Minor League Weekend in Review: Moises Ballesteros Crushes The Ball, Matt Shaw Bounces Back

[Billy Reich]

The  Cubs’ top prospects made noise this weekend despite every affiliate finishing the week with a losing series. Moises Ballesteros continues to rake, Matt Shaw shows flashes of confidence amidst a dreadful return to Iowa, and the pitching carousel continues to spin with performances from arms that should be back in the majors sooner rather than later.

Image courtesy of Photo: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Cubs Affiliate Overview (April 26–27)

• Triple-A Iowa Cubs
  Series vs. Louisville Bats: Cubs drop series 2-3
  Season Record: 13–10

• Double-A Tennessee Smokies
  Series vs. Pensacola Blue Wahoos: Smokies drop series 2–4
  Season Record: 10-10

• High-A South Bend Cubs
  Series vs.Beloit Sky Carp: Cubs drop series 2–4
  Season Record: 6-15

• Low-A Myrtle Beach Pelicans
  Series vs.Kannapolis Cannon Ballers: Pelicans drop series 2–4
  Season Record: 8-13

Triple-A Iowa Cubs

Season Record: 13-10
Series Opponent: Louisville Bats
Series Standing: Series loss 2-3

April 26: The Cubs split a doubleheader against Louisville, taking a 4-2 win in game one and picking up a 5-2 loss in game two. Moises Ballesteros continued his hot start in both games, going 3-for-4 with two RBIs in game one and 2-for-3 with an RBI and a walk in game two. Ballesteros, the Cubs' 4th overall prospect (MLB Pipeline), is slashing .414/.475/.586 on the season, reinforcing that his bat is the real deal. He’s already had three errors behind the plate and still struggles to catch runners in motion, but his framing has improved, and he has shown the ability to perform out of the DH role.

Matt Shaw continued his slump in game one by going 0-for-4, but showed some signs of life in game two with a 2-for-4 showing on the night. At the end of game two, he still sits at a mere 3-for-21 since his demotion to Triple-A Iowa.

Cubs fans will be happy to hear that Tyson Miller made an appearance in the fifth inning of game one with a rehab spot and pitched a no-run outing while notching the win. He’ll look to get up to speed and in-game shape before returning to the North Side.

Jordan Wicks started game one, allowing one run and two walks in three innings.

April 27: Matt Shaw finally had the bounce-back game that Cubs coaches have been looking for in Sunday's 6-4 win over the Bats - he went 2-for-5 with a double and a solo home run. Fingers crossed, Shaw can continue to build back his confidence and find his way back to a major league team, mostly devoid of talent at the hot corner. It doesn’t appear that Shaw has been reworking his swing at Triple A, leading to the belief that the demotion was strictly a confidence send down and not an overarching statement on his swing mechanics that many fans have been worried about.

Ballesteros continues to shine again, going 2-for-3 with a double and two walks. Moises continues to show that his bat can play up against Triple-A pitching. Where he fits defensively long term will likely be a question circulating the front office throughout the season.

Keegan Thompson struggled on Sunday by giving up back-to-back home runs. Hard to name a better duo than Thompson and up/down seasons. 

Jack Neely had a nice performance, retiring the side in the ninth to notch his third save of the season. Neely has had trouble keeping runs off the board this season, but his stuff looks to have ticked up - he’s struck out 11 in 8 ⅔ innings pitched so far.

Double-A Tennessee Smokies

Season Record: 10-10
Series Opponent: Pensacola Blue Wahoos
Series Standing: Series loss 2-4

April 26th: The Smokies drop game one against the Wahoos 6-4 with starter Grant Kipp giving up four home runs in the third inning. The Cubs made a valiant effort in the later innings but couldn’t mount the comeback. Kipp finished the game with 2 ⅓ innings pitched, 5 ER, 2 BB, 7 Hits, and 2 Ks.

Parker Chavers notched the team's only multi-hit performance of the game with a 2-for-4, one RBI showing. 

Brad Deppermann was a bright spot on the evening with a no-hit outing in the 6th inning. Deppermann has a 0.95 WHIP and 0.00 ERA in 6 ⅓ innings pitched this year.

