Game: 5/25 Myrtle Beach Pelicans and Augusta Green Jackets
Final: Myrtle Beach Pelicans 8, Augusta Green Jackets 0
Summary: a Myrtle Beach Pelicans shut out
Great pitching and scoring more than 6 runs, it was another usual game for the Myrtle Beach Pelicans. Luis Devers started the game throwing 5 innings, striking out 7 batters, and giving up 3 hits and issuing 3 walks. Chase Watkins followed in relief throwing for innings, giving up 2 hits, 1 walk, and striking out 3. Frankie Scalzo Jr. and Adam Laskey threw a scoreless 8th and 9th innings. Pete Crow-Armstrong, James Triantos, Kevin Alcantara, and Ezequiel Pagan all had multi-hit games. Kevin Alcantara homered and drove in 6 runs.
Player of the Game: Luis Devers
Luis Devers should be popping up on radars for people who follow the Cubs system. Devers features a really good changeup (his best pitch), a two-seamer/sinker with good run and sink in the low 90’s, and a good slurvy, sweeping breaking pitch. I love how Devers attacks hitters. He’s in the zone often with one of the lower walk rates while mixing speeds. At the lowest level in the system, often times guys lack command of their secondary pitches, using them mostly as a get-me-over first pitch strike, or as a pitch to generate a swing and a miss out of the zone. Devers, however, seems to be comfortable throwing his changeup in almost any count. He can get batters to two strikes with the fastball/changeup combination and then finish them off with his sweeping slider.
What You Might Have Missed: Frankie Scalzo Jr.’s first scoreless outing on the Cubs
Frankie Scalzo Jr. came back from the IL this week and had his first scoreless outing for the Cubs since being drafted in 2021. Scalzo was the closer at Grand Canyon University, but the Cubs stretched him out to a multi-inning relief role at the start of the year before he spent some time on the IL. Scalzo is at his best though pitching at the back end of the bullpen where he can get the three most important outs of the game. In college he succeeded in one inning high leverage situations, and I would like to see Scalzo return to that role. Regardless, it’s nice to see him breeze through a scoreless inning returning back to the bullpen. Hopefully, he can continue to build from this week’s game of the week outing.
Who to Keep an Eye On: Alcantara’s Power
During this week’s North Side Bound Game of the Week, Kevin Alcantara homered for the fifth time in the month of May, the most home runs on the entire team for the month. After a sluggish start, Alcantara is slashing .292 / .366 / .528 in May. What I’ve seen from Alcantara that has been really promising as of late is his all fields approach. He has really been driving the ball the other way lately, especially when falling behind in counts or with two strikes. We know how young Alcantara is (19 years old), and we know he has the ability to pull the ball down a mile down the line. But with a matured approach that has allowed him to get on base with two strikes, Alcantara has another tool to get really excited about. When he adds more muscle he could hit for even more power. We could be looking at a future top 40 prospect in all of baseball.
Feature photo of Luis Devers by Stephanie Lynn (@SRL590)
