Hello, readers. Welcome to another edition of “Young Cubs.” Sadly, there will be no “Minor League Player of the Week” this week, as the performances in the Cubs’ system this week were actually fairly middling. When you’re examining a small sample size, that’s not all that unusual. Sometimes prospects just have a rough week. That was the case for the Cubs’ minor leaguers this week, so I have only highlighted a “Player to Watch” this time around. Anyways, with that being said, off we go!
BP Top 10 Update (Stats for 7/14-7/16)
- OF Albert Almora, Double-A Tennessee: 2-for-14, 1 BB, 2K
- C Kyle Schwarber, Chicago Cubs: The Schwarber Game
- OF Billy McKinney, Double-A Tennessee: 3-for-10, 2 2B, 1 BB, 3 K,
- RHP Pierce Johnson, Double-A Tennessee:1 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 8 K
- SS Gleyber Torres, Low-A South Bend: 3-for-9, 1 2B, 2 BB, 3 K, 1 SB
- 1B Dan Vogelbach, Double-A Tennessee: 7-Day DL
- LHP Carson Sands, Short Season-A Eugene: Did not pitch.
- RHP Jen-Ho Tseng, High-A Myrtle Beach: 5 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 3 K
- RHP Carl Edwards, Jr., Triple-A Iowa: Did not pitch
- RHP Duane Underwood, Jr., High-A Myrtle Beach: 7-Day DL
The Non-Prospects
Javier Baez: He’s still hurt. I am sad. That is all.
Arismendy Alcantara: 0-for-13, 0 BB, 4 K
Team Updates/Standings
Eugene Emeralds, Short Season-A, Northwest League: 17-18, 3 GB of first place, third place in the South Division. The first half ends on Sunday. If Eugene wins their next three games (beating Salem-Keizer in two of them) and Hillsboro, the team currently residing in first, loses their next three games, then the Emeralds will pass Salem-Keizer, tie Hillsboro, and beat out Hillsboro to win the first half on tiebreakers.
South Bend Cubs, Low-A, Midwest League: 14-14, 3.5 GB of first place, fourth place in the Eastern Division (tied with Bowling Green Hot Rods and Lansing Lugnuts)
Myrtle Beach Pelicans, High-A, Carolina League: 15-13, 1.5 GB of first place, second place in the Southern Division
Tennessee Smokies, Double-A, Southern League: 11-15, 7 GB of first place, third place in the North Division
Iowa Cubs, Triple-A, Pacific Coast League: 52-46, 8.5 GB of first place, third place in the American Northern Division
Player To Watch: Ian Happ, 20, CF, Eugene Emeralds
I know that I’m becoming something of a broken record at this point, but I have a good reason for highlighting Happ this time around. Happ has been officially promoted to Low-A South Bend, which was confirmed Thursday by Steve Mims, a beat writer who covers the Eugene Emeralds. Jaron Madison had already gone on record this week implying that a promotion was in the works for Happ, but it has now officially come. It should be very interesting to see how he progresses at the next level. No, Happ didn’t torch short-season ball the way that Schwarber or Kris Bryant did, but he still dominated the level, and proved that he has the skills to be the next great Cubs prospect.
Tweet(s) of the Week
Anthony Giansanti continued his quest to have Ronda Rousey come see him play in Des Moines this week, and it produced some hilarious results. This is just one example of his efforts. Good luck, Anthony!
Surprisingly my #WCW choice @RondaRousey (cue the "he's thirsty" tweets) haha #YesTheresATicketToday pic.twitter.com/kv6I6ZEOLD
— Anthony Giansanti (@GianSanity) July 22, 2015
Best Promotion of the Upcoming Weekend
If you’ve ever been to a minor-league baseball game, you’re likely aware that the teams have some great promotions. They are sometimes fun, sometimes silly, sometimes downright bonkers, and they ultimately are a large part of what make the minor league experience so much fun. Here, I will highlight an upcoming promotion that stands out to me.
Tennessee Smokies vs. Chattanooga Lookouts, Saturday, July 25th, Christmas in July: The Smokies are promising themed games, holiday music, photo taking, and a Snow Globe Giveaway. In addition to all of this, the players will be wearing “Ugly Christmas Sweater Jerseys.” That just sounds so very eccentric and I can’t help but wonder what that will look like. There’s no more Byron Buxton or Miguel Sano for Chattanooga and no more Schwarber for Tennessee, so the fans in attendance need something interesting, and this is it right here.
Game(s) To Look Forward To
South Bend Cubs @ West Michigan Whitecaps, Friday, July 23rd, 7:05 P.M. ET: There wouldn’t have necessarily been anything different about this game, but we received this news on Thursday night:
Ems have lost top player as Cubs first round pick Ian Happ has been promoted to long-season Class A South Bend.
— Steve Mims (@SteveMims_RG) July 24, 2015
This is great news. We’ve known for some time that a promotion was on the way for Cubs 2015 first-rounder, but it’s great to finally get confirmation of it. South Bend is the next challenge for the young center fielder, as he looks to continue making progress at the plate and improving his skills in center. It goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyways, that a center fielder with Happ’s combination of power and patience could become yet another top-tier prospect for the Cubs. That is enough to get me excited for his debut with South Bend.