Iowa Cubs update

Ordinarily I have little to say while the I-Cubs are on the road. My commentary usually takes the form of eyewitness accounts. But one big club is wandering the desert [both literally and otherwise] which means a long day's journey into gametime and another big club is in Nashville laying waste to PCL pitching staffs. I thought we might kill some time with a closer look at the latter.

After last night's two-homer game Jake Fox has a pile of stats like the stack of chips in front of the big winner at a poker game.

In 18 games he's hit 11 trotters and knocked in 29 runs! 19 of his league-leading 31 hits have been for extra bases. He's batting .443 with an OPS of 1.549. He already has amassed 73 total bases, just over four per game! True, he's fanned 20 times against only eight walks, but he's also played errorlessly so far at 1B.

For the sake of some perspective it might be useful to note that Big Jake's competition at the top of some of the PCL's hitting categories is none other than Matt Murton. Murton's off to a .411 start with Colorado Springs but 20 of his 30 hits have been singles. His OPS is 1.133 but he has, get this, swiped five bases without being caught. Fox is 1-1 in that category, he being more of a distance runner than a sprinter.

Last year Micah Hoffpauir totaled 100 RBI in just 70 games with Iowa. Will Fox be here long enough to find out if he can equal or surpass that remarkable rate of run production?

IN OTHER NEWS:

Jason Waddell, the bullpen lefty, is pure no more. He gave up his first three runs of the season and took the loss in Saturday's road trip opener...Is Jose Ascanio being stretched out or just exiled? Last year's sometimes I-Cub closer has had four starts and leads the league with a somewhat misleading ERA of 0.54. But his innings pitched have been four, four, four and two thirds and four. The corresponding pitch counts were 55, 54, 74 and 68. Are they extending him to be a long reliever? Mission accomplished...Bobby Scales has played 3B in all three games since Aramis Ramirez was hurt on Saturday afternoon in St. Louis...MW

An in-game thunderstorm preempted the traditional Friday night fireworks show and Jason Dubois [pronounced Doo-Bwah' in this organization] launched the finale with a game-winning three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth as the Iowa Cubs dropped the curtain on their first homestand of the season by stealing one from Albuquerque.

Jake Fox clubbed his league-leading eighth homer of the year and added two singles to again pace the I-Cub attack. Bobby Scales tripled,singled and scored twice to boost his average to .370. Both Scales and SS Andres Blanco are switch-hitting infielders batting over .300, but Scales has played some 3B and even a bit of 1B besides his usual post at 2B while Blanco has been strictly a shortstop early on. If an infielder is to be recalled today, Scales may have an edge based on versatility.

Chad Fox got the win last night despite yielding his first run of the year in half a dozen appearances. A quietly emerging story in the team's bullpen is RH Greg Reinhard. He's now thrown 11 scoreless innings while walking only three to go with 17 strikeouts. Jason Waddell remains unscored upon as the team's bullpen southpaw.

The team was to leave early this morning for Nashville where they start a four-game set tonight. Still unknown is whether or not they'd be dropping anyone off in St. Louis.

Jake Fox may be ready to take on big league pitching but last night he was silenced by a trio of ex-big leaguers as the Iowa Cubs fell to the Albuquerque Isotopes in a 7-0 yawner at Principal Park.

Eric Milton tossed six impressive innings on his way back from TJ surgery. Jeff Weaver and Tanyon Sturtze preserved the shutout with tidy work of their own. Each took at least one turn hosing down the blazing Big Jake.

Fox went hitless for the first time in 2009 and finally fell off of his unsustainable RBI pace of two per game. He grounded out to end the dreary affair and send everybody home to bed before a noon matinee today that is forecast to be played in good weather breezing through Des Moines on its way to Chicago. Look for the C-Cub crowd to be dressed a little more comfortably on Thursday afternoon at Wrigley.

Even though they only managed a combined two for eight, the Albuquerque highlights for me were Isotope veterans Valentino Pascucci and Chin Hu. I love the 1B with the name of an opera singer and it always makes me smile to know Hu's at SS.

