Minor League Discussion & Boxes, 7-31-25

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Scheduled Games (Central Time):

Iowa vs. Indianapolis, 6:38 pm
Knoxville at Chattanooga, 6:15 pm
South Bend vs. Quad Cities, 6:05 pm
Myrtle Beach at Charleston, 6:05 pm
DSL Cubs Blue vs. DSL Mariners, 10:00 am
DSL Cubs Red at DSL Astros Blue, 10:00 am

Probable Starters:

Iowa: RHP Brandon Birdsell (8 IP, 4.50 ERA, 7.24 FIP, 7 K, 5 BB)
Knoxville: RHP Grant Kipp (77.2 IP, 3.48 ERA, 3.99 FIP, 84 K, 39 BB)
South Bend: RHP Kevin Valdez (5 IP, 0.00 ERA, 3.08 FIP, 4 K, 2 BB)
Myrtle Beach: RHP Walter Powell (4 IP, 4.50 ERA, 2.79 FIP, 3 K, 1 BB)

[Donzo]

Birdsell off to a good start... Amaya with a hit, too.

 

Edited August 1, 2025 by Donzo

[Donzo]

Birdsell done after 6. He's back.

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

1 minute ago, Donzo said:

Birdsell done after 6. He's back.

Wow.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

18 minutes ago, Donzo said:

Birdsell done after 6. He's back.

Caissie preserved the shutout to end the 6th:

Birdsell went 5.2 hitless before giving up his 2 hits.

[Bertz]

Birdsell's velo was down a good bit tonight.  Good night overall but I don't think he's quite back to where he left off last September.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Birdsell’s 6 Ks: https://www.mlb.com/video/brandon-birdsell-s-six-strikeouts?affiliateId=mlbapp-ios_video-share

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Grant Kipp was quite good too: 5 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 6 K, 1 HR

Kevin Valdez with the weird start of the night: 5 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 5 BB, 2 K

Couple scoreless innings for Luis Martínez-Gómez in his high-A debut. 

[Donzo]

11 hours ago, CaliforniaRaisin said:

Caissie preserved the shutout to end the 6th:

Birdsell went 5.2 hitless before giving up his 2 hits.

Nice... That'll work at Wrigley Field.

[Donzo]

9 hours ago, Bertz said:

Birdsell's velo was down a good bit tonight.

I saw some 93/94 mph 4-seamers. What's his normal speed, 94-97 mph?

[Bertz]

11 minutes ago, Donzo said:

I saw some 93/94 mph 4-seamers. What's his normal speed, 94-97 mph?

Yeah his average fastball last year was 95.0, and he pretty regularly hit 97.  Last night it was 93.6 and he topped out at 95.3.

I'm not worried, it's basically the equivalent of late early April for him, but he's just a little further away from being an MLB option than he was late last year IMO.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

[Outshined_One]

It's an annoying TDL-related thought because the Cubs did not get a top end SP for the rotation, but a healthy Birdsell opens up some intriguing possibilities down the stretch.  I'd want to see him get another two starts in AAA, but he might be part of the solution to managing Boyd and Horton's innings going into the playoffs.

[Bertz]

41 minutes ago, Outshined_One said:

It's an annoying TDL-related thought because the Cubs did not get a top end SP for the rotation, but a healthy Birdsell opens up some intriguing possibilities down the stretch.  I'd want to see him get another two starts in AAA, but he might be part of the solution to managing Boyd and Horton's innings going into the playoffs.

Much in the same way that we dodged a bullet in not getting Logan O'Hoppe, I'm hoping that one of Brown/Wicks/Birdsell gets some innings that they otherwise wouldn't have and force their way into 2026 opening day plans.

That said, I think we need to the Brewers to collapse for the team to get enough wiggle room for Craig to feel comfortable giving sufficient innings to the kids.