Congratulations to Justin Steele, who was promoted to Double-A Tennessee on the one-year anniversary of his Tommy John surgery.
Andruw Monasterio, the player the Cubs sent to Washington in the Daniel Murphy deal, is a 21-year-old Venezuelan infielder who has played primarily as the second baseman for the Pelicans this year, although he has put in some time at shortstop and third. He primarily played shortstop before this season.
Monasterio hit .263/.359/.336 in 109 games this summer, all for High-A Myrtle Beach. As you can see from that line, he has good command of the strike zone but he doesn’t have much power. He’s walked 52 times and struck out 64 times in 369 at-bats. He stole 10 bases in 13 attempts. He’s also been terrific with the bases loaded this year, going 5 for 10 with a grand slam and a walk.
A player with that kind of profile in High-A projects out to be a utility infielder at best in the majors. At 21, Monasterio is still young enough to improve and be better than that, but that’s no certainty. I think the best thing I can say about Monasterio is that he’s one of the guys who always seems to find himself in the middle of things. Those types of players sometimes end up having careers where they produce more than their skill set would dictate. Still, the odds are certainly against it.
Monasterio is Rule 5 eligible this winter and that may have been a reason the Cubs were willing to let him go.
Iowa Cubs
Rained out in Colorado Springs. They’ll play a doubleheader on Wednesday.
Tennessee Smokies
The Tennessee Smokies were conquered by the Jackson Generals (Diamondbacks), 6-2.
Michael Rucker started and took the loss. He gave up six runs on nine hits in just four innings. Rucker walked two and struck out none.
Right fielder Eddy Martinez went 2 for 3 with a walk.
Myrtle Beach Pelicans
The Myrtle Beach Pelicans raced past the Winston-Salem Dash (White Sox), 6-4 in eight innings in game one of a doubleheader. Game two was postponed.
Starter Alex Lange gave up just two runs on five hits over five innings. He struck out four and walked nobody.
Garrett Kelly pitched the seventh and eighth innings and did not allow a baserunner, other than the one that started the eighth on second. He struck out one and improved his record in Myrtle Beach to 2-0.
Second baseman Yeiler Peguero went 3 for 3 with a double and three RBI. He had a two-run single in the sixth and an RBI bunt single in the the eighth.
Left fielder Zach Davis went 2 for 4 with two runs scored.
DH Jared Young went 2 for 4.
South Bend Cubs
The South Bend Cubs sank the Lake County Captains (Indians), 7-6.
Jeffrey Passantino allowed at least a run in each of the first five innings. That was still good enough for him to get the win. He was pitching to the score, right?
The final line for Passantino was six runs on ten hits over 5.2 innings, including a pair of solo home runs. He struck out three and walked no one.
Brendan King had a two-out save. He gave up one hit and walked one, but no runs. He struck out one.
South Bend hit three solo home runs tonight, including two in the third inning by guys named “Austin”. Third baseman Austin Filiere was 2 for 4 with one of the home runs. It was his eighth of the season. He also intentionally walked once and scored twice.
Later in the third, first baseman Austin Upshaw hit his sixth home run of the year and fourth for South Bend. He was 1 for 4.
In the fifth inning, DH Delvin Zinn hit his first professional home run. Zinn went 1 for 5.
Second baseman Christian Donahue went 3 for 5 and scored one run.
Shortstop Rafael Narea went 2 for 4 and scored once.
Eugene Emeralds
The Eugene Emeralds were tripped up by the Hillsboro Hops (Diamondbacks), 6-5.
Zach Mort started and took the loss. He allowed four runs on five hits in three innings. Mort did strike out five and walked just one.
Second baseman Andy Weber went 3 for 4 and scored twice.
Center fielder Fernando Kelli was 2 for 4 with a stolen base. He scored twice.
AZL Cubs