Jack Patterson – Picture by Todd Johnson

Let’s just say the weather did not cooperate very well this week. I planned on attending some games in Beloit to see South Bend play. I went Tuesday night but did not go Thursday because of the rain, even though they wound up playing. I am not one to get wet to take some pictures. However, I did wind up going yesterday and I plan on leaving here in a couple of hours to head up to see the action today. 

It was a rough week for South Bend as the offense seemed to evade them while the bullpen struggled to keep the games close. It’s still early in the year and a lot can change from a cold and wet April to a warm environment in May. There is a lot of baseball left to be played this year. Patience, Padawans.

As for the News….

Arguably, the top story of the week was that Kevin Alcantara got his first hit of the year this week after starting off 0-for-26. The young outfielder seemed to relax and is raking this week at 10-for-21. He even added a couple of dingers for good measure.

Another cool story of the week was that Jack Patterson took another step in his rehab as he was moved up to South Bend. I thought his pitches looked crisp, especially