Matt Mervis – Picture by Minda Haas Kuhlmann
It appears as though the Cubs have been listening to us here at North Side Bound. Pitchers Jeremiah Estrada and Brendon Little both got the call to Chicago and will be heading to Toronto with the big league club!!! Congrats to both pitchers who were both taken in the 2017 draft. Both had long journeys filled with obstacles to overcome. But when healthy the last two years, they moved fast with Estrada going from South Bend to Tennessee to Iowa and now Chicago with less than 90 innings combined in his MiLB career! I can’t wait to see them get in games next week!
As for the System…
Let’s start off with a web gem from Kevin Made! To be able to head towards second, shift back to the right to get this ball was just amazing. Then he threw the runner out at second.
Starting Pitcher of the Day
Daniel Palencia went four scoreless for South Bend today while striking out four.
It was that simple. He just dominated.
Thought of the Day
Moises Ballesteros in South Bend is going to be special. Not sure when that will happen, but it will.
Hitter of the Day
Rather than reward who had the most hits or RBI today, we are going to reward Matt Mervis who drove in two guys today to reach 100 on the season!!! He is the first Cub to drive in that many since Kris Bryant in 2014. He’s come a long way in just a few months to go from South Bend to Tennessee to Iowa. Still, Mervis just crossed 300 ABs between Double-A and Triple-A. That….is not a lot. Still, Mervis’ achievement of driving in 100 should be quite celebrated.
Reliever of the Day
Ben Hecht has really struggled since coming back from Tommy John Surgery. It has not been pretty most days. Today it was.
Ben went two scoreless innings. He allowed one hit and did not walk anybody while striking out two!
Good for him!
I will be back in the morning with “The Breakdown” and a look at Magic Numbers On Tuesday, I finally crack and talk 40-man possibilities for November.
