Game: 6/14 Iowa Cubs and Omaha Storm Chasers
Final: Iowa Cubs 11, Omaha Storm Chasers 6
Summary: The Iowa Cubs had a great offensive day thanks to guys like Jared Young who went 3-4 with a walk, and guys like Alfonso Rivas, Narciso Crook, Greg Deichmann, and Tyler Payne who all had a multi-hit game. On the rubber, Cam Sanders started the game and threw 4 innings of 0 run, 1 hit ball. Conner Menez, Cayne Ueckert, Brenden Little, and Erich Uelmen all threw in relief. Brenden Little, who is finally getting back on the rubber for the I-Cubs had a rough outing, giving up 4 runs in one inning of work.
Player of the Game: Jared Young
Jared Young continues to stay hot in Iowa, and it’s only a matter of a time before he gets an opportunity in Chicago. He continues to destroy right handed pitching, and yet again he showed us this during this week’s game of the week. Young went 3-4 with a walk and was only a triple short of the cycle. Jared Young has done this all year, and the only reason he hasn’t gotten a promotion yet is because he isn’t on the 40-man roster. Every time I watch Young play, I’m reminded how fortunate we were as fans that there wasn’t a rule-5 draft in 2021, or we might not have had the opportunity to watch Young play in a Cubs uniform. Young has gotten some more opportunities at 3rd where he played defensively during the game of the week. He has also played LF, 1B, and RF. He could also slide to 2B in a pinch if needed. With his .512 slugging against RHP and defensive flexibility, Jared Young will be a fun guy to watch play for the Cubs in August.
Who You Might Have Missed: Cam Sanders
Cam Sanders was my first Player of the Game during our week 1 game of the week when he was throwing for the Tennessee Smokies. Since then, he has gotten a promotion to the Iowa Cubs where has continued to throw his fastball/slider combo with success. In fact, side by side, Cam Sanders numbers between Tennessee and Iowa look similar. Hitters batted .151 against Sanders in Tennessee versus .200 in Iowa, his WHIP was 1.00 in Tennessee versus 1.21 in Iowa, and his ERA was 3.38 versus 3.86 in Iowa. There are times when I look at Sanders and see a bullpen arm, and there are other times when I look at Sanders and see a starter. I think he is a guy the Cubs are going to monitor closely at the end of the year when he makes his debut. He might be the kind of guy like Justin Steele or Keegan Thompson to get a tryout going multiple innings in the bullpen before getting the opportunity to start the major league club.
What to Keep an Eye On: Promotions
Like the two players mentioned previously, if you draw a name of a player on the I-Cubs right now from a hat there is a good chance he will play for the Chicago Cubs at the end of the year. With the way the Cubs are not competing at the major league level right now, there is no reason to believe we won’t dump the majority of our roster, giving us a tryout of sorts with a lot of players in Iowa. Guys like Bryan Hudson, Ben Leeper, Erich Uelmen, Brendon Little, Cayne Ueckert, Eury Ramos, and Cam Sanders all could get a shot for the Cubs before the end of the 2022 season.
Feature photo of Jared Young by Dylan Heuer (@dylan_heuer)
