Cubs Den

Daily Cubs Minors Recap: Davis doubles and homers; Roberts and Lugo continue putting up zeroes; Wick starts rehab; Ball debuts; Estrada still dominating

Leave a comment

Jeremiah Estrada (photo by Stephanie Lynn)

AAA

Iowa 3, Toledo 2

Top Performers

Ian Miller: 1-3, HR (1), R, RBI, 2 BB (.275)
Michael Hermosillo: 1-3, HR (7), R, RBI (.312)

Nick Martini: 2-3, BB (.250)
Justin Steele: 3 IP, H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K (1.35)
Scott Effross: 2 IP, H, R, BB, 3 K (W, 2-2, 5.11)

Tommy Nance: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, K (3.09)

Injuries, Updates, and Trends

Matt Duffy started and batted 2nd, David Bote batted 3rd. Neither has worked up to finishing a game yet, but we’ll start seeing that this week. Possible one or both may be able to return to Chicago by next weekend, but the Cubs won’t rush either.

The Justin Steele starting pitcher re-conversion continues at pace. He ramped up to 60 pitches this time out, striking out 5 while completing 3 shutout innings. The slider he developed in 2020 has helped him become more efficient in getting ahead and putting away hitters than the last time we saw him as a starter in 2019, when he often had to rely solely on his fastball to put more advanced hitters away. His timeline for reaching 5-6 innings aligns well with the trade deadline later this month, when the Cubs figure to need a replacement for Zach Davies.

Ben Leeper saw his 15.2 IP no-hit streak snapped when he surrendered a leadoff home run in the bottom of the 9th. He’s walk two batters and throw a wild pitch in an uncharacteristically wild inning, but he still managed to nail down the save.

Ian Miller got off to a really slow start the first month of the season (.194). When the injury bug hit the org hardest, he was one of the few healthy regulars in the upper levels, but he wasn’t able to give the club a boost by performing up to his usual levels. However, since June 3rd, Miller has quietly been Iowa’s most steady performer, batting .336/.387/.421 at the plate. Miller still has speed but has not been running much on the bases this year. Not sure why.

Michael Hermosillo continues to make his case for a post-trade deadline promotion to Chicago:

Has this ball landed yet? The answer is no.

Michael Hermosillo hits his second homer in as many days to extend our lead to two. pic.twitter.com/OsUdxcerw0

— Iowa Cubs (@IowaCubs)

July 18, 2021

It hasn’t been nearly the turnaround that Ian Miller has had, but all of a sudden Nick Martini has begun to hit after struggling for much of the year. He’s now recorded 3 straight mult-hit games to raise his season average from .211 to .250. Martini was due for some BABIP luck. Despite his average being in the low-200s most of the year, he has been drawing walks (.380 OBP).

Tennessee 2, Mississippi 0

Top Performers

Luis Lugo: 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, BB, 7 K (W, 3-3, 4.50)

Erich Uelmen: 2 IP, H, 0 R, BB, 2 K (4.89)
Ethan Roberts: IP, H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K (S, 3, 1.63)
Brennen Davis: 2-4, 2B, HR (5), R, RBI (.282)

Tyler Payne: 2-4 (.218)
Chase Strumpf: 1-3, 2B, BB (.173)
Carlos Sepulveda: 1-3, BB (.234)

Jared Young: 1-4, 2B, R (.397)
Levi Jordan: 1-3 (.264)

Injuries, Updates, and Trends

What a turnaround for swingman Luis Lugo. I’ve mentioned it after some of his recent outings, but after getting off to a dreadful start to the 2021 season with a well earned 10.10 ERA in 7 games (6 starts), Lugo was moved to the pen, where he quickly seemed to find his game. Since then he’s been great. Over his last 6 appearances (2 starts) he has not allowed an earned run (2 unearned runs) to drop his season ERA to a respectable 4.50. In his 23.1 IP the big lefty has allowed just 11 hits, 11 walks (but just 2 over his last 12 IP), while punching out 30 batters.

Ethan Roberts extended his shutout streak to 14.2 IP (4 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 20 K).

If You don’t love Ethan Roberts, you don’t love baseball. He has not allowed to run since June 8. His ERA for the year sits at 1.63 pic.twitter.com/fPONie8aHv

— Todd (@CubsCentral08)

July 18, 2021

As well as Lugo and Roberts have been pitching, the big story from this one is the continued development of Brennen Davis. Not only did he line an opposite field double off the wall in RCF in his first plate appearance, but he then added an oppo bomb in his next. I love Davis’s gap-to-gap approach geared toward making contact, which just lets his easy plus power come through without having to overswing.

This time Brennen cleared the RF wall. pic.twitter.com/NXpRZgZDy1

— Brad (@ballskwok)

July 17, 2021

High-A

South Bend 7, Cedar Rapids 3

Top Performers

Delvin Zinn: 2-4, RBI, BB (.239)
Bryce Ball: 1-3, 2B, R, BB (.333)
Josue Huma: 1-3, R, RBI, BB (.237)

Nelson Velazquez: 1-4, 2B, R, RBI, SB (9) (.275)
Harrison Wenson: 1-4, 2B, R, 2 RBI (.122)
Samuel Reyes: 3 IP, H, 0 R, BB, 3 K (4.04)

Eduarniel Nunez: 2 IP, H, 0 R, 2 BB, 0 K (W, 1-1, 6.00)

Injuries, Updates, and Trends

Rowan Wick, who figures to be a key piece of the Cubs bullpen post-trade deadline, began his rehab assignment with South Bend in… nice fashion. He struck out the side on 13 pitches.

A solid Cubs organizational debut for Bryce Ball:

Side view: pic.twitter.com/lEW98ZMwb9

— Brad (@ballskwok)

July 18, 2021

Low-A

Columbia 7, Myrtle Beach 0 (Game 1)

Myrtle Beach 2, Columbia 0 (Game 2)

Top Performers

Jeremiah Estrada: 4 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K (0.46)

Jarod Wright: 3 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K (W, 1-1, 3.38)
D.J. Herz: 4 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 3 K (L, 1-4, 3.86)
Fabian Pertuz: 3-4, 2 2B, RBI, SB (2) (.243)

Yohendrick Pinango: 2-6, R (.265)
Ed Howard: 1-3 (.215)
Kevin Made: 1-3 (.206)

Injuries, Updates, and Trends

Jeremiah Estrada reached 50 pitches. My guess is the Cubs don’t want to overtax him while he builds up his pitch counts, but Low-A hitters aren’t taxing him much either. They’ll need to get him to South Bend sometime in the near future.

AZL

Cubs 2, Athletics 1

Top Performers