Ryan Williams Keeps Rollin' at Riverview as Extended Spring Training Comes to an End

D. J. Wilson singled, doubled, stole a base, and scored a run, Franklin Tineo belted a solo HR, and SP Ryan Williams (2017 right shoulder surgery) hurled five innings of one-run ball, in a Cubs Extended Spring Training intrasquad game played Tuesday night on Field #1 at the Riverview Baseball Complex in Mesa, AZ. 

The game was called after 4-1/2 innings of play (only two pitchers were scheduled to throw in the game, both with a pre-determined 75-pitch limit). 

Tuesday marked the official end of Cubs Extended Spring Training. AZL mini-camp begins on Thursday, and the first AZL games are next Monday.

Meanwhile, the Eugene Emeralds (the Cubs short-season "A" affiliate) flew up to Oregon earlier in the afternoon, leaving AZL Cubs #1 and AZL Cubs #2 behind in Mesa to play the final EXST intrasquad game. The first Eugene game will be this coming Friday. 

Based upon who did and did not play in the intrasquad game and who I did not see on the bench (and we will have to wait for the Eugene roster to be released before this can be confirmed), it would appear that a number of the Cubs best EXST prospects have been assigned to Eugene (at least initially, pending the eventual arrival of some of this year's college draft picks), including SS-3B Christopher Morel, C Jonathan Soto, LHSP Brailyn Marquez, CF Fernando Kelli, SS Luis Vazquez, LHSP Faustino Carrera, RF Jonathan Sierra, 2B Luis Diaz, RHSP Eury Ramos, and 3B-2B Orian Nunez. (OF Nelson Velazquez -- who was moved up to South Bend from EXST last month -- has also been assigned to Eugene, so the Emeralds could be a fun team to watch).

Converseely, some of the older and more experienced players who were expecting to go to Eugene (C Alexander Guerra, OF Luis Gutierrez, OF Jose A. Gonzalez, 3B-1B Fidel Mejia, OF Yovanny Cuevas, and INF Yonathan Perlaza) as well as the youngsters making their pro debuts (SS Luis Verdugo, 2B Reivaj Garcia, and OF Kevin Moreno) were left behind to play in the AZL. (As most of you know by now, the Cubs Player Development Department likes to employ aggressive "challenge-promotions" for their best prospects). 

On the EXST medical front, Cubs 2017 6th round draft pick RHSP Jeremiah Estrada (who was a virtual lock for the Eugene starting rotation) was left behind in Mesa after suffering a right elbow injury in a Cactus League EXST game versus Angels at Diablo Park about ten days ago. RHSP Jose M. Gonzalez (who was not in contention for a Eugene SP slot but was expected to be a SP for one of the two Cubs AZL teams) has been shut-down indefinitely with a right elbow/forearm injury that ocurred in a Cactus League EXST game at Giants about two or three weeks ago (but no TJS for either Estrada or Gonzalez... yet). RHSP Danis Correa and RHRP Junior Marte have also been shut-down indefinitely (and I don't know why). And still no confirmation on the exact nature of DSL Cubs #2 LHSP Andres Bonalde's season-ending left elbow surgery (probably was TJS, but I'm not 100% sure). NOTE: Bonalde was called up from the Cubs Dominican Academy and was assigned to Cubs Extended Spring Training only - AFTER - he had the surgery. Myrtle Beach OF Chris Pieters was last seen a couple of weeks ago at the UAPC wearing a TJS-type contraption on his right (non-throwing) arm, but his injury could be any one of a number of different types of elbow/biceps type-injury (although whatever it is, it didn't look good). South Bend catcher Marcus Mastrobuoni had season-ending knee surgery last month. And no update yet on OF Carlos Pacheco, who suffered a leg injury while tripping over 1st base (and had to be carried from the field) in an intrasquad game last weekend (Pacheco -- who was tied for 2nd in the DSL in HR in 2017 -- was expected to play LF and provide a power-bat for one of the two AZL Cubs teams).   

Here is the box score from the game: 
CUBS SQUAD "B" LINEUP:
1. Tolly Filotei, LF: 1-3 (1B, K, 3-U) 
2. Jose Gutierrez, RF: 0-3 (K, F-8, K)
3. Luis Verdugo, SS: 0-2 (F-9, F-9)
4. Franklin Tineo, C: 1-2 (F-7, HR, R, RBI)
5. Josue Huma, 3B: 0-2 (L-7, 4-3)
6. Herson Perez, 2B: 2-2 (1B, 1B)
7. Richard Nunez, 1B: 0-2 (K, K)
8. Jose A. Gonzalez, CF: 0-1 (6-3, BB)
9. Eric Gonzalez, DH:  0-2 (6-3, L-7)

CUBS SQUAD "A" LINEUP: 
1. D. J. Wilson, CF: 2-2 (1B, 2B, R, SB)
2. Reivaj Garcia, 2B: 1-2 (1B, K, RBI)
3. Yonathan Perlaza, 3B: 0-2 (P-3 DP, 5-3)
4. Alexander Guerra, C: 0-2 (F-8, 6-3)
5. Fidel Mejia, 1B: 1-2 (K, 1B)
6. Yovanny Cuevas, RF: 0-1 (K, BB)
7. Raymond Pena, DH #1: 1-2 (E-4, 1B)
8. Kevin Moreno, DH #2: 1-1 (BB, 1B)
9. Henrry Pedra, 2B: 0-2 (K, 5-3 DP)
10. Luis Ubiera, LF: 0-1 (K) 

CUBS SQUAD "B" PITCHER:
Didier Vargas: 4.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R (1 ER), 2 BB, 5 K, 1 GIDP, 3/2 GO/AO, 72 pitches (39 strikes) 

CUBS SQUAD "A" PITCHER:
Ryan Williams: 5.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R (1 ER), 1 BB, 5 K, 1 HR, 4/6 GO/AO, 75 pitches (53 strikes) 
 
CUBS SQUAD "B" ERRORS: 1 
2B Herson Perez: E-4 (fielding error allowed batter to reach base safely) 

CUBS SQUAD "A" ERRORS: NONE 

ATTENDANCE: 1 

WEATHER: Partly cloudy with temperatures 100+ 

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