Cubs Minor League Wrap -- April 20

by Josh Timmers on Apr 20, 2009 11:13 PM CDT in Minor Leagues

A perfect night for the Cubs system!

Jake Fox, who leads all the minors in home runs and RBI, was named PCL Player of the Week today.

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs roundhoused the Round Rock Express, 7-5.

(tip of the hat to znohitter for "roundhoused.")

Jose Ascanio had his first rough start of the season as he allowed four runs in only 4.2 innings. However, three of the runs were unearned, so his ERA for the season still stands at an impressive 0.71. But Ascanio gave up three hits and three walks and only struck out two, so it wasn't a great outing even if you don't count the unearned runs against him.

J.R. Mathes got his second win of the season with an inning and a third of shutout relief. Mathes allowed two hits and neither walked nor fanned a batter.

Jason Waddell threw a scoreless inning, allowing one hit. Kevin Hart got his second save of the year, although he did allow one run on a hit and a walk over two innings. Hart struck out three.

Second baseman Bobby Scales was 2 for 4 with a walk, a run scored and an RBI. Left fielder Jason Dubois was 3 for 4 with a run scored.

Round Rock kept Jake Fox in the park today. He was a "mere" 1 for 4 with a double and two RBI.

Tennessee Smokies

The Smokies rode some great relief pitching on the way to a 4-2 victory over the West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx.

Starter Casey Lambert gave up two runs on three hits and three walks over 4.2 innings. One of the runs was unearned and one of the hits was a solo home run. Lambert struck out one.

After that though, the Smokies bullpen completely shut down the Diamond Jaxx. Vince Perkins got the win by pitching two innings, allowing only one hit and one walk while striking out two. Then John Glaub came in and retired four straight batters, three of them by strikeout. Finally, Blake Parker got his second save of the season by throwing 1.2 shutout innings. Parker allowed one hit, walked nobody and struck out four.

It should be noted that neither Perkins nor Parker has allowed a run yet this season.

The Cubs had some high hopes for the Smokies double-play combo this season, and so far, so good. Second baseman Tony Thomas hit his third home run of the year with a man on in the sixth inning. Thomas was 2 for 5 overall tonight and is hitting .361 so far. Shortstop Darwin Barney was 1 for 2 with a run scored and two walks. Barney is hitting .379 on the season. (All "it's early and it's a small sample-size" caveats still apply.)

Both right fielder James Adducci and first baseman Blake Lalli were 2 for 4. Adducci is hitting .393 and Lalli is a an even .500.

Daytona Cubs

The Daytona Cubs devoured the Dunedin Blue Jays, 6-2.

Marcos Mateo had another good start. Mateo didn't allow a run over four innings. He gave up two hits and walked one. If you're really a "glass half empty" kind of fan, Mateo only struck out one Blue Jay.

That meant the win went to Craig Muschko, who actually allowed two runs over three innings. Steve Vento pitched the final two innings, allowing only one single. He didn't walk a batter and struck out three.

DH Tyler Colvin hit his first home run of the season tonight. Colvin was 3 for 5 with an RBI and three runs scored. Third baseman (and Colvin's teammate at Clemson) Marquez Smith didn't homer tonight after having done so in three of the past four games, but he did go 2 for 4 with two RBI and a run scored.

First baseman Russ Canzler was 2 for 4 with a double, two runs scored and an RBI.

Peoria Chiefs

Traveling between the Quad Cities and Appleton. Maybe they stopped at the House on the Rock along the way.

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Comments

Josh as always a great read

Justin Jackson from the Dunedin Blue Jays is a family friend so I’ve been trying to keep an eye on his progress and it looks like he has been slumping bad for the last week or so. I wish him well but I’m still kind of glad that Daytona took those guys out.

If the world didn't suck we would all fall off.

by carolinacub on Apr 21, 2009 7:51 AM CDT reply actions

Is anyone else surprised by how well the

farm teams appear to be doing thus far? I know it is early and things could easily change but for a system that BA ranked near the bottom there have been some real positives so far. Most noticably has been that the pitching has been pretty good across all levels. This in itself is surpising given that arguably the top 2 pitchers in the system (Cashner and Jackson) have done very little thus far (Cashner being hurt and Jackson having just 1 bad and 1 mediocre start). I realize there is still a lack of “superstar” talent other than Vitters but there is lot of depth.

As always thanks for the update Josh.

by CA Cub Fan on Apr 21, 2009 2:33 PM CDT reply actions

I've been pleasantly surprised

I knew Iowa was going to win some games but like last year, it’s made up of mostly minor league veterans with very little upside. I’ve been a little disappointed that Nate Spears hasn’t taken the next step yet, but it’s early.

The problem with the pitching is that most of it is coming from the bullpen, or starters who better project as bullpen arms in the majors like Marcos Mateo and Dan McDaniel. The Shark has been good starting and so has Hung-Wen Chen, so that’s something.

You also didn’t mention Dae-Eun Rhee, who hasn’t pitched yet either.

I think the big story so far this season, and I tried to convey that today, has been the DP combo in Tenneessee—Thomas and Barney. The Cubs would love it if those two replaced Theriot and Fontenot as the opening day starters in 2011 and so far, they’ve shown every indication that they can do it. I will again point out that it’s early though and that Thomas got off to a fast start last season too before having a campaign that could best be described as a space holder—not a bad year to cross him off the prospect lists but not a good year to get excited about either. But Baseball America quotes some scouts who think that Thomas is a better pure hitter than even Vitters, so if he can get his act together, he’s really something to watch.

by Josh Timmers on Apr 21, 2009 3:23 PM CDT up reply actions