Daniel Lewis

Kevonte Mitchell (RBI single), Michael Foster (RBI double), and Vimael Machin (RBI single) stroked run-scoring hits and RHP Jesus Castillo tossed four innings of one-run ball with seven strikeouts, helping the Cubs edge the Diamondbacks 3-2 in Cactus League Extended Spring Training action this morning on Ramada Field at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick Resort east of Scottsdale, AZ. 

Joel Novas belted an RBI triple and a double for the Diamondbacks in a losing cause. 

The game was called by mutual consent after7-1/2 innings of play. 

On the Cubs MLB 15-day DL since Spring Training with right shoulder inflammation, RHSP Dallas Beeler saw his first Cactus League EXST game action since being shut-down mid-AB in a rehab start at Riverview Park on April 30th. Beeler threw a 1-2-3 inning (14 pitches) with two strikeouts today, and is scheduled to make his next start (where the number of innings and pitches will be increased) early next week 

Prior to the Cactus League EXST game, RHSP Jen-Ho Tseng (on AA Tennessee DL since May 9th with right shoulder inflammation) threw a two-inning 40-pitch "live" BP session at Riverview Park and looked very good. Whether he will return directly to Tennessee or make a rehab start or two at EXST is TBD.

In EXST Cubs roster news, RHRP Daniel Lewis has been moved-up to Myrtle Beach. Lewis was one of the last pitchers cut from the South Bend roster at the end of Minor League Camp, so it is not surpising that he got the call. Lewis served four years in the U. S. Air Force after graduating from high school, and was discovered by a Cubs scout pitching at Pensacola  JC in Florida in 2014. He's 25, but because of the years lost to military service he still has a "young arm" (he's only been pitching for two years). He throws hard (a 94-96 MPH fastball that touches 97 and a mid-80's slider), and is a fierce competitor.      

Here is the abridged box score from the game (Cubs players only): 

Alberto Mineo (two-run single, RBI triple, and a walk) and Tyler Pearson (two walks and a double) reached base three times a piece for the Cubs, and Gilbert Lara (RBI triple), David Denson (RBI double), and Yerald Martinez (RBI double) stroked run-scoring extra-base hits in a three-run fourth, CF Joantgel Segovia drilled three singles, stole two bases, drove-in two runs, and threw out a runner on the bases, and RHP J. B. Kole threw five innings of two-hit ball for the Brewers, as the Cubs rallied for two runs in the top of the 9th and played the Brewers to a 6-6 tie in Cactus League Extended Spring Training action this morning on Field #7 (AKA "Paul Molitor Field") at Maryvale Baseball Park in Phoenix, AZ.  

Before Kole entered the game, the Cubs scored two runs on four hits in the top of the 1st inning off 6'9 RHP Johnny Hellweg, who is on the Brewers MLB 60-day DL while rehabbing from 2014 Tommy John Surgery.  

RHP Austyn Willis got the start for the Cubs and retired nine of the first ten men he faced on just 27 pitches, before running into trouble in the fourth when the Brew Crew plated three runs on a single, the Lara triple, and the Denson and Martinez doubles.

RHRP Corbin Hoffner worked the 8th and the 9th for the Cubs and did not allow a run, retiring six of the seven men he faced (three strikeouts and three ground outs) to preserve the tie. His new extreme sidearm (almost submarine) delivery coupled with lots of off-speed stuff (AKA "junk") really kept the Brewers hitters off-stride.

In EXST Cubs roster news, RHRPs Brad Markey and Daniel Lewis have been moved up to Lo-A South Bend, replacing RHPs James Norwood and Jake Stinnett, who were placed on the SB 7-day DL.  

The 23-year old Markey was the Cubs 2014 19th round draft pick out of Virginia Tech, and he worked in 15 games (combined) out of the AZL Cubs and Boise bullpens after signing in June. He was left behind at Extended Spring Training despite spending much of Minor League Camp with the Hi-A Myrtle Beach squad, but he has pitched very well at EXST, and it was just a matter of time before he got his Letter of Transit out of Casablanca.  

Although Daniel Lewis is 24, he has only been pitching for a year. He enlisted in the U. S. Air Force after finishing high school, and enrolled in Pensacola JC after being discharged in 2013. The Cubs signed him as a Non-Drafted Free Agent (NDFA) in July 2014 after scouting him in the Cape Cod League (probably the top collegiate summer league), and he appeared in eight games out of the Boise bullpen after signing. He attended AZ Instructs post-2014 but he did not pitch well there. Lewis features a high-octane 94-MPH fastball, but his command is spotty and his secondary pitches are raw. 

BRAD MARKEY - 2015 CACTUS LEAGUE EXTENDED SPRING TRAINING GAMES 
1. 4/17: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R (1 ER), 0 BB, 0 K, 1/2 GO/FO, 18 pitches (11 strikes)
2. 4/21: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R (1 ER), 0 BB, 0 K, 2/1 GO/FO, 15 pitches (10 strikes)
3. 4/24: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K, 1/3 GO/FO, 30 pitches (18 strikes)
4. 4/29: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, 1 PO, 3/1 GO/FO, 24 pitches (16 strikes)
5. 5/5: 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 B, 0 K, 3/3 GO/FO, 17 pitches (13 strikes)
6. 5/9: 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, 2/1 GO/FO, 23 pitches (16 strikes)
TOTAL: 10.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R (2 ER), 1 BB, 6 K, 1 PO, 12/11 GO/FO, 66% strikes, 1.80 ERA, 0.70 WHIP, .172 OppBA

DANIEL LEWIS  - 2015 CACTUS LEAGUE EXTENDED SPRING TRAINING GAMES 
1. 4/17: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K, 1 HBP, 1/2 GO/FO, 17 pitches (8 strikes)
2. 4/20: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 2/2 GO/FO, 23 pitches (14 strikes)
3. 4/24: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 2/0 GO/FO, 18 pitches (11 strikes)
4. 4/28: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R (1 ER),  0 BB, 0 K, 1 WP, 5/1 GO/FO, 20 pitches (15 strikes)
5. 5/1: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 2 R (2 ER), 1 BB, 0 K, 1 HR, 0/3 GO/FO, 17 pitches (9 strikes)
6. 5/5: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 1/0 GO/FO, 18 pitches (12 strikes)
7. 5/8: 2.0 IP, 0 H, 2 R (1 ER), 4 BB, 1 K, 2 GIDP, 2/1 GO/FO, 44 pitches (19 strikes)
8. 5/13: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R (1 ER), 2 BB, 0 K, 2 WP, 4/2 GO/FO, 36 pitches (19 strikes)
TOTAL: 12.0 IP, 6 H, 6 R (5 ER), 9 BB, 6 K, 1 HR, 3 WP, 2 GIDP, 17/11 GO/FO, 56% strikes, 3.75 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, .150 OppBA     

Here is the abridged box score from today's game (Cubs players only):