Minor League Discussion & Boxes, 8-29-26

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Scheduled Games (Central Time):

Iowa vs. Omaha, 6:08 pm
Knoxville at Biloxi, 6:05 pm
South Bend at Wisconsin, 6:40 pm
Myrtle Beach at Augusta, 5:05 pm

Probable Starters:

Iowa: LHP Braxton Garrett
Knoxville: RHP Brooks Caple
South Bend: LHP Pierce Coppola
Myrtle Beach: TBD

[Bertz]

Angel Cepeda with another dong, haven't been able to find video though

[Bertz]

 

 

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

He's playing 1B tonight 

[Bertz]

Triantos 2/3 tonight.  Tiny sample, just 43 PAs, but he's been great since getting back from Chicago

[Funky-daddy]

Ayers swing is looking nice and compact. Garrett with another dud— I imagine there will be quite a bit of work this offseason. 

[Bertz]

Caple's probably ready for Iowa.  Curious if he's able to open next season there or not.  Feels like:

Assad / Wiggins / Sanders / Franklin / Wicks / Kipp

Is probably closer to what it looks like to open the year?  Health permitting.

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

1 hour ago, Funky-daddy said:

Ayers swing is looking nice and compact. Garrett with another dud— I imagine there will be quite a bit of work this offseason. 

He definitely passes the eye test. No giant leg kick either 

[CaliforniaRaisin]

5 minutes ago, Bertz said:

Caple's probably ready for Iowa.  Curious if he's able to open next season there or not.  Feels like:

Assad / Wiggins / Sanders / Franklin / Wicks / Kipp

Is probably closer to what it looks like to open the year?  Health permitting.

Knoxville is going to the playoffs and Iowa isn't so I assume Caple isn't going to AAA this season.

For next season: Isn't Assad out of options next year? Franklin will have to be re-signed. Wiggins and Sanders have to be healthy. And Kipp might have transitioned to the bullpen. I think Caple has a good chance of starting for Iowa next year.

[Butch Gernant]

7 hours ago, Bertz said:

Caple's probably ready for Iowa.  Curious if he's able to open next season there or not.  Feels like:

Assad / Wiggins / Sanders / Franklin / Wicks / Kipp

Is probably closer to what it looks like to open the year?  Health permitting.

Wicks?

[Bertz]

8 hours ago, CaliforniaRaisin said:

Knoxville is going to the playoffs and Iowa isn't so I assume Caple isn't going to AAA this season.

For next season: Isn't Assad out of options next year? Franklin will have to be re-signed. Wiggins and Sanders have to be healthy. And Kipp might have transitioned to the bullpen. I think Caple has a good chance of starting for Iowa next year.

Fangraphs has Assad with one last option next year, though these things are complicated enough they're not always right until we get closer

And yeah fair point that all 6 of those guys making it to April healthy and rostered is far from a guarantee.  I guess mainly with how many question marks are going to be there on the big league staff and the injury experience this year I assume Jed's going to go for max-depth.  Two long relievers on the big league team, Assad on paper at Iowa, probably a Vince Velasquez type signing or two, etc.

25 minutes ago, Butch Gernant said:

Wicks?

No lie this bit is starting to get weird

[mul21]

On 8/29/2026 at 10:20 PM, Bertz said:

Caple's probably ready for Iowa.  Curious if he's able to open next season there or not.  Feels like:

Assad / Wiggins / Sanders / Franklin / Wicks / Kipp

Is probably closer to what it looks like to open the year?  Health permitting.

Birdsell too assuming he's back from TJS.

[allen6510w]

22 minutes ago, mul21 said:

Birdsell too assuming he's back from TJS.

Dawson Netz is also a possibility; especially if Grant continues to struggle with walks.   Baseball America has or at least had him in the Cubs' top 30 earlier this summer.