Your 2018 Iowa Cubs
May. 25th, 2018 07:17 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bedsitter23I made it to my first Iowa Cubs game of the year. The Chicago Cubs have a good young team, but the result of that is that they don't have a lot left in the minors. Young prospects are playing significant roles in Chicago or have been traded to complete the missing parts of the puzzle. How bad is it? The Des Moines Register usually runs an article on the team, but this year featured other stars of the Pacific Coast League that you might see in Iowa.
So you have to rely on the excellent Bleed Cubbie Blue blog for a primer on these guys.
This is a fairly different team than the one I saw at the end of the last summer. Here are some of the players I saw who might break through.
Jen-Ho Tseng - Tseng is consistently in Top 10 lists for Cubs prospects and played for Chicago last fall. He is a change-up specialist who has big expectations, but his record this year doesn't do much to impress. He looked good here though, pitching seven innings and striking out nine. Cory Mazzoni pitched two hitless innings to finish the game.
David Bote- This team doesn't have much in the way of a charismatic leader (except YouTube sensation staring viral hero vet catcher Taylor Davis), so that may just be Bote who has had a good season start and was even called to Chicago when injuries occurred to the team starters. Bote's a great fielding second baseman, who has played every position, except catcher (even pitched in a few games). Bote and third baseman Ryan Court gave some great fielding plays in the game.
Mark Zagunis- Zagunis has similar versatility and is with Bote, probably the most likely to succeed. He has a good eye for the ball and is good at drawing walks, which he did in this game.
Bijan Rademacher- Rademacher has been in the Cubs organization for awhile and was once considered a major prospect. he has settled into a steady Triple A player and came into the game late to play Left Field.
Jacob Hannemacher- Hannemacher is another long time Cubs prospect. He got sent to Seattle last year, played for the Mariners at the end of the season and is back in the Cubs organization. Hanneman had a solid 3 for 4 performance.
The Cubs won 3-2. It was a nice day for baseball and new rules in minor league baseball (clock) means it was a quick game at just over two hours long. Topped off by a ninth inning come-from-behind rally seemingly scripted from Hollywood, with a two-out game winning RBI from shortstop Mike Freeman.
So you have to rely on the excellent Bleed Cubbie Blue blog for a primer on these guys.
This is a fairly different team than the one I saw at the end of the last summer. Here are some of the players I saw who might break through.
Jen-Ho Tseng - Tseng is consistently in Top 10 lists for Cubs prospects and played for Chicago last fall. He is a change-up specialist who has big expectations, but his record this year doesn't do much to impress. He looked good here though, pitching seven innings and striking out nine. Cory Mazzoni pitched two hitless innings to finish the game.
David Bote- This team doesn't have much in the way of a charismatic leader (except YouTube sensation staring viral hero vet catcher Taylor Davis), so that may just be Bote who has had a good season start and was even called to Chicago when injuries occurred to the team starters. Bote's a great fielding second baseman, who has played every position, except catcher (even pitched in a few games). Bote and third baseman Ryan Court gave some great fielding plays in the game.
Mark Zagunis- Zagunis has similar versatility and is with Bote, probably the most likely to succeed. He has a good eye for the ball and is good at drawing walks, which he did in this game.
Bijan Rademacher- Rademacher has been in the Cubs organization for awhile and was once considered a major prospect. he has settled into a steady Triple A player and came into the game late to play Left Field.
Jacob Hannemacher- Hannemacher is another long time Cubs prospect. He got sent to Seattle last year, played for the Mariners at the end of the season and is back in the Cubs organization. Hanneman had a solid 3 for 4 performance.
The Cubs won 3-2. It was a nice day for baseball and new rules in minor league baseball (clock) means it was a quick game at just over two hours long. Topped off by a ninth inning come-from-behind rally seemingly scripted from Hollywood, with a two-out game winning RBI from shortstop Mike Freeman.
