Cubs Minor League Weekend Recap: Jaxon Wiggins Leads No-Hitter, Erian Rodriguez Tosses Shutout

Cubs Affiliate Overview (June 14 – June 15)

• Triple-A Iowa Cubs
  Series vs. Louisville Bats (Cincinnati Reds): Cubs win series 4-3
  Season Record: 37-31

• Double-A Tennessee Smokies
  Series at Columbus Clingstones (Atlanta Braves): Smokies win series 4-2
  Season Record: 30-32

• High-A South Bend Cubs
  Series at Fort Wayne TinCaps (San Diego Padres): Cubs win series 5–1
  Season Record: 22-41

• Single-A Myrtle Beach Pelicans
  Series vs. Hickory Crawdads (Texas Rangers): Pelicans win series 4-2
  Season Record: 24-37

Triple-A Iowa Cubs

Season Record: 37-31
Series Opponent: Louisville Bats (Cincinnati Reds)
Series Standing: Win 4-3

June 14: The Cubs got smoked at the hands of the Bats today by a score of 14-2. It was a multi-system failure, as Cubs hitters failed to generate a single extra-base hit, and Cubs pitchers allowed runs in five different innings.

Starter Tommy Romero had a rough outing on the mound today, giving up eight hits, four walks, and seven earned runs in just three innings pitched, putting his team down early. Romero picks up his second loss of the season in just four starts, and his ERA has ballooned to 9.00.

Brooks Kriske came in to relieve Romero and didn’t look much better, giving up four hits, four runs, and two home runs in just a single inning of work. Tom Cosgrove and Phil Bickford continued the trend, combining to pitch two and ⅓ innings while giving up another three earned runs. Jack Neely came in and was the star of the show from there, where he went one and ⅔ innings pitched, allowing zero hits and striking out four.

Things were pretty bleak offensively as well, with third baseman Dixon Machado generating the teams only multi-hit performance and earning player of the game honors. Machado went 2-for-3 with a run and a walk in the outing.

Hayden Cantrelle and Moises Ballesteros generated the teams two RBIs on the day, Cantrelle with an RBI groundout and Ballesteros with an RBI single to center.

Owen Caissie took home defensive honors with a beautiful throw from the warning track to save a leadoff double.

June 15: The Cubs bounce back on Sunday with a 3-0 win over the Bats in the series finale. Pitching looked stellar, and while the offense was quiet, they made their hits count.

Starter Connor Noland bounced back from last week's start to deliver an impressive six innings of no run ball. He walked two and only struck out one, but he limited baserunners and picked up his sixth win of the season while lowering his ERA 3.74.

The Cubs’ elite relievers once again continued to do their thing today with Luke Little, Nate Pearson, and Riley Martin combining for three innings of two hit, no run ball. All three relievers have continued to impress to the point where it’s hard to say anything new about them.

Luke Little has given up one run since April 16. Nate Pearson has allowed just three runs in his last 17 appearances and has lowered his ERA and WHIP each month in the minors. Riley Martin has only allowed one run since the beginning of April and possessed a better WHIP and ERA than both Little and Pearson. The performances these relievers are putting on right now are truly something special, and if the Major League club didn’t already have one of the best bullpen ERAs in the league, all three of these guys would likely be pitching at Wrigley right now. The Chicago Cubs are dealing with a bit of a roster crunch on the pitching side, so we’ll have to live with watching these guys dominate Triple-A for now.

On offense, the Cubs were limited to just three hits, but managed to score three runs by way of two home runs. The first of which was a two run home run absolutely crushed by Owen Caissie in the bottom of the third.

Double-A Tennessee Smokies

Season Record: 30-32
Series Opponent: Columbus Clingstones (Atlanta Braves)
Series Standing: Series win 4-2

June 14: The Smokies played a double header on Saturday, winning both.

GAME ONE: The Smokies beat the Clingstones 3-2 in the completion of Friday's rain suspended game. Zac Leigh picked up the win after throwing two and ⅓ innings of shutout ball after play resumed today. While his ERA sits at 7.06, Leigh is 4-1 on the season. Cayne Ueckert and  A.J. Pucket combined to get the hold, and Mitchell Tyranski picked up his fifth save of the season.

