Cubs Minor League News: Assad impressive, Pagan raking, Murray's on-base streak at 26 |
Playing .500 is never a great thing, but it is better than how things could go on a nightly basis. Sure, every organization wants their team to win lots of games, but in the Minor League system, it is more about the overall growth and development of players as opposed to wins.
The Cubs system is fortunate to see both this season, as plenty of their players are developing at a nice rate. At the same time, the entire organization has one of the better overall winning percentages in the game. With two more wins on Thursday, the Cubs played .500 ball and continued to do many of the little things right.
For the most part, the Iowa Cubs have been very good this season, but there have been some cracks in the armor lately. A lot of that has to do with their offense starting to cool off with Matt Mervis and Christopher Morel now on the North Side, there is also a need for more pitching right now, and that is not a good thing. Back on the mound Thursday was Javier Assad, who has looked much better since returning to Iowa. Assad has been used as a starter in the minors and gave the Cubs four innings of two-run ball while striking out five. He was good, but the Cubs bullpen wasn't, as both Codi Heuer and Tyler Duffey allowed three runs as part of a six-run inning which proved to be the difference. That big inning was more than enough for the Indians as they gave Kent Emmanuel plenty of run support after he allowed three runs in five innings. Trailing 1-0 in the second, Iowa grabbed the lead as Brennen Davis tied things up with an RBI groundout. The same can be said about Sergio Alcantara, who also added an RBI groundout to give the Cubs a 2-1 lead. Iowa would maintain that lead until the fourth inning when Malcolm Nunez used an RBI single to bring things back to even 2-2. Looking to retake the lead, in the fifth, it was Jake Slaughter coming through as his sacrifice fly made things 3-2. However, it was all downhill from there as Heuer and Duffey fell apart in the bottom half of the fifth. In that frame, the Indians took complete control as they pushed six runs across to make things 8-3. Bases loaded walks to Cal Mitchell and Vinny Capra didn't help, but a pair of two-run singles from Nunez and Chavez Young helped bust the game open 8-3. Indianapolis would continue to add on, with Capra adding an RBI double in the seventh and Endy Rodriguez picking up one in the eighth to push the lead to 10-3. The Cubs did bring home a pair of runs in the ninth as Levi Jordan took a bases-loaded hit by pitch ahead of a Darius Hill RBI single. Unfortunately, nothing else came from it as the Cubs fell 10-5. Miguel Amaya and Yonathan Perlaza led the way as they picked up two hits a piece. Amaya continues to hit the ball well since arriving in AAA, as his average sits at .375. Today’s Player of the Game is Miguel Amaya! pic.twitter.com/eWzAjgg2v8 Not our day pic.twitter.com/sMxlZhH9Oz
It is incredible how much difference a year makes. After a horrendous 2022 season, RHP Kohl Franklin has bounced back in a big way and has looked like the 2019 version of himself. That has helped earn him a promotion to AA Tennessee. Making his third start for the Smokies, Franklin was very good as he allowed one run on two hits in five innings. He walked three and struck out four as the offense took care of the rest for him. The Smokies backed Franklin with some early offense when Caleb Knight delivered an RBI single in the second to make things 2-0. Tennessee continued to build on their lead in the fourth, with Jordan Nwogu picking up his first RBI double of the season and capped off their scoring in the fifth. A BJ Murray Jr double made things 4-0, with Nelson Maldonado bringing home the final run via RBI groundout to make things 5-0 Smokies. The lone run Franklin allowed came in his final inning when Griffin Conine got into one and drove it over the fence. Conine has always hit Franklin well, so that didn't come as a shock. With Carlos Guzman on in relief of Franklin, the Blue Wahoos began to make a comeback effort and did plenty of damage in the seventh inning. RBI singles from Nasim Nunez and Dane Myers played a role in that, as did the Troy Johntson sacrifice fly that pulled Pensacola to within 5-4. Guzman would eventually pitch out of that jam, and that was it for the Pensacola offense, with Riley Martin striking out four in two scoreless innings of work to earn the save. Smokies hold on to win 5-4, so Caissie’s catch was the difference. Here’s a single from earlier. Finished 1-4 with a BB and just 1 K tonight. pic.twitter.com/rkG66KlCwJ Murray Jr had a hot hand at the plate as he picked up three of the team's seven hits. Pete Crow-Armstrong was out of the lineup for a second straight game as he is dealing with no nagging aches and pains. Back in the W column. pic.twitter.com/qRNUNECz65
