Around the Chicago Cubs' farm system on Sunday, there were a bunch of losses to go around. Every single Cubs minor-league team lost and only the Tennessee Smokies and Myrtle Beach Pelicans were relatively close. There were still some solid performances to celebrate across the board and plenty of challenges to discuss. Without further ado, let's dive in.
Triple-A Iowa: 5-9 Loss to Columbus Clippers
Biggest Yes: Bailey Horn — 2.0 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 0 R, 2 SO
Bailey Horn has now played three games with the Iowa Cubs. In his first 4.1 innings, the lefty has not given up a run, and the only hit and walk he has surrendered came in this game. The guy is good. He's tied for fourth in Around the Farm History with seven Biggest Yes awards for a reason.
The 25-year-old could find himself in Wrigley in a pinch by the end of this season. He's tossing 95 MPH heaters and throwing sliders with wicked movement, and it is bamboozling hitters. Horn, the return from the Chicago White Sox in the Ryan Tepera trade, is my 34th-ranked Cubs prospect thanks to such a hot start to the 2023 season. Hopefully, Horn keeps things going for Iowa and finds his way to Wrigley soon as a lefty out of the bullpen.
Biggest Yikes: Vinny Nittoli — 1.1 IP, 2 H, 0 BB, 2 ER, 1 SO, 1 HR
Upon first glance, Nittoli's stat line doesn't look like it should earn him Biggest Yikes for this game. Just looking at the stats, Riley Thompson (0.2 IP, 2 H, 3 BB, 5 ER, 2 SO) should absolutely be up here. The problem is that Nittoli relived Thompson, who had just intentionally walked a guy to load the bases and struck out the next batter he faced.
Nittoli came on to face Zack Collins with the bases loaded and surrendered a grand slam on a 3-1 count. The pitch couldn't have been more in the middle of the zone if it willed itself there and Collins smacked it. Yes, Thompson gets tagged with the runs and put those runners on base, but Nittoli gave up the slam. He gets Biggest Yikes for that.
Double-A Tennessee: 4-5 Loss to Rocket City Trash Pandas
Biggest Yes: Jordan Wicks — 5.0 IP, 0 H, 1 BB, 1 R, 0 ER, 4 SO
Jordan Wicks just can't be touched on the mound. Double-A batters can't figure him out. Well, he did give up six hits in 5.0 innings in his last game, but this performance marks the second time in Wicks's last three starts that he has held the opposing team hitless over five innings. He has also made it five innings in his last four starts.
A walk, steal, throwing error, and sac fly got a run home in the first inning. Wicks followed that up by pitching three straight 1-2-3 innings. In the fifth, a hit by pitch was the only thing that kept Wicks from going 1-2-3 in four-straight innings. The Cubs' No. 7 prospect is good, guys.
Biggest Yikes: Michael McAvene — 1.0 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 3 ER, 0 SO, 2 HR
Michael McAvene came in to pitch the eighth inning in a really good situation. He had a 4-2 lead to protect after the Smokies added another insurance run in the top of the inning. Now, I can't explain why Tennessee put a guy with an 8.31 ERA, 2.19 WHIP, and .324 BAA on the mound at the end of a close game. However, in McAvene's defense, he was coming off of two straight two-inning performances where he didn't give up a run.
That all came crashing down to Earth in this game. McAvene's first pitch was hit for a home run. After that came a walk, but McAvene recovered by recording two outs. Unfortunately, he gave up another home run after that to put the Trash Pandas up by one, which was all Rocket City needed. If I could give McAvene some advice, I think it would be to stop throwing pitches in the dead center of the zone.
High-A South Bend: 1-6 Loss to Cedar Rapids Kernels
Biggest Yes: Didier Vargas — 2.0 IP, 0 H, 1 BB, 0 R, 3 SO
Didier Vargas has been having a tough season in South Bend to start the year. In 2022, Vargas showcased a solid profile starting in Myrtle Beach where — in eight starts — he had a 3.10 ERA. However, upon being promoted to High-A, Vargas started getting lit up. That has continued into this season. The last time Vargas pitched before this game, he went 0.2 innings and gave up six earned runs.
In this one, however, Vargas was poised and pitched well. The 24-year-old even went 1-2-3 in the ninth with two strikeouts. Of course, it wasn't enough to bring South Bend magically back into the game, but it was nice for Vargas to recollect himself after a rough outing.
Biggest Yikes: Bailey Reid — 0.1 IP, 1 H, 5 BB, 4 ER, 1 SO
Here's the good news for Bailey Reid: he likely just picked up his last-ever (fourth-career) Biggest Yikes award for the Cubs. The bad news, however, is that the reason for this is that the Cubs released Reid from the organization. Truly, I hope he finds another home and bounces back.
This game was a demonstration of the difficulties Reid has always had in a Cubs uniform. Despite having some nasty stuff, Reid has no command. Thus, he gives up hits and walks a ton of batters. His BB/9 in 2023 was 27.0. Reid got the Cubs so far behind in the fifth inning, they just didn't have a real chance to come back.
Low-A Myrtle Beach: 6-8 Loss to Columbia Fireflies
Biggest Yes: Felix Stevens — 3/4, BB, HR (4), RBI, 2 R
Felix Stevens is really coming into his own and turning out a good season. The 23-year-old is slashing .311/.416/.554 and showing no signs of slowing down at the plate. In this game, Stevens did his darnedest to keep the Pelicans in the game this time around. His home run came in the third inning to put Myrtle Beach up 2-1, and his second run was scored in the fifth inning to tie the game at five.
There was only so much he could do as one guy, though. Still, it is another encouraging game from Stevens who will likely debut on my Cubs' top 100 prospects soon.
Biggest Yikes: Reivaj Garcia — 0/5, 2 SO, 3 LOB
Reivaj Garcia recently made his Around the Farm debut as a Biggest Yes in the May 2 edition. Now, the 21-year-old joins the ranks of the Biggest Yikes. In a game where the Pelicans desperately needed to continue producing runs to keep up with Columbia, their leadoff hitter couldn't get on base.
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