I hope to get to the ballpark in mid-game today and plan to be there tomorrow night for Jack Snow, er, Jeff Samardzija's next start...MW

It's a shame there weren't more people there to see it because duels of legitimate pitching prospects like the one that played out last night at Principal Park are rare in the homer-happy Pacific Coast League.

 The mundanely named Bud Norris and your own fighting Irishman with Samardzija scrabbled on his mail fought each other to a 2-2 standoff before Round Rock eventually prevailed 7-5.

For his part, Samardzija looked every bit the big leaguer in waiting as he carved his way through the Texans' lineup to the tune of six innings, one walk, five strikeouts, less than six dozen pitches and a lone hit, that unfortunately being a two-run homer by Reggie Abercrombie who would later blast an encore that put his team ahead to stay.

Samardzija offered first pitch strikes to 12 of the 21 hitters he faced and 49 of his mere 71 pitches were strikes.

His inning by inning pitch counts broke down thusly: 11,13,9,9,18, and 11. Abercrombie's homer followed a two-out walk in the 5th.

Samardzija hit more batters [2] than hit him.

The prodigious Jake Fox smote a tying two-run blast beyond the center field wall in the bottom of the sixth to swell his RBI total to 20 already in only 10 games. That finished Norris, Houston's #2 prospect, who appears as tenacious and hard-throwing as his counterpart. Both were throwing in the low to mid 90's and one can imagine them opposing each other in Houston and Chicago before much longer.

Between the 6th and 7th innings I spotted a very high-ranking Chicago Cub official in the seats directly behind home plate and wandered down to see if I might pick a little at his large brain. I introduced myself by name and affiliation.

"After the game," he said, "I'm working right now." as though he were a player and I an autograph hound. I said I didn't mean to interrupt; just thought I could ask a couple quickies between frames.

"Whaddaya wanna ask?" he gasped as his eyes rolled.

"Does Jake Fox have a big league future with this organization? Are other teams interested in him?"

"That's none of your business." the wheeler-dealer said. "Do you expect me to tell you what teams have asked me about him?"

"No," said I. "I just wondered if there's interest in him."

"Jake Fox is a big league hitter." he declared in summation.

Then followed an even briefer, but no less pleasant, discourse about young Mr. Samardzija's progress after which I thanked him for his time and left him to enjoy what remained of what I like to call the "I think my husband's home" race in which contestants scramble to dress themselves in a uniform ASAP and lunge across a finish line in pursuit of a gift certificate for a free oil change.

I hope the high-powered observer enjoyed the 7th inning stretch, by which time Samardzija had showered and I was on my way to a late showing of "State of Play". Russell Crowe also looked very sharp...MW

Ahh, opening night at the ballpark. The aromas of the stadium grills. The energy of the gathering crowd. The intense greenness of the diamond. The excitement in the PA announcer's voice. The flowers in the restrooms!?

Even the national anthem singer last night at Principal Park in Des Moines couldn't wait to get the Iowa Cubs' home season started. She zipped through a snappy rendition in a minute or so and away we went.

Alas, once the game was put in the hands of professional ballplayers it ground nearly to a halt right out of the blocks.

A nearly 40-minute first inning saw both starting pitchers walk in a run and get paid a visit from their respective dugouts on the mound.

When the I-Cubs finally got to hit, leadoff man Sam Fuld popped one foul down the third baseline and headed for first. A hustling batboy sprinted from the home team's dugout and grabbed at Fuld's bat, by then in the grip of Round Rock's catcher. Only the catcher wouldn't let go. The confused batboy looked up at him pleadingly and the catcher pointed his attention to the stands where the ball had landed. Fuld was on his way back to the batter's box and wasn't yet done with his bat.

The first inning might never have ended had the sizzling Jake Fox not swung at the first pitch he saw and grounded into a fielder's choice that broke up an otherwise monotonous, if profitable, stretch of four straight walks by Round Rock's impostorous southpaw hurler.

Later on Fox would fire a run scoring single and launch a towering solo homer to maintain his per game RBI average at precisely two and the I-Cubs eased to an 8-3 win in front of an unusually large and comfortable opening night crowd of nearly ten grand.

By the second inning the renewed joy of baseball had already worn off for many and the scoreboard was inviting children to the playground under the first base grandstands. Such are the times we live in.