The Smokies offense came to life in the eighth inning to put the team ahead. After a Reivaj Garcia double and a Brett Bateman walk, Pedro Ramirez drove in the winning run with a sac fly to left field.

Ramirez went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI in the contest, continuing his breakout season in Double-A. He’s currently slashing .279 / .335 / .373, good for a .708 OPS, second best on the team.

GAME TWO: Jaxon Wiggins and the Smokies combine for a team no-hitter in a 5-1 rout of the Clingstones on Sunday.

Wiggins stole the show for yet another weekend, pitching 5 ⅔ innings, allowing zero hits and setting up the team for a combined no hitter. Wiggins struck out nine batters to tie his career high and walked three, lowering his ERA to 1.92.

Wiggins continues to dazzle and impress in Double-A. The Southern league is a notorious regression point for minor league pitchers - they pitch in the Midwest League where they get the benefit of some cold weather and unfriendly hitting conditions, but once they make their way to the South where the ball flies, the hitters are better, and slug is up, a lot of pitchers begin to come back down to earth. Not Wiggins - he’s continued to face great prospects on great teams in hitter friendly parks, and he seems to improve with every single outing.

Wiggins couldn’t do it alone though, relievers A.J. Puckett and Sam Armstrong deserve their flowers as well, completing the no hitter with one and ⅓ innings of no hit ball.

It wasn’t just pitching, the Smokies had a good game on offense as well, putting up four runs in the fourth inning. Parker Chavers went 1-for-2 with two RBIs, Reivaj Garcia picked up an RBI on a sac fly, and Casey Optiz put in a two-run single to right field.

June 15: The Smokies finished off a strong weekend with a 9-2 victory over the Clingstoners.

Starter Grant Kipp decided he wasn’t going to be shown up by Wiggins, so he went five and ⅓ innings of no hit ball of his own, striking out eight batters and walking just two. While not quite as impressive as Wiggins, Kipp has racked up 66 strikeouts of his own and sits with a 2.98 ERA this year

The Smokies had a day on offense as well with five players notching multi-hit games and eight of the nine players in the lineup smoking one or more hits.

Pablo Aliendo takes the star crown today on behalf of his 2-for-5, four RBIs showing, including a two-out grand slam to put his team up 6-0 in the top of the fourth inning. Ethan Hearn joined in on the fun as well, going 2-for-5 with a two-run home run in the top of the sixth.

High-A South Bend Cubs

Season Record: 22-41
Series Opponent: Fort Wayne TinCaps (San Diego Padres)
Series Standing: Cubs win series 5-1

June 14: The Cubs won both games of their double header on Saturday to keep a great week rolling.

GAME ONE: The Cubs beat the TinCaps in game one, 3-1.

Another weekend, another stellar performance by Ryan Gallagher. It’s almost silly at this point how he continues to string together head turning performances. Today he went 5 ⅔ with eight strikeouts, allowing just one walk and one earned run.

Yes, it’s High-A. Yes, he was an advanced college pitcher at UCSB. Yes, the Midwest league is a pitcher friendly environment. But Gallagher has now put together six starts in a row where he’s thrown five or more innings with seven or more strikeouts. He’s only pitched 47 innings but has racked up 63 strikeouts. He’s getting better each month, and after a few low pitch games where he was getting stretched out to start the year, he’s effectively been one of the most electric pitchers in the Cubs’ farm system this season. I’m eager to see how he’ll fare once he gets the call up to the Southern League and starts facing some stiffer competition.

The offense was slow today, with the team’s first run coming in due to a balk by the TinCaps pitcher in the fifth. With a tie game going into the seventh, center fielder Carter Trice would bat in two with an RBI single to center. Trice has been another revelation for this Cubs team. After struggling to end the year last year in Low-A, Trice has had a breakout campaign this season with an .898 OPS to lead his team.

GAME TWO: The Cubs take game two of the double header over the TinCaps, 4-0.

