Cubs Minor League Weekend Recap: Power Bats And Bullpen Arms Drive Start of Cubs Farm Season

Cubs Affiliate Overview (April 3rd - April 5th)

Triple-A Iowa Cubs
Series at St. Paul Saints (Minnesota Twins): Win 5-1
Season Record: 5-3

Double-A Tennessee Smokies
Series vs. Birmingham Barons (White Sox): 2-1
Season Record: 2-1

High-A South Bend Cubs
Series vs. Quad Cities River Bandits: 0-1
Season Record: 0-1

Single-A Myrtle Beach Pelicans
Series vs. Charleston River Dogs: Win 3-0
Season Record: 3-0

Triple-A Iowa Cubs

Season Record: 6-3

Series Opponent: Louisville Bats

Series Standing: 5-1

April 3: The Iowa Cubs are back with a vengeance with their first series of the season against the Louisville Bats. Friday’s game was a dominant outing for the Iowa Cubs, overtaking the Bats 7-2. 

Will Sanders his first quality start of the season on the mound with 7 strikeouts and 2 home runs. The 2nd inning was the busiest for the Cub’s bats. Chas McCormick sent a rocket over the left center field wall on a 1-2 count to tie the game. Justin Dean singled with a line drive to center, scoring Christian Bethancourt and advancing Brett Bateman into scoring position. With two outs James Triantos extended the lead with a home run of his own, giving Iowa a 4 run lead against the Bats.

Chas McCormick doubled on a lined drive to left field scoring Pedro Ramirez. Notably in the 9th, Jonathan Long tripled on a sharp hit fly ball to center field where he was able to score on a wild pitch, giving Iowa their 7th run of the night. 

April 4: It was an early and high scoring battle with Iowa’s game being cut short after the start of the 6th inning due to weather giving the I-Cubs their 4th straight win. Iowa set a strong lead in the first 3 innings running up the score to to 8 runs leading by 2. 

Justin Wiggins took to the mound pitching 4 innings. With increased focus following Cade Horton’s early removal from Chicago’s game against the Guardians on 4/03. Wiggins had a difficult start finding his rhythm, walking 2 batters, giving up 2 runs in the 2nd and a homerun in the 3rd striking out 4; Wiggins ERA sits at 5.63. Luke Little closed the game earning his 2nd win of the season. 

BJ Murray, Pedro Ramirez and Kevin Alcántara each logged their third home run of the season by the 3rd inning giving Alcántara his 7th RBI of the season and 3rd long ball in 6 games.

April 5: The Iowa Cubs struck early and built a steady lead on the way to a 6–2 win over Louisville at Louisville Slugger Field.

James Triantos set the tone in the first, singling, stealing second, and advancing to third on an error before scoring on Jonathon Long’s RBI single for a 1–0 lead. Kevin Alcántara added to the advantage in the third, launching a solo home run to left field. After Louisville answered with a run in the bottom half, Iowa responded with a decisive fourth inning.

BJ Murray opened the fourth with a walk and stolen base, and later scored on Christian Bethancourt’s single. Triantos followed with a two-run double to left, bringing home Ben Cowles and Bethancourt to extend the lead to 5–1. Chas McCormick added insurance in the fifth with a solo home run to left center to mark his third straight games of homers.

Triantos finished 2-for-4 with a double, two RBI, and a run scored, while Long added two hits and an RBI. Murray reached base twice, scored two runs, and tripled in the eighth. Bethancourt collected two hits and drove in a run.

Starter Vince Velasquez worked five innings, allowing one run with two walks and six strikeouts and was named Player of The Game. Tyler Santana followed with three innings, allowing one run with one walk and three strikeouts. Gavin Hollowell handled the ninth, allowing one run and striking out one.

Louisville scored once in the ninth, but Iowa maintained control to secure the win.

Double-A: Knoxville Smokies

Season Record: 1-1

Series Opponent: Birmingham Barons (White Sox)

Series Standing: 1-1

April 3: The Knoxville Smokies started their season off with a bang wining their opener with a 9-6 victory. Jefferson Rojas for his first at bat launched a 3 run homer in the 1st inning. Rojas looked much more comfortable in the box compared to his last season appearance indicating strong offseason development.

Seiya Suzuki made his first appearance on a rehab assignment going 1-2 with a sac fly and scoring a run. Suzuki looked comfortable in warm ups and batting practice prior to the game with solid plate appearances until being sat after the 5th inning.

A.D. Ramírez contributed multiple hits with 2 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Jordan Nwogu and Ariel Armas also contributed multi-hit games. The Smokies bullpen preserved the lead with Zane Mills starting pitching going into the 4th. 

Knoxville played well defensively with a key double play from Rojas to Edgar Alvarez to halt any rally from  the Barons. Jefferson Rojas made a stellar diving play to end the 6th inning. 

