Cubs Minor League News: Mervis mashing, Wick struggles, Davis raking, Made homers, more |
Another week of Minor League Baseball has come and gone for the Cubs system, and the overall results of the system have been solid thus far. Despite the organization posting a 2-2 record to close out the week, all four teams have winning records at this point in the season.
You started to see that last season when three of the four affiliates reached the playoffs a year ago, and given the talent that the system has, you had to think more wins were coming. Once the weather heats up in the Midwest, you should start to see South Bend and Iowa take off offensively, but they have done well so far, which is an encouraging sign.
Although the week didn't end the way the Cubs would have liked, their offense continues to produce at a high level which is promising. Hopefully, their pitching can come around at a more consistent level, as Rowan Wick made a rare start and got lit up. In 2 1/3, Wick allowed five runs, with three of them earned as his struggles to begin 2023 continue. Anytime five of your six relievers allow runs in the game, it doesn't bode well, and the Cubs were playing catchup for most of the game. That wasn't the case early on as Matt Mervis provided plenty of early offense for Iowa, picking up RBI singles in the first and second innings to give the Cubs an early 3-0 lead. That early lead didn't last long, as Buffalo scored eight unanswered runs to grab an 8-3 lead. Three of those runs came in the second on RBI doubles from Ernie Clement and Davis Schneider before the Spencer Horowitz homer in the third put Buffalo on top for good 5-3. The Bisons continued their offensive onslaught in the fifth, with Clement and LJ Talley working bases-loaded walks to take a 7-3 lead, while the Rafael Lantigua homer in the sixth pushed the Bisons lead to 8-3. After what seemed like a three-year struggle, Brennen Davis appears to be waking up offensively as his RBI single in the seventh pulled the Cubs within 8-4. Davis would add another RBI single in the ninth to go with the Darius Hill RBI groundout, but after the Bisons pushed across three more runs in the seventh inning, it didn't matter what the Cubs did late as they fell to Buffalo 11-6. Mervis’ third hit was this opposite field double into the corner. Nice piece of hitting. pic.twitter.com/kdl3dAjQAV Mervis and Davis each had three hits and combined for five RBIs in the loss. See you back at Principal Park Tuesday night pic.twitter.com/pjls5j60Na
The Tennessee Smokies have gotten off to a slower start than many expected, but they are starting to come around. Mixed with some early offensive fireworks came an excellent bounce-back start from Ryan Jensen, who desperately needed it. The hard-throwing right-hander didn't make it out of the fifth, but he still gave the Smokies 4 1/3 innings with seven strikeouts. He allowed two runs before the trio of Blake Whitney, Ben Hecht, and Cayne Ueckert finished things off. Jensen was given plenty of support early as the Tennessee offense put up five runs in the first two innings, with three coming in the first. Two of those three runs came on the Luis Vazquez homer, while Owen Caissie added an RBI single to make things 3-0. Luis Vazquez with a 2-run BOMB in the bottom of the 1st! 2-0 Smokies. @luisito_vaz #NextStartsHere #BestYearEver pic.twitter.com/nxt7QN6p3s Owen Caissie with an RBI single to put the Smokies up 3-0 in the bottom of the 1st! @owen_caissie #NextStartsHere #BestYearEver pic.twitter.com/sLP4hFrB4v Throw in a Bryce Ball sacrifice fly and the Nelson Maldonado RBI groundout in the second, and Tennessee was off and running 5-0 early. Bryce Ball with a sac fly in the bottom of the 2nd! Smokies now lead 4-0. @bryceball_05 #NextStartsHere #BestYearEver pic.twitter.com/IV5Zw1HJHz In the third, the Chattanooga bats started to show signs of life, with Francisco Urbaez picking up an RBI single in the third to make things 5-2, while the Ilvin Fernandez grounder in the fourth pulled the Lookouts to within 5-3. Knowing they needed more offense, the Smokies used the next two innings to put the game away and pushed across four more runs to break things open. BJ Murray started a three-run fourth with an RBI single, while Caissie added a bases-loaded walk ahead of the Pablo Aliendo hit-by-pitch. BJ Murray joins the fun with an RBI single in the bottom of the 4th! @BJMurray14 #NextStartsHere #BestYearEver pic.twitter.com/YaRC03357c Vazquez capped off the scoring for the Smokies in the fifth with his second homer of the game as they led 9-3 with the bullpen taking over. Vazquez’s second HR: pic.twitter.com/5h1CK0HU5I Despite Jacob Hurtubise inside the park homer in the sixth that made things 9-5, the Smokies bullpen was strong and did their job to preserve the win. Vazquez led the way with three hits and three RBIs, pushing his average to .341. Andy Weber added two hits, with four other players picking up one. What a perfect way to end the series! pic.twitter.com/Mhm9oCj8OL