A few teams have had their way with South Bend this season, and Beloit is one of them. Even after dropping the first two in this series, the Sky Carp had a ton of confidence as the Cubs sent Richard Gallardo to the bump. Gallardo has put together a great season thus far, but if there were a team he didn't want to face, Beloit would be it. Not only did they hammer him for seven runs earlier this season, but they picked up five more runs off him Thursday, as he can't slow down their offense. Gallardo got through five innings, but his ERA rose to 3.66. Kevin Made makes a nice play up the middle. pic.twitter.com/HhYeHEl0Wy Offensively, things were a struggle for the Cubs as Gabe Bierman was impressive. Bierman pitched into the seventh inning before being lifted as he surrendered three runs (two earned runs) on six hits to go with five punchouts. Despite the Cubs grabbing a 1-0 lead in the first off a James Triantos grounder, the Sky Carp came out swinging shortly after and did most of their damage off of Gallardo in the first inning. Yiddi Cappe opened the scoring for the Sky Carp with an RBI double and came home on a David Bradshaw single that put Beloit in front for good, 3-1. Joe Mack would single later in the inning as the four-run first came to a close with the Sky Carp in front 4-1. They continued to build on that lead in the fourth when Brady Allen made things 5-1 with a solo shot. That would be it for the Sky Carp offensively, but it would be up to the Cubs offense to make something happen. You started to see that in the fifth when the offense finally put some pressure on Bierman. That paid off with Ezequiel Pagan ripping an RBI double to right as the deficit was cut in half, 5-3. From there, it was a battle of the bullpens, and both bullpens were great as no more runs scored in the game. That didn't bode well for South Bend, who fell 5-3. Pagan drove in two with that double but was also responsible for three of the team's six hits. Ethan Hearn, Scott McKeon, and Christian Franklin added the remaining hits. On to the next one. pic.twitter.com/J0ooCvCcNv
It didn't come easy, but the Pelicans scored a massive win against Augusta, letting their offense do the work. After a rain delay pushed back the start time, Marino Santy took the ball and didn't even last two innings. He was followed by Dominic Hambley as those two allowed seven runs in less than three innings. The good news is Angel Hernadez, and Saul Gonzalez were lights out in nearly seven innings of work as they combined to allow one run with nine strikeouts to give the offense a chance to come back. The Greenjackets didn't waste any time grabbing the early lead with Justin Janas putting them up 1-0 with a single, while an RBI double from Tyler Collins made things 3-0 after one. Things went from bad to worse in the third inning as the Pelicans were in a huge hole and searching for answers. EJ Exposito added to the lead with an RBI single while a wild pitch extended the lead to 5-0. From there, it was a pair of sacrifice flies by Nick Clarno and Andrew Keck as the Greenjackets were in front 7-0 early. This is where the game changed as the Pelicans not only scored nine times in the next two innings and their pitching started to settle in. BJ Murray RBI double. Totally locked in. pic.twitter.com/31vGepa8az All Ballesteros does is hit. pic.twitter.com/z1KX7QKVRe Birds bat around and Hernandez drives in a run with his second hit of the inning. pic.twitter.com/gunUbHI5ao Three of those seven runs came in the bottom half of the third as their offense finally got rolling. A Balk aided to the first run, but you had RBI singles from Juan Mora and Moises Ballesteros that pulled Myrtle Beach within 7-3. Their surging offense continued into the second, where they tied things up and took the lead for good. It was a balk for the second straight inning that led to the first run, and the offense just took off from there. Mora added to his excellent game with an RBI double to pull the birds within one and then raced home on the Andy Gariola single. Capping off the six-run inning was Cristian Hernandez, whose RBI single not only gave Myrtle Beach a 9-7 lead, but was the game-winning hit. Despite all the action in the early stages, things quieted down the rest of the way as each team scored one run across the final five innings. That worked in the Pelican's favor as they secured the massive 10-8 win. With eight hits, the Pelicans made those hits count as Mora, Gariola, and Hernandez had two hit days. They were also responsible for all seven RBIs, with Mora and Gariola driving in three. Good morning.INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS 10 - IOWA CUBS 5
TENNESSEE SMOKIES 5 - PENSACOLA BLUE WAHOOS 4
BELOIT SKY CARP 5 - SOUTH BEND CUBS 3
MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 10 - AUGUSTA GREENJACKETS 8
We won.#MBPelicans | #NextStartsHere pic.twitter.com/vuRpFvQ4HL
