Random News of the Week

*Derniche Valdez, the Cubs pop 2023 IFA, did not play an inning this week and there is no word as to why.

*In addition, Brander Guevara, a recent signee from Cuba, has not appeared in a game yet nor has he and fellow Cuban pitcher Darián Rivero been assigned to a team either. The Cubs are probably doing some physical work to get them ready to actually pitch in games for the first time since leaving Cuba. To be honest, if they pitch in August, that would be cool.

*As well, another teenage Cuban pitcher hit the market (you will need to translate). I don’t know if the Cubs have any money left in the bonus pool. Yotuel Ávila is 18 and recently left Cuba. He might sign now, but he might be better waiting for January as he is highly thought of in international circles as a former member of the U-18 Cuban team.

*The DSL is now at the halfway point at the season ends on August 22. However, several prospects will be heading north for fall instructs. Next week, we will take a look who could be as we break down some numbers.

The Blue Squad 1-4, 11-18

Monday – The Cubs played a doubleheader against the Pirates to open the week. It did not go well on the hitting side of things as the Cubs were shut out in game one, 2-0. Derik Alcantara had two of the Cubs five hits, but the star of the game was starting pitcher Juan Archbold who threw four scoreless innings and struck out 3. Errors ended up costing the Cubs as they did not give up any earned runs on the day. Game two was a slugfest as the Pirate swept the double dip winning 12-9. Edward Vargas went 3-for-4 with 3 RBI and Carlos Altuve, who has moved to 1B quite a bit from catcher, went 2-for-5 with 4 RBI. We won’t get into the pitching from the day.

Tuesday – This was a day for Oferman Hernandez, who switched over to the Blue Squad. Oferman went 3-for-5 and had 4 RBI in the game. Erbin Jacque also had two hits as the Cubs used 3 Red Sox errors to win 8-4.

Thursday – Rained out. They will have a DH on July 19 with the Angels, which is next week.

Friday – The Cubs lost 5-4 but there were some interesting stats. Ramon Eriandys continues to do things that boggle my mind. He went 0-3. He also walked twice for the second time on the week to bring his OBP to .472 and his OPS to .931. he, based on his early rep, might not be getting much to hit. Recent signee Alexey Lumpuy had a good day going 2-for-4 with 4 RBI. 19-year-old starting pitcher had his best starting of the year going 3 scoreless with 6 Ks on the day.

Saturday – It was a nip and tuck game for five innings before the Tigers blew up a 5-5 tie with 4 runs in the 6th to win 9-5 in a 7 inning game. Alexey Lumpuy went 2-for-3 with 1 RBI. Brailin Pascual went 2-for-3 and Grenyerbet Velasquez went 1-for-3 with 2 runs scored.

The Red Squad 1-3, 10-18

Monday – The Cubs used 7 solid innings from Alfredo Ramirez and Jeral Vizcaino combined to get 7 Ks in six innings as each gave up a run. The Cubs capitalized on three Tigers errors to win 6-2. Andrws Cruz and Yidel Diaz each scored twice for the Cubs.

Tuesday – Lefty Zhiorman Imbriano pitched well again giving up just 1 run in 3 innings. Unfortunately, the Cubs only got 3 hits on the day as they lost 4-0.

Thursday – Rained out. Their DH will be made up on August 2 with the Dodgers Mega team.

Friday – Joan Delgado continues to rake as he hit his third dinger and drove in 2 to raise his RBI total to 19, which leads both DSL teams. However, that was not enough for the day despite Emmanoel Madeira’s scoreless start. The Pirates won 5-3.

Saturday – The Cubs only managed two hits on the day and lost 3-0 to the Tigers.

Awards of the Week

Miguel Cruz gets the Pitcher of the Week award for his 3 inning 6 K performance.

Alexey Lumpuy had the most hits on the week going 5-for-14 (.357) with a couple RBI. He gets the Hitter of the Week.

Joan Delgado gets the Dinger of the Week for his third tater of the week. He has put himself in the lead for the Hitter of the Year in the DSL at the midway point.