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Ed Howardf IV
Max the Bain of the Inland Empire's Existence at Sloan Park
SP Max Bain fired three innings of one hit shutout ball with six strikeouts and combined with five relievers on a four-hit shutout with 14 punch-outs, and Ed Howard IV singled twice, drove-in a run, and scored another, as the Myrtle Beach Pelicans (Cubs Lo-A affiliate) blanked the Inland Empire 66ers (Angels Lo-A affiliate) 4-0 in Cactus League Minor League Camp game action Monday afternoon at Sloan Park in Mesa, AZ.
The Defensive Gem of the Day was a spectacular back-handed diving catch in left-centerfield by Pelicans LF Jacob Wetzel, proving the old adage, "You can take the boy out of centerfield, but you can't take the centerfielder out of the boy."
Meanwhile, 23-year old 6'5 240 Max Bain has emerged as one of the Cubs top pitching prospects, and today he showed why.
Doing his best Trevor Bauer impression, Bain absolutely smoked the 66ers with overpowering gas, throwing mostly his electric 97-99 FB (which sat at 98-99 throughout his three innings of work) and mixing it with a high-velo 86-88 MPH SL/CT and an 84 MPH CH combo. I think it's likely that Bain will be the Opening Day SP for Myrtle Beach, but he probably won't remain there for long.
Bain had an unusual path to affiliated ball (to say the least), signing with the Cubs as a non-drafted free-agent just before Spring Training 2020. He pitched for four years in obscurity (and mostly ineffectively) at NCAA D-2 Northwoods University in Michigan 2016-19, and then spent the summer following his senior year pitching for the Utica Unicorns in the independent United Shore Professional Baseball League in suburban Detroit. The Cubs signed him only after he lost a considerable amount of weight, which is why the timing of his signing (January) was so peculiar.
Since signing with the Cubs, Bain has embraced the 21st century technology available at the Cubs Pitching Lab in Mesa and he has become an expert in the lab's various tools. He has also worked extensively with ex-Cub Luke Hagerty at Hagerty's 's X-2 Athletic Performance training center in Scottsdale.
Here is the abridged box score from the game (Cubs players only):
Recent comments
crunch (view)
"Morel told reporters after the game that he felt alright, just a little banged up — specifically noting his right hip and both elbows. He did say that he was optimistic about his ability to play on Sunday, though manager Craig Counsell may have other plans."
crunch (view)
rsox putting pablo reyes up to pitch...an infielder...cranking 70+mph stuff.
...and of course he gets out of it with no runs scored...that kind of day for the cubs.
crunch (view)
...and wisdom replaces mervis on the mound to try to get the last out.
busch is at 3rd, but i wouldn't read too much into that.
wisdom's thrown a couple in the 80s (one of them 88mph), but both missed the strike zone badly.
crunch (view)
matt mervis is no david ross on the mound.
cubs run differential getting destroyed.
crunch (view)
matt mervis pitching...wisdom replaces morel at 3rd.
he's featuring some high-50s thunder on the fastball.
through 15 pitches, he's straight up throwing BP...all mid-high 50s lobs. no way he's going to jose canseco himself out of a job.
on pitch 21 he railed a 75mph fastball missing high on a 0-1 count. ha.
crunch (view)
he's hugging canario in the dugout cuz morel will shrivel up and die if he doesn't hug at least a dozen people a day.
crunch (view)
and morel is injured...nice.
morel trying to play LF from 3rd...runs into canario while leaping and comes down ribs/arm-first.
hopefully he sticks around to finish this terrible game, or at least is going to avoid the IL.
TarzanJoeWallis (view)
Amen to that last point!
crunch (view)
jeez...
0.2ip 3h 1bb 1k, 2 HBP, 1 WP...5 r/er
crunch (view)
uhh...8m manager...do 8m worth of managing.