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Yapson Gomez
AZL Cubs Five-Run 8th Tops AZL Brewers at Riverview
18-year old power-hitting C-1B Kevin Zamudio (2015 IFA - Tijuana, Mexico) slugged a two-run home run over the LF fence to put the Cubs on the scoreboard and speedy Luis Ayala belted a three-run inside-the-park home run into the right-centerfield alley two outs later, as the AZL Cubs rallied to score five runs in the bottom of the 8th and defeat the AZL Brewers 5-3 in Arizona League (AZL) Opening Day action Monday night on Field #1 at the Riverview Baseball Complex in Mesa, AZ.
AZL Cubs LHP Yapson Gomez hurled three innings of perfect baseball in relief and picked-up the win.
Ex-KC RHRP Aaron Crow (April 2015 TJS) pitched the first inning for the AZL Cubs (14 pitches - 10 strikes), allowing no runs and a single, with a strikeout and 1/1 GO/AO.
19-year old RHP Erling Moreno (2013 IFA - Colombia - $650K signing bonus) was the scheduled starter for the AZL Cubs, but he ended-up piggy-backing the rehabber (Crow). Moreno worked five innings (77 pitches) and allowed three runs (two earned) on six hits (five singles and a double), no walks, and an HBP, with three strikeouts and an 8/3 GO/AO.
Brew Crew SP Nash Walters (Brewers 2015 3rd round pick - Lindale HS - Lindale, TX) threw four innings of one-hit shutout ball with six strikeouts and Nicolas Pierre drove-in all three AZL Brewers runs with a third-inning sacrifice fly and a fifth-inning two-run double.
Here is the abridged box score from the game (Cubs players only):
Recent comments
JoePepitone (view)
Fighting Ham for Mother Nippon!
crunch (view)
reliever market is f'n crazy. guys that aren't "lights out" but still good are getting crazy loot. josh hader gonna get crazy paid if these early contracts are an indication of the market.
emilio pagan - 2/16m (8m average)
nick martinez - 2/26m (13m average)
reynaldo lopez - 3/30m (10m average)
it also makes me wonder how much j.assad is worth as a trade piece in this market...or how valuable he is to the team to save money. these swing guy types are going to start making good loot for relievers. in 2023 there were 5 pitchers in all of MLB that pitched 200+ IP...8 in 2022...4 in 2021. Pre-COVID you have to go back to the strike shortened 1994 to find less than 10 pitchers with sub-200 IP (Greg Maddux the only guy in 94).
crunch (view)
thomas hatch is going to fight ham in japan. he was on PIT's 40-man.
crunch (view)
morel played somewhere besides 3rd and SS...he got 8 innings in CF, 2 putouts and an assist.
crunch (view)
ryan flaherty new cubs bench coach.
crunch (view)
bellinger wins comeback player of the year. the AL winner was liam hendricks and his 5ip before he got tommy john...setting himself up for a 2025 shot at the award.
Bill (view)
I hope that Perlaza goes on to have a successful career. On most Cubs teams prior to the current administration, he would have been one of their more highly ranked prospects. As far as the others are concerned, one or more may well go on to be much better than expected, but unfortunately there is no way to tell which one at the present time. You can't keep everyone.
crunch (view)
s.gray signs with the cards...3/75m
Arizona Phil (view)
Another one of the nine Cubs post-2023 Rule 9 minor league 6YFA has signed, as RHP Carlos Guzman (acquired from the Tigers for Zack McKinstry at the end of Spring Training) signed a 2024 minor league contract with the Mets.
So RHRP Yovanny Cruz (SD), C-INF P. J. Higgins (CIN), and now Carlos Guzman (NYM) have already signed 2024 minor league contracts with new MLB organizations, and OF Yonathan Perlaza is headed for Korea (Hanhwa Eagles).
crunch (view)
...and back to 3rd for another game. at this point i'm gonna hang back and when/if he actually plays 1st then i'll find it notable. i am glad he's playing a good amount of 3rd, though...give the club one more good look at him there. shrug