Welcome to the initial “Breakdown” post for the 2024 season!

Sometimes a winter seems to drag and opening day takes forever to happen. Not this year. Part of me was not ready to drive to Davenport to see South Bend play twice. It was cold and let’s leave it at that.

For those of you that are new, the “Breakdown” looks at what happened on the field for each affiliate. We also select some of the top performances as we go hitter, starting, reliever, and an affiliate each week. “The Weekly”, which comes out on Sundays, just examines news, prospect rankings, and other articles as well as the MLB Draft and International Free Agency, So, they are quite different.

Let’s get to the action for week one!

Iowa (4-2; 5-4)

Over their first nine games, the Iowa Cubs have basically played 8 close games meaning the margin of victory was 1 or 2 runs. They won one game by 5 and lost one by 3. Then, yesterday, the I-Cubs got a blowout win buoyed by a parade a walks.

Chris Clarke is off to a good beginning as a starter on the mound along with Riley Thompson, who has been fantastic in the bullpen. Thomas Pannone has been excellent as a starter and has yet to give up a run in 2 starts. Meanwhile, Alexander Canario, Owen Caissie, and Pete Crow-Armstrong are doing well at the plate. In addition, Cam Sanders and Brad Weick are putting up zeroes out of the pen.

Tennessee (2-1)

Three games should be the amount of games it takes to get excited about a ballclub. However, don’t tell the Smokies that as they have two of the hottest hitters in the system in James Triantos and Matt Shaw. Kohl Franklin had an excellent start on Saturday going 4 scoreless. On Sunday, Taillon’s rehab start did not help the Smokies as they lost their first game of the year.

The highlight to me has been the shut down bullpen. Porter Hodge, Zac Leigh, Michael Arias, Manny Espinoza, Eduarniel Nunez, Blake Whitney, and Cayne Ueckert did not allow a run in their outings. The first bullpen run came off of Richard Gallardo on Sunday.

South Bend (1-2)

I did go to the first two South Bend games against Quad Cities and skipped Sunday because of the forecast. And, because I did not go, they played. I was sad I missed Tyler Schlaffer and Koen Moreno making their season debuts. While Jefferson Rojas did hit a dinger in his first AB, the weekend belonged to Brett Bateman who tore it up at the plate and had an outfield assist. And that was about it as the Cubs struggled to score runs during three days of cold weather.

As for the pitching, Drew Gray was excellent on opening night along with Hunter Viets and Sam Armstrong on Saturday. Chase Watkins and Tyler Santana threw 5 innings of shutout ball on Friday in relief of Gray. I cannot wait to see them again in Beloit in a little over a week. Hopefully, the bats will be hopping then.

Myrtle Beach (1-2)

Most of this roster struggled last year in Mesa and Myrtle Beach. After losing 10-3 on opening night, it looked like the struggle would carry over into 2024. Then Saturday night happened. Juan Bello was vicious with 7 Ks in 3.1 IP and Wally Soto had himself a night at the plate with 3 RBI. As well, the Hernández brothers seem to be good together, While Sunday’s loss was another rout, there were moments when the players showed potential to do well but did not come through.

On Saturday, reliever Erian Rodriguez went 2.2 IP and struck out 5 and looked magnificently wild doing so. He should be fun to watch this year along with other young pitchers. On Sunday, Jack Patterson made his first appearance since 2019 pitching 1 inning. It could take him awhile to get his game feel back for his pitches. This much is certain, though, his pitches still have some serious movement. And while I was in Davenport, the other Johnson, Ty Johnson, looked very good in two innings of relief where he struck out 4.

Web Gems of the Week

I still can’t believe this one happened and I had my camera down as you can see me behind home plate. I am on the right edge of the screen looking at a pic I took. I lifted up my head just in time to see the play!

Players of the Week

Hitter of the Week – James Triantos – He hit .500 with a .533 OBO, 3 RBI, and an OPS of 1.176. That’ll do.

Starting Pitcher of the Week – Kohl Franklin – 4 IP, 4 Ks

Reliever – Erian Rodriguez – 2.2 IP, 0 Runs, 5 Ks

Surprise of the Week – Juan Bello – 3.1 IP, 7 Ks, 1 run along with Erian Rodriguez