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 team in the AFL that the Cubs share with the Angels, Indians, Tigers and Athletics, went 2-3 in over the past week with one rainout. That improves their record to 5-5.
In another change this year, teams from the Mexican winter league Liga Mexicana del Pacifico (LMP) are competing in a special division of the AFL. The Solar Sox played LMP teams twice this past week and won them both, 15-2 and 7-0. They were 1-2 against other AFL teams.
Here are how the seven Cubs players in the AFL did over the past week. Or is it eight players?
Hitters:
Miguel Amaya: The Cubs’ top prospect in the AFL is off to a terrific start and is currently hitting .375/.524/.500 over five games. Amaya caught three times this past week and was 4 for 11 with a double and two walks. Amaya scored twice this past week and had one RBI.
Zack Short: Short also played three games this week and finally got his first action at shortstop, playing two games at short this past week. (He was the DH in his other start.) Short hit a solo home run in Tuesday’s win over Scottsdale. Short had a good week, going 4 for 11 with a double, the home run and two walks. He had two RBI and scored twice. For the season, Short is hitting .208/.367/.375
Jared Young: Young finally got his first hit in the AFL, an RBI infield single in Mesa’s 15-2 rout of Caneros de los Mochis from LMP. Otherwise, he went 1 for 9 in two games. He’s 1 for 16 with a walk over four games so far.
Carlos Sepulveda: What? Sepulveda, who played the entire 2019 season for the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, doesn’t play for the Solar Sox. But the native Mexican is playing for Yaquis de Obregon. He went 1 for 3 with a caught stealing against the Solar Sox on Sunday, the only action he’s seen so far.
Pitchers:
One Cubs pitcher got into two games this week!
Scott Effross: Effross pitched 1⅔ innings in Wednesday’s 15-2 win over Caneros de los Mochis. He entered the game in the third inning with two men on and one out and allowed both inherited runners to score. He then gave up another two hits in the fourth inning, but no runs scored, so he finished with a line of no runs on three hits and a walk over 1⅔ innings. Effross struck out three. He’s yet to give up a run of his own this season in two appearances.
Keegan Thompson: Thompson’s second AFL start didn’t go as well as the first as he took the loss after allowing a two-run home run to Salt River and Diamondbacks first baseman Seth Beer. Thompson’s final line was two runs on four hits over three innings. Thompson struck out three and walked one. Overall, Thompson has allowed two runs over six innings in two starts. He’s struck out eight and walked two.
Erich Uelmen: Uelmen pitched two innings in the Wednesday win over Caneros de los Mochis. He retired the side in order in the seventh. He walked the leadoff batter in the eight but ended the inning with a double play, so he faced the minimum six batters over two innings. Uelmen struck out one. Uelmen has allowed one run over four innings in two relief appearances.
Jordan Minch: Minch is the first Cubs pitcher to pitch twice in one week in the AFL. In Tuesday’s win over Scottsdale, he pitched a scoreless seventh inning. Minch gave up a leadoff single, but then struck out the next three batters.
Minch pitched again in Saturday’s loss to Salt River. Minch entered the game in the seventh inning with a man on first, one out and Mesa already down 8-3. The first batter he faced singled. The second one hit an RBI double, scoring the inherited runner. A ground out then scored another runner from third base before Minch got a fly out to end the inning. So he gave up one run on two hits over two-thirds of an inning. He did not have a walk or a strikeout.
Minch has allowed two runs over 3⅔ innings over three starts for an ERA of 4.91. One postive is that he’s struck out seven batters and only walked one.