Cade Horton – Pic by Tennessee Smokies

Heading into today, I thought it’s going to be a nice easy day of reporting on games as Iowa was supposed to have an afternoon tilt and then Myrtle Beach would start early around 4:30 with their doubleheader. However, rain interrupted those plans as the Iowa Cubs did not get to play. As a result, the night started with Myrtle Beach making up yesterday‘s game. However, my focus was going to be solely on Cade Horton debuting at Double-A.

It’s just one start.

That’s what I told myself all afternoon when I found out that he was going to be the starter. It didn’t matter to me if the start was good or bad, rather that he shows what he can do over a period of time. The body of work is more important than just one start. And then he proceeded to strike out two of the first three hitters he faced in a scoreless first.

In the second, Horton did not throw a lot of pitches. He gave up a single, then got a double play, and another ground out. When that frame was complete, he had thrown 15 pitches, 12 for strikes. That’s about as efficient as you can possibly be at this level.

The third inning was not much of a test, either. A single, K, pop up, and another K marked the end of that frame. In the fourth, he got 2 more Ks, but one of the Ks reached first base as strike 3 was wild. However, nothing came of it as he got a grounder to end the inning having thrown 56 pitches, 41 for strikes (73%). And that would be his day. 4 IP, 2 hits, and 6 Ks.

One thing you have to remember is his career high in innings was last year at 53.2. He was at 61 heading into tonight. I doubt the Cubs let him get much past 80.

So, it was just one start. It was a good one, though. Hopefully the first of many.

Pictures of the Day

All-World Streak

Christian Franklin has been playing his butt off since his stint on the Development LIst.

Grand Slam of the Day

Yeah, Jordan Nwogu hit one. Deep!

Starting Pitcher of the Day

You would think Cade Horton would get the nod today. Welp, you would be wrong. Jackson Ferris struck out 9 in 3.1 scoreless innings before he hit his pitch limit.

Scores of the Day

Myrtle Beach Game 1 – They lost 8-6 despite scoring 4 in the first. Reivaj Garcia had 2 hits on the day.

South Bend – They lost 4-2 to Wisconsin. Not much going on there. James Triantos had 2 of South Bend’s four hits.

Tennessee – A 7-run inning punctuated by a grand slam by Jordan Nwogu pretty much put the game in the win column for Tennessee. Although, Chattanooga did mount a slight comeback, the Smokies exploded again with 4 more runs in the bottom of the eighth to win 13-4. The Smokies walked 15 times on the night. BJ Murray, Brad Beesley, and Pablo Aliendo all walked three times apiece. 

Myrtle Beach Game 2 –  As soon as Jackson Ferris left, the Wood Ducks scored 4 to break up the scoreless game. Myrtle Beach loaded the bases with no outs in the sixth. A strikeout and double play killed that comeback. Brian Kalmer, who debuted at Low-A tonight, had his second hit of the night and came around to score on a Rafael Morel HR. The Birds scored one more 1 more time but fell 4-3.