Honorable Mention: Ed Howard reached base another three times, here with a good swing hanging back on a breaking ball:
Ed Howard is two for two tonight including this RBI single pic.twitter.com/tG6AlhYnC5
After some real struggles against the Rays’ Low-A affiliate in week one, Howard has looked much better this week, reaching base now in eight of his last 16 plate appearances
Other miscellany: Ben Leeper had his most comfortable pro outing, coming into a bases loaded, two out situation and getting seven outs for the Double-A Smokies. Leeper was 94-97 with the fastball, 87-89 with a slider that he showed a willingness to throw in any count … the Iowa Cubs bullpen kept them in the game facing just one over the minimum in four innings of work. Ryan Meisinger (who is racking up strikeouts, got the win, but shouts also to Kyle Ryan and Michael Rucker … The South Bend offense was a dynamo yesterday, but I had to cut it off somewhere. That means Cole Roederer falls here despite re
The 2021 Detroit Tigers are terrible.
I don’t say this out of cruelty or to beat a dead horse, but to continue on with this piece, it’s important to understand that the team is very, very bad. It took them five weeks to notch their 10th win of the year. Future Hall of Famer Miguel Cabrera is hitting a mere .160/.259/.253. The incredible hot starts of Akil Baddoo and Wilson Ramos have cooled, and with the sole exception of Matthew Boyd, the team’s pitching staff seems to be struggling mightily against all comers.
For fans, it’s feels like a familiar story told year after year, only it seems to be getting worse over time. And it’s becoming a story that’s getting a lot harder to listen to without a mounting sense of frustration, because in terms of a rebuild, the Tigers appear to have been abandoned by their contractor with only a rough hewn foundation to show for it.
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Shelby Miller started 2021 with three relief outings for the Cubs at the big league level.Mark Black/AP
Not in 621 days had a Minor League Baseball team celebrated a milestone such as this. On Sunday, the Iowa Cubs brought the drought to an end.
Led by starting pitcher Shelby Miller, four Triple-A Iowa pitchers including Tommy Nance, Brad Wieck and Ryan Meisinger combined for a no-hitter as their squad did enough at the plate to sink visiting Indianapolis, 2-0, at Principal Park.
Making his first appearance at Triple-A in the Cubs system, Miller got Iowa started on the right note with three stellar innings. The veteran retired the side in order in the first and third and faced only one over the minimum thanks to a one-out walk he issued in the second. Threading five strikeouts through his abbreviated outing, Miller threw 28 of 47 pitches for strikes.
Off-days are for the birds, baby.
With no game for the big league Cubs tonight, Marquee Sports Network has decided to cover and broadcast the Triple-A Iowa Cubs game against the Indianapolis Indians. Cory Abbott is taking the mound for the Cubs in this one, marking his Triple-A debut.
Abbott, the Cubs second round pick back in 2017, was Bleacher Nation’s 10th ranked prospect coming into this season, and this is what Bryan had to say about him at the time:
Skill Set: Cubs love the edge he plays with, and he benefits from an attack-attack-attack mentality on the mound. I believe the slider is more plus than it gets credit for, a belief that is backed up by the results (as a reminder, hitters went 25-for-213 in his last 11 AA starts). Can pitch backwards off his two breaking balls, or pitch conventionally, as the command of his fastball is generally above-average.