Before we get to the Players of the Day, there are a few tidbits of news to go over.
Koen Moreno Sighting
That’s right, the Cubs 5th round pick in the 2020 draft was seen throwing live BP in pics by friend of the site, Rich Biesterfeld.
A Nice Debut
Alfredo Zarraga was signed as an international free agent last year but did not pitch. He debuted tonight in Myrtle Beach and held his own around 94 as he only faced one batter and got him out.
A Sunday Dinger
And it’s a bomb!
Reliever of the Day
Walker Powell of South Bend threw three scoreless frames today and struck out three. Powell won not so much for the stats I previously listed. He used his precision “Powell” tools to only get through three innings on 20 pitches. You would think that would be enough. No, it’s not. Out of those 20 pitches, 18 were for strikes. That’s an astounding 90% rate. That’s why Walker Powell was today’s reliever of the Day!
Starting Pitcher of the Day
Javier Assad had one of the strangest stat lines you will see for winning the Starting Pitcher of the Day. Assad threw four scoreless innings, allowed 1 hit, and struck out four. The weirdest part…HE WALKED FIVE!!! However, once Assad pitched his way into trouble, he found a way right out of it.
Hitter of the Day
Ezekiel Pagan had quite today going 6-for-8 with 7 RBIs. The 21-year-old outfielder the the Cubs took in the 2018 draft out of high school in Puerto Rico is starting to come into his own this year getting to play almost every day the last month. Since the beginning of May, Pagan is hitting .329 and he was on the May All-Star team and is at .409 just in June. In addition to be an outstanding defender and base runner, he just has a knack for hitting that is really blossoming under Buddy Bailey.
I will be back in the morning with “The Breakdown” and at some point tomorrow afternoon I’ll have a preview of the Cubs two Dominican Summer League teams in one post. The rosters are not made official until about 10 o’clock tomorrow morning.
