd. pic.twitter.com/EnvcaMDotX
Matt Halbach 💣 pic.twitter.com/Wu2zsqy9Mx