April 27: The Smokies ended the series with a 7-4 win over the Wahoos. The team racked up all seven of its runs in the third inning on Sunday thanks to 5 hits, some stolen bases, an error, and Parker Chavers stealing home.

Starter Antonio Sanchez pitched three scoreless innings with two punch-outs to give the Smokies a nice start, but it was reliever Zac Leigh who shone brightest by putting up a 1 ⅔ inning performance of no-run ball. He entered with a jam on the corners in the 6th but managed to strand both. He went on to allow just one hit and blank the Wahoos in the seventh, killing their mounting comeback.

High-A South Bend Cubs

Season Record: 6-15
Series Opponent: Beloit Sky Carp
Series Standing: Cubs lose series 2-4

April 26: South Bend lost 7-3 to the Beloit Sky Carp on Saturday behind a rough start from Ryan Gallagher. Gallagher gave up three runs and five hits in 4 ⅓ innings, but his control looked good as he gave up no free bases on the day. Reliever Joe Nahas didn’t look any better, giving up three runs of his own in just 1 ⅔ innings pitched. He gave up a walk while striking out none.

On the bright side, Ivan Brethowr remains a bright spot for South Bend. He went 2-for-4 with a run on Saturday, increasing his OPS to a team-leading .922. Brethowr was the Cubs’ 7th-round pick in the 2024 draft - after a slow start last season in Low A, he’s been making strides this season for South Bend and may end up on the team's top 30 list by the end of the season.

April 27: South Bend continued to struggle on Sunday with a narrow 4-3 loss. Starter Kenten Egbert couldn’t keep enough runs off the board as he let up three runs (only one earned) in 4 ⅓ innings. 

Reginald Preciado racked up the team's only multi-hit performance, going 2-for-4 with an RBI. He hit a solo home run in the sixth to tie the game for the Cubs, but reliever Vince Reilly couldn’t keep things locked up as he gave up the go-ahead run to the Sky Carp in the seventh.

South Bend has dropped four games in a row and sits in sixth place in the Midwest.

Low-A Myrtle Beach Pelicans

Season Record: 8-13
Series Opponent: Kannapolis Cannon Ballers
Series Standing: Cannon Ballers take the series 4–2

April  26: Myrtle Beach loses a narrow one on Saturday, 2-1 over the Cannon Ballers. Pelicans’ starter JP Wheat gave up just one run in 5 innings pitched, but he kept the base paths busy, allowing five walks on the day.

The Pelicans only managed to garner three runs on the day, two of which came from first baseman Cameron Sisneros. Sisneros went 2-for-4 with a double and continues to develop into a reliable presence for Myrtle Beach.

April 27: The Pelicans finish the series with an 8-6 win on Sunday. Starter Brooks Caple had a solid outing, giving up three runs in five innings of work while striking out four. The team went on to mainly cruise through the 6th, 7th, and 8th, but the heart got pumping in the ninth inning when Jackson Kirkpatrick loaded the bases with two outs in an 8-6 game. Kirkpatrick came through with a beautiful K to end the game and finished with no runs and three strikeouts in two innings.

Right Fielder Leonel Espinoza was the standout tonight, going 3-for-5 with two doubles and two RBIs. Shortstop Eriadys Ramon helped add to the score with a two-run blast in the fourth inning - his first of the season. Ramon was the only player besides Espinoza to add more than one hit on the night, finishing 2-for-4 with two RBIs.

Notable Promotions / Injury Notes

• Chicago Cubs recalled LHP Tom Cosgrove from Iowa Cubs

• Chicago Cubs optioned RHP Ethan Roberts to Iowa Cubs

• Iowa Cubs activated 2B Dixon Machado from the 7-day IL

• Iowa Cubs transferred LHP Brandon Hughes to the Developmental List

• Iowa Cubs transferred OF Darius Hill to the Developmental List

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System Standouts of the Week

Hitter:
Moises Ballesteros (Triple-A Iowa) – 8-for-10 over the weekend with a double and three walks. He also struck out just once.

Pitcher:
Tyson Miller (Triple-A Iowa) – 1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 K; Miller looked good in his rehab start and gave some hope to Cubs fans looking for bullpen reinforcements sooner rather than later. 

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