The theme of elite starting pitching performances continues today, as Erian Rodriguez picks up his first win of the season for his complete game shut out. Rodriguez went seven innings, striking out five, and walking just one in his masterclass. Another display of some intriguing arm talent in the lower levels of the minors, Rodriguez was pounding the zone, allowing himself to get through the game on just 84 pitches.

The Cubs’ new development strategy of encouraging pitchers to hammer the strike zone and pitch longer into games has been bearing fruit for a lot of young talented arms this season.

Rodriguez was able to pitch with a comfortable lead today thanks to center fielder Andy Garriola and his three-run double in the third inning.

June 15: The Cubs drop the series finale to the TinCaps 4-5.

Starter Kenten Egbert got into some trouble early giving up three runs on three hits in 4 ⅓ innings of work. He struggled to throw in the zone today, with just 55 of his 91 pitches going for strikes and giving up four walks.

Reliever Connor Schultz looked good with one and ⅔ innings of relief, picking up four strikeouts while not allowing a hit. Unfortunately, Marino Santos would pick up his first loss and his second blown save, giving up two runs and the lead in the seventh inning.

The Cubs tried to hang in the game, initially gaining the lead thanks to a two RBI double off the bat of James Triantos, but couldn’t get another run in the eighth or ninth. Triantos would finish going 2-for-5 with two RBIs. 

Jefferson Rojas put up the other standout performance, continuing his hot stretch this season going 2-for-4 with an RBI double of his own. Rojas hasn’t missed a beat despite not playing since June 8.

Low-A Myrtle Beach Pelicans

Season Record: 24-37
Series Opponent: Hickory Crawdads (Texas Rangers)
Series Standing: Pelicans win series 4-2

June 14: The Pelicans were rained out on Saturday.

June 15: The Pelicans split their double header against the Crawdads on Sunday, losing the first in spectacular fashion, but bouncing back in the series finale that afternoon.

GAME ONE: The Pelicans got rocked by the Crawdads by a score of 12-2.

Nothing seemed to go right for the Myrtle Beach pitchers today. Starter Jostin Florentino got knocked around for seven hits and four runs in five innings of work, leading to his second loss of the season.

Things didn’t go any better for reliever Landon Ginn who ended up going 1 ⅓ innings on the mound, giving up two walks and five earned runs. Ethan Bell came in to right the ship, and whilst the runs weren’t earned, he gave up four walks which led to another three runs on the board for the Crawdads.

Things didn’t go much better offensively with the team racking up nine strikeouts and just three hits. 

Cameron Sisneros continues to prove his rising star status, going 1-for-2 with a walk and being driven in by Matt Halbach's two run homer in the bottom of the fourth.

Eli Lovich stays hot as well, going 1-for-3 with a double on the day.

GAME TWO: The Pelicans bounced back in game two, beating the Crawdads 4-1.

Starter Nazier Mule went 2 ⅔ innings, allowing no runs, but it was reliever Hayden Frank who picked up his first win of the season thanks to 3 ⅓ innings of one run ball in relief. Jackson Kirkpatrick picked up the save, good for his fifth of the year.

On offense, Matt Halbech continued to produce, going 1-for-3 with a double and an RBI. It was the Owen Ayers show today though, with the young catcher going 2-for-3 with an RBI triple in the fourth inning. 

Notable Promotions / Injury Notes

• Chicago Cubs sent RHP Eli Morgan on a rehab assignment to ACL Cubs

• Myrtle Beach Pelicans activated RHP Nazier Mule from 7-Day IL

• RHP Frankie Scalzo Jr. assigned to Knoxville Smokies from Iowa Cubs

• DSL Cubs Red activated Noel Chirinos from the restricted list

• DSL Cubs Red activated Wilfran Ortega from the restricted list  

System Standouts of the Week

Hitter:
Owen Caissie (Triple-A Iowa) – 2-for-6 with a moon shot home run over the weekend.

Pitcher:
Erian Rodriguez (Low-A Myrtle Beach) – 7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 5 K. Rodriguez hurls his first CGSO for the Pelicans.

Interested in learning more about the Chicago Cubs' top prospects? Check out our comprehensive top prospects list that includes up-to-date stats, articles and videos about every prospect, scouting reports, and more!