Starter Zane Mills worked on the mound for 3 innings before the bullpen came in. Tyler Beck earned the win by holding the game with 2 hits and 3 runs with relievers Andrew Schultz and Edwin Taylor both contributing 2 scoreless innings to hold the lead and secure the win.

April 4: The Smokie lost 6-2 on Saturday. An inability for the offense to get traction set the Smokies back while pitching from Knoxville took longer than desired to find a rhythm. Jefferson Rojas went 1-4 and scoring a run his only hit being a double on an outside pitch with a 2-2 count. 

Edgar Alvarez hit a single and earned an RBI to score Rojas and Karson Simas got on base and scored a run to give Knoxville their only runs of the game. Seiya Suzuki went 1-4 in DH with a notable punch out looking that had everyone in knoxville wishing for ABS.

Starting pitching for the Smokies was Luis Martinez-Gomez who had a shaky start to his season. The first inning proved difficult for Martinez-Gomez to find the strike zone while also giving up a 2 run home run earning him the loss for this game.

April 5: The Knoxville Smokies fell 10–5 to Birmingham after a decisive early stretch at Covenant Health Park.

Birmingham struck quickly in the second inning, stringing together four singles to take a 4–0 lead. The visitors added to it in the third, highlighted by a two-run double from Wilfred Veras and another two-run double from Calvin Harris. Caden Connor capped the inning with a three-run double, extending the deficit to 10–0.

Knoxville broke through in the fourth. Seiya Suzuki singled and later scored on a sacrifice fly from Jordan Nwogu to make it 10–1. The Smokies added more in the fifth when Karson Simas connected on a two-run home run, bringing home Andy Garriola and trimming the margin to seven. 

Knoxville continued to chip away late. In the eighth, Jefferson Rojas singled and scored on Ariel Armas’ double. Garriola followed with an RBI single, scoring Armas to cut the deficit to 10–5.

Suzuki reached base twice and scored a run, while Garriola collected two hits and scored once. Simas drove in two runs with his home run, and Armas added a double and RBI.

Starter Yenrri Rojas worked 2 2/3 innings, allowing seven runs with two walks and two strikeouts. Grant Kipp followed with 1 1/3 innings, allowing three runs with two walks and no strikeouts. Jake Bockenstedt added two innings of relief, striking out one without allowing a run.

Despite late offense, Knoxville could not overcome the early deficit.

High-A South Bend Cubs

Season Record: N/A

Series Opponent: The Quad Cities River Bandits (Kansas City Royals)

Series Standing: N/A

April 3: The South Bend Cubs have had a less than ideal start to their season. The opening day ceremonies, and first home opener since 2022, were cut short due to a flooded infield that was deemed unsafe for play. A disappointing day as the South Bend Cubs unveiled their double decker stadium expansion to seat more than 10,000 attendees. 

April 4: Saturday’s game was also postponed due to Weather and Fielding Conditions. 

April 5: Sunday’s game was a 7 inning double header against the River Bandits.

Low-A Myrtle Beach Pelicans

Season Record: 3-0

Series Opponent: Charleston River Dogs (Tampa Bay Rays)

Series Standing: 3-0

April 3: Friday’s game for the Pelicans came on the heels of a 15 run blow out against the River Dogs. The Pelicans pulled through with a late game comeback win over Charleston, erasing a 1 run deficit in the 9th on a go-ahead 2 run home run from Cole Mathis to lock the 5-4 victory for the Pelicans. 

Cole Mathis delivered the securing swing of the night with his 2 run homer in the 9th while Josiah Hartshorn and Micahael Carico each contributed a solo homer earlier in the game. Jordan Henriquez earned the win on the mound.

This win over the River Dogs delivers back to back wins for the Pelicans, scoring early in both games. The pelicans delivered a strong continuation off of thursday’s victory by clawing back the win with a multiple homerun game and a strong early offensive outing for Myrtle Beach to open the series.

April 4: Break out the broomsticks for Myrtle Beach as the Pelicans held off a late game come back by the River Dogs to sweep the series at home with a final score of 4-3. Alex Lumpuy led Myrtle Beach at the plate with 3 hits and 2 stolen bases. Josiah Hartshorn, Luis Escobar, and Michael Vargas each drove in runs to bring up the Pelican’s lead. 

On the mound, David Bracho started, with Erisbel Melendez and Dean Jerzembeck each combining for 9 innings of solid pitching, each maintaining a 0.0 ERA for the start of their season. Dean Jerzembeck held the late game rally by the River Dogs to earn the win.

On the fielding side for the Pelicans; 3 errors were earned with 2 coming in the 9th inning with a fielding error by Eli Lovich and a throwing error by Lu Espinoza that spurred the late game rally for the River Dogs.

April 5: The Pelicans have April 5 and April 6 off to prepare for their stretch on the road against the Columbia Fireflies for a six-game series on April 7 at Segra Park.

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