AFL Mesa Solar Sox update: Week 3

It’s another Monday which means it’s time to take a look at the Cubs’ minor league Boys of Autumn in the Arizona Fall League.

The Mesa Solar Sox, the AFL team that the Cubs share with the Angels, Athletics, Indians and Tigers, went 3-2 in over the past week. That improves their overall record to 8-7, two games behind the first-place Salt River Rafters.

The Solar Sox played one game against a Liga Mexicana del Pacifico (LMP) team this past week. They beat Mexicali 2-1 in a seven-inning game.

Here’s an update on the seven Cubs players on the Solar Sox roster.

Hitters:

Miguel Amaya: Amaya is the Cubs’ top prospect in Arizona and he’s been doing well there. This week he caught three games and was 3 for 12 with two RBI and one run scored. Overall, he’s hitting .321/.424/.391 over eight games.

Zack Short: Short also got to play three of the five games this week: one at shortstop and two as the DH. (Mesa has three shortstops. One of the others is Short’s former teammate in South Bend, Tigers prospect Isaac Paredes.) Short was 3 for 13 with a double and a walk this past week. He scored two runs. Overall, Short is hitting .216/.341/.351 over ten games with the Solar Sox.

Jared Young: Young got off to a terrible start in the AFL, but he had his two best games this past week. In the two games he played, Young went 2 for 5 with four walks and a stolen base. He only had one hit over the first two weeks. On the season, Young has a batting line of .143/.308/.143.

Pitchers:

Scott Effross: Effross got into two games this week, pitching one inning of scoreless relief in both of them. In the first one, Effross allowed one hit, struck out one and walked nobody. In his second appearance, Effross allowed two singles, but no runs. He did not walk or strike out anyone.

Effross has had a good AFL so far as he has not allowed a run over 4⅔ innings in four appearances. He has given up seven hits, but he’s only walked one and he has struck out four batters.

Jordan Minch: Minch pitched twice this past week. On Wednesday, he threw a perfect eight inning, striking out one in a game the Solar Sox lost to Surprise 8-7. He pitched the eighth inning in Sunday’s win against Peoria and gave up a leadoff single, but then retired the next three batters in order, striking out one.

Minch has pitched 5⅔ innings over five appearances in the AFL this season. He’s allowed two runs for a 3.18 ERA. Minch has struck out nine batters and only walked one.

Keegan Thompson: Thompson started Wednesday’s loss to the Surprise Saguaros and it did not go well. Thompson didn’t make it out of the third inning as he gave up six runs on seven hits over 2⅔ innings. He struck out four and walked one.

In three starts for Mesa this fall, Thompson has thrown 8⅔ innings and has allowed eight runs on 11 hits. Obviously most of those runs came in this week’s disaster. That gives him an ERA of 8.31. He’s struck out 12 batters and walked three.

Erich Uelmen: Uelmen was very good this past week, making two relief appearances and going two innings both times. He did not allow a run in either outing. In his first appearance in Tuesday’s 4-0 shutout of Glendale, Uelmen allowed just one hit over the two innings. He struck out three and did not walk anyone. In the second appearance in Sunday’s win over Peoria, he allowed just one hit over two innings. He struck out two and did not walk anyone.

Uelmen has surrendered just one run on three hits over eight innings in four appearances. He’s struck out seven and walked just one, although he has hit two batters.