The 2015 Carolina League Champions Myrtle Beach Pelicans were honored and received their rings at Sloan Park prior to Sunday’s Cactus League game between the Cubs and Mariners. The Pelicans won the 2015 Mills Cup Championship last season. And for many of last year’s Pelicans, it was their second championship in as many years. Mark Johnson led Low-A Kane County to the Midwest League Championship in 2014 and High-A Myrtle Beach to the Carolina League Championship last year. Johnson looks to … [Read more...]
Cubs Down on the Farm Report – 12/24/15
Pitching Analysis – Lower Minors Today, the CCO completes its off-season look at the Cubs’ minor league system. After reviewing the pitching staffs for Triple-A Iowa, Double-A Tennessee, High-A Myrtle Beach, and Low-A South Bend, it’s time for the pitching prospects in the lower minor leagues. Lower Minors Starters and Relievers Moving to the Short Season-A Eugene Emeralds for the 2015 season, Oscar De La Cruz became one of the most dominant pitchers in the Northwest League. The 20-year … [Read more...]
Cubs Down on the Farm Report – 07/15/15
It was an abbreviated schedule to start the week due to the Midsummer Classic. Pitching once again was the big news as youngster Junior Marte tossed five innings of no-hit ball for the DSL Cubs. Zach Hedges dominated with seven strikeouts for South Bend, and Paul Blackburn returned from the disabled list with three shutout innings. Meanwhile in Arizona, rehabbing pitchers Trey McNutt and Erling Moreno made some progress. With news from both Eugene and Tennessee, today’s Down on the Farm … [Read more...]
Cubs Down on the Farm Report – 07/10/15
Grabbing the spot light are the high-flying Eugene Emeralds, who have the best record in the Northwest League thanks to the play of Donnie Dewees and Frandy Delarosa. There was some tough luck as the Myrtle Beach offense has suddenly gone cold and squandered excellent pitching efforts from Michael Heesch and Jen-Ho Tseng. South Bend is also in a scoring drought and wasted a good performance by Erick Leal. There was a resurgence from Bijan Rademacher, a home run from Kyle Schwarber, and a … [Read more...]
Cubs Down on the Farm Report – 07/06/15
While perhaps a little late to the party, the Cubs made their midseason reshuffle of their personnel over the weekend. Myrtle Beach is back after scuffling for a while, thanks to the red-hot hitting of Jeimer Candelario. Another player who is swinging it well is Jacob Hannemann, who helped ignite the Tennessee offense. Pitching was also in the spotlight as South Bend’s Michael Wagner, Iowa’s Donn Roach, and Dylan Cease of the AZL Cubs all had outstanding efforts. So take a look at Down … [Read more...]
Cubs Down on the Farm Report – 07/01/15
The Cubs’ affiliates have a new first place team as the Eugene Emeralds took the top spot thanks to the hot hitting of Donnie Dewees and Matt Rose. South Bend remained in first place due to excellent pitching from Tommy Thorpe and Corbin Hoffner. A 4-for-4 performance by Jeimer Candelario got Myrtle Beach their first win of the second half, while Tennessee and Iowa squandered very good outings from Ryan Williams and Jeffry Antigua. With other fine efforts from Dylan Cease, Mark Malave, and … [Read more...]