First game kinks were fairly minimal. There were a few pitches clocking in on the scoreboard radar screen at 50 mph, but the whole operation was otherwise in mid-season form.

I'll be back there tonight to have a look at the Notre Dame receiver turned thrower. If, that is, I can keep myself out of the playground. Tonight's promo is an earmuff giveaway; they shouldn't be necessary if the weather holds. Tomorrow afternoon is Samardzija jersey-shirt day. I'll check to see if they spell it right...MW

Today's double-barreled day off for the Chicago and Iowa Cubs seems like a good time to assess how the two teams' fortunes intertwine as their respective seasons round third.

Like their parents the Iowa Cubs enjoy a five game bulge over their nearest divisional pursuers [the Cardinal proteges in Memphis]. Since the PCL regular season ends on Labor Day [Monday, September 1], the I-Cubs are only a couple dozen games away from a likely playoff spot. That likelihood makes the annual speculation about September call-ups a little less idle than in most years.

Here's a quick summary of guys who figure to get some consideration as extras in the claustrophobic dugout at Wrigley:

1. Micah Hoffpauir - What's there to say? The guy's hitting .350+ with 73 RBI's in 49 games! A question of when, not if.

2. Jason Dubois - 20 HR's in 179 AB's figure to get him a few shots when a late-inning PH with power from the right side is called for.

3. Koyie Hill - Got hot along with the weather to get the BA north of .280; also gunning down about a third of enemy base-stealers. A third catcher who switch-hits is a given.

4. Casey McGehee - Has steadily, quietly amassed 76 RBI's while primarily manning 3B; might spell Aramis a time or two if the Chicubs clinch with any room to spare.

5. Felix Pie - Still listed on the active roster but hasn't played in August since he retwisted his testicle or whatever.

6. Andres Torres - Can there be such a thing as a poor man's Angel Pagan? Torres is a switch-hitting OF @ .303 BA, .397 OBP & 17/20 SB's. Remember him in case Felix can't get his balls unknotted.

7. Michael Wuertz - His season has only Wuertzened since the demotion. Despite one gaudy outing of 3 perfect innings that included 7 K's, he's racked up a 6.30 ERA in 10 Iowa innings so far.

8. Mitch Atkins - Not likely, but just so you'll know, this guy is 5-0 with a 3.90 ERA since coming up from Tennessee. His last start read as follows: 6 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 11 K's.

At some point there will be decisions to make about how many battle fronts the organization wants to fight on simultaneously. Troops may have to be pulled from the PCL playoffs to enable a September surge in the NL Central or simply to give the frontliners some R&R before the REAL playoffs begin in October.

When the golden boy took the mound yesterday he must have felt right at home, what with the golden dome of the Iowa statehouse beyond the center-field wall and the Notre Dame fight song blaring over the PA system conjuring flashbacks of his alma mater.

Six innings and 101 pitches later Jeff Samardzija left having made another tentative promise on his well-financed junket through the bush leagues to the big-time.

He surrendered only one run despite walking six and recorded his first AAA win in his second start at that level.

If his dues-paying teammates resent his gilded glide through the system you wouldn't have known it by watching Koyie Hill throw out two base stealers or Luis Figueroa snuff out another threat by going way out of his way to snare a ball on the inskirts of CF and throw out the guy who hit it there.

Samardzija [I spelled it that time without looking it up] was also helped by a viagran breeze blowing straight in from LF @ 20 MPH. It caught one ball smoked to left-center and blew foul another that was thumped well beyond the RF fence.

Over the course of his season-and-a-half in pro ball the kid the Cubs lured from the NFL has now made 43 starts covering 229 innings. He's surrendered 257 hits and walked 94 while fanning 118. Not exactly glittering results.

Still, having now witnessed the most recent six of those innings I get why the Cubs got Samardzija.

First of all, he's imposing on the mound at 6'5" and 220. When he gets in jams he pitches like he's playing football. Case in point: Yesterday he faced Dallas McPherson in the top of the third protecting a 2-1 lead. McPherson leads all of pro baseball this year with 28 homers and just this weekend had a string of seven straight games with a homer snapped. To that point Samardzija hadn't topped 91 on the scoreboard speedometer. The sixth pitch of what ended as an eight-pitch strikeout registered 94 [scouts at Principal Park have told me that their guns consistently register 2-3 mph's faster than the ballpark's].