Despite the Loons only scoring in two innings, they were massive innings as 10 runs came across in those frames. That was enough as they held off the Cubs 10-8 in the series finale. You had to feel for Kohl Franklin in this one, who got off to a strong start before falling apart. Through his first three innings, Franklin allowed one hit and struck out six. Kohl is dealing though 2 innings with 4 Ks. No wonder he’s smiling. pic.twitter.com/sN1ebNbOmy Then came the fourth, when he was charged with six earned runs as his day ended. That proved an issue as Adolfo Ramirez and Jack Dreyer combined to allow one earned run in five innings before the Cubs had to battle back late. With Franklin doing his thing early on the mound, it looked like two runs of support would be enough, with Kevin Made opening the scoring with a single in the third ahead of the Scott McKeon double in the fourth to put South Bend in front 2-0. Then came the bottom of the fourth when Franklin not only saw his great start come to an end, but end abruptly. Dalton Rushing opened the scoring with a solo shot in the bottom of the fourth for the Loons, while the Griffin Lockwood-Powell Grand Slam was the deciding blow to put the Loons in front 5-2. Rushing added another RBI single later in the inning as the Loons ended the fourth up 6-2. The Cubs were not going to go away quietly as McKeon went deep in the sixth to pull the Cubs to within 6-4, while the Fabian Pertuz single in the seventh had things sitting at 6-5. That would be as close as the Cubs would get as the Loons stretched the lead back out to five using a four-run seventh inning to jump in front 10-5. Looking to battle back for the second time in the game, Made made things interesting late as his three-run shot pulled the Cubs within 10-8, entering the ninth before they would fall by that score. Here is Kevin Made’s 3-run bomb. pic.twitter.com/I8ZB06eqQm It was the Made and McKeon show as those two combined for seven RBIs, with Made leading the way with four hits. Bradlee Beesley picked up three hits from the leadoff spot and is hitting .302 for the season. Loons take the finale in Midland.
Sparked by their six-run fourth inning, the Pelicans did what they needed to do and topped the Greenjackets 8-4. Koen Moreno got the start, and despite walking five in 2 1/3, he limited the damage allowing just two runs. He gave way to a trio of relievers, including Erian Rodriguez, who earned the win with three scoreless innings of work, while Nick Hull struck out seven in his three innings to earn the save. Moreno and the Pelicans found themselves in an early 2-0 hole as Jair Casanova opened the scoring with a bases-loaded walk in the second while David McCabe went yard in the third. Once the fourth inning began, the Pelicans offense came to life, and that all started with their six-run fourth. Jefferson Encarnacion started that big inning with a game-tying RBI double, while the Felix Stevens single put the Pelicans in front 3-2. Another double off the bat of Miguel Pabon pushed that lead to 5-2 with an error bringing home the sixth run and giving the Pelicans a 6-2 lead. Augusta continued to shoot themselves in the foot as a fifth-inning balk and sixth-inning error allowed for two more runs to score and had Myrtle Beach in firm control 8-2. The Greenjackets did pick up a two-run double from Tyler Collins in the seventh, but it wasn't enough as the Pelicans took care of the Greenjackets 8-4. Moises Ballesteros led the offense with three hits, with Pabon adding two hits and two RBIs. Week ends with a W! Nothing …absolutely nothing beats a #sunday night at a #minorleague #baseball game !!! Great game @Pelicanbaseball !!!! Loved it !!! #milb #pelican #cubs #MyrtleBeach pic.twitter.com/k80Gxmn2YOBUFFALO BISONS 11 - IOWA CUBS 6:
TENNESSEE SMOKIES 9 - CHATTANOOGA LOOKOUTS 5
GREAT LAKES LOONS 10 - SOUTH BEND CUBS 8
See you all Tuesday night at Four Winds Field! pic.twitter.com/PYnSuRDvFbMYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 8 - AUGUSTA GREENJACKETS 4
Birds will fly on the road for the next two weeks with the first stop in Charleston.#MBPelicans | #NextStartsHere pic.twitter.com/6vtGX7dCyD
