Minor League Discussion & Boxes, 7-19-25

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Scheduled Games (Central Time):

Iowa vs. Columbus, 6:08 pm
Knoxville at Birmingham, 6:30 pm
South Bend vs. Beloit, 6:05 pm
Myrtle Beach vs. Augusta, 5:05 pm
ACL Cubs at ACL White Sox, 1:00 pm

Both DSL teams have the day off

Probable Starters:

Iowa: RHP Will Sanders (33.2 IP, 4.54 ERA, 5.00 FIP, 28 K, 15 BB)
Knoxville: RHP Jaxon Wiggins (34 IP, 2.38 ERA, 2.26 FIP, 43 K, 14 BB)
South Bend: LHP Evan Aschenbeck (61.2 IP, 3.21 ERA, 3.66 FIP, 44 K, 13 BB)
Myrtle Beach: LHP Ethan Flanagan (21 IP, 0.86 ERA, 3.42 FIP, 21 K, 9 BB)

[CaliforniaRaisin]

[CaliforniaRaisin]

 

[CaliforniaRaisin]

 

[CaliforniaRaisin]

 

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Wiggins went BB, 5-3 GO, K, K in the first. Heard a 99 on the broadcast.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Wiggins strikes out the side in the 2nd.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Wiggins done after 2, wonder if they're slowly stretching him back out or if it's going to be like this the rest of the season to conserve innings.

2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Flanagan: 5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K

[Tryptamine]

I wonder if Wiggins could step into the bullpen right now and potentially be a lockdown guy? It wont happen because Horton and Brown will step into that role, but damn.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

 

[Tryptamine]

2 minutes ago, CaliforniaRaisin said:

 

Please discover the plate discipline that made you exciting last year, thanks.

[Donzo]

21 minutes ago, CaliforniaRaisin said:

Wiggins done after 2, wonder if they're slowly stretching him back out or if it's going to be like this the rest of the season to conserve innings.

2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K

It seems like a ramp up to 6-innings-; 2-4-6.

If his success continues in Tennesee, I'm thinking he'll end the year in Iowa. He's not too young, he'll be 24 in October.

[Bertz]

Will Sanders with his best start since getting to Iowa!

Also, something to keep in mind is that a league average ERA in the International League where the Cubs play is 4.80-something

[Bertz]

Love love love that Myrtle Beach had a big offensive game and it wasn't just the 25 year old going off

Cepeda was at a 94 wRC+ coming into today, this game probably puts him in the black

[Donzo]

Sanders in July:

IP-17.2, ER5, H15, BB6, K17, ERA: 2.61

Edited July 20, 2025 by Donzo

[CaliforniaRaisin]

 

[CaliforniaRaisin]

11 minutes ago, Bertz said:

Love love love that Myrtle Beach had a big offensive game and it wasn't just the 25 year old going off

Cepeda was at a 94 wRC+ coming into today, this game probably puts him in the black

Bumping up your OPS by 31 points in a July game is impressive 

[CaliforniaRaisin]

 

[Stu]

Sorry for diversion but didn’t want to start a new thread— was curious what you guys know about Gavin Hollowell? He’s at Iowa and on the 40 man, I didn’t even realize he’d pitched for the big league club last year, or was even in the Cubs org

My daughter went to High School with him, hence my interest. I remember when he was drafted by the Rockies.

Edited July 20, 2025 by Stu
Dropped word

[Jason Ross]

30 minutes ago, Stu said:

Sorry for diversion but didn’t want to start a new thread— was curious what you guys know about Gavin Hollowell? He’s at Iowa and on the 40 man, I didn’t even realize he’d pitched for the big league club last year, or was even in the Cubs org

My daughter to High School with him, hence my interest. I remember when he was drafted by the Rockies.

I think he's a somewhat interesting reliever who could carve out a role somewhere if things broke for him. He is huge, at 6'7 and because of that struggles to control that much human. He had some cool arm slots and has some good movement on his stuff. Probably profiles more as "righty who gets out righties" more than anything, but that has value. 

He saw a few innings with the Cubs early when the pen was shaking out and it looked like he *might* stick at a point or two, but because he had an option year was someone the Cubs could move down and up without losing him where as others, like Chris Flexen did not. 

I wouldn't be shocked to see him find a spot on a team (maybe the Cubs?) next year. With the right injuries at the right time it could conceivably be this year! Though with Hodge hopefully coming back this year, and Brown and Horton who couldn't transition there and the deadline, it feels unlikely at this stage. 

[Stu]

Thanks, appreciate it — does it seem odd that he’s on the 40 man? Sounds like not much of a prospect 

Edited July 20, 2025 by Stu

[CaliforniaRaisin]

2 hours ago, Bertz said:

Will Sanders with his best start since getting to Iowa!

Also, something to keep in mind is that a league average ERA in the International League where the Cubs play is 4.80-something

Fun game