After looking like a prop at the plate in his first two AB's, Samardzija came up with the bases loaded in the fifth and got interested, slicing a sharp single to right through a drawn-in infield.

In short, the guy clearly likes to compete.

He threw first-pitch strikes to only 14 of the 24 hitters he faced. He only had one inning where he retired three straight. But his arm is lively and, money no longer being a concern, he seems to care mostly about winning. McPherson, a one-time phenom himself, was quoted in the local paper this morning as saying that Samardzija's fastball and splitter are both big-league caliber.

Once they're thrown as accurately as the Brady Quinn passes Samardzija used to catch, that's where he'll be throwing them, I suspect.

ALSO: His two RBI's yesterday give Micah Hoffpauir 26 in only 22 games with the I-Cubs this year...Figueroa almost suffered an improbable injury when he emerged from the dugout to lead-off in the bottom of the 2nd and was nearly run down by the golf cart the hot dog gunner was riding in...as a p.s. to AZ Phil's Pie post yesterday, I got to interview Felix once last year not long after he was sent back from his first taste of the 'bigs'. It was a rainy morning on a weekday with a matinee scheduled. An I-Cub official escorted me to a players' lounge area of the full, bustling clubhouse where I waited for Felix, apparently the last of the team to arrive. When he did he was sullen and practically non-communicative until the subject of his buddy Alfonso Soriano came up. Later our chat was interrupted by the team official who had to inform Felix why his rental car had been towed after he parked it smack dab in front of his downtown hotel late the previous evening and where he would have to go to get it back. It didn't sound like anybody was going to go get it for him which surprised me at the time. As for his general demeanor and tardiness to the ballpark, I was inclined to chalk them up as natural for a kid with his background in a strange place where the language too was unfamiliar. Given all the whispers going around Chicago media this spring about Pie's bad case of 'big-leagueitis', I have to wonder now...MW

Hello again from Des Moines, the soggy branch office of the Chicago Cubs National League ballclub.

A bizarre homestand that began last weekend with a flood-delayed game played behind closed doors as a public safety precaution ended last night with the season's largest crowd witnessing the latest episode in the unraveling of Rich Hill.

One night after Sean Marshall required only 87 pitches to get 24 outs, Hill scatter-gunned 45 before he was taken into custody after a mere two-thirds of the first inning.

He hit batters, batters hit him, he walked #'s 29, 30, 31 and 32 in 28 Iowa innings, threw in a wild pickoff throw that seemed almost gratuitous and generally made a[n] [Steve Bl]ass of himself before being ushered to the showers by tepid applause that was as unwarranted here as it would have been at a gallows.

How appropos that the opponent for the Iowa Floods was the New Orleans Hurricane.

The visitors' operatic lineup sparkled with Gustavos and Casanovas and Rauls and Valentinos and Pascuccis.

Understudies to Marshall on Thursday night, they killed Hill in the first act on Friday before the concessionaires had beaten back the first charge of a crowd in excess of 11k.

Marshall apparently won't be here much longer. He's ripe and ready for the call. As for Hill, he's best-suited right now for casting as Nuke Laloosh in a 'Bull Durham' remake.

The anti-climactic pitching note of the evening was the appearance of a young moose named Estrada for the I-Cubs. Recently promoted from Tennessee where his #'s were ordinary, he's listed at 6'8" and 260#. So far in two stints here he's allowed five hits and two runs in seven innings while walking zero and fanning 10. File him under future reference.

Following the good example of their parent club the I-Cubs now hit the road still in first place - high and, more importantly, dry...MW

Micah Hoffpauir was activated a week ago and the Iowa Cubs haven't lost since. In the last two games alone he's driven in more runs than the pesky redhead has in 23. Yesterday he manned a post in right-field, possibly as a Plan B in the event of a failed Jim Edmonds experiment.

Meanwhile Kevin Hart was 'stretched out' from 67 pitches in his previous start all the way to 68 yesterday; from 3.2 innings all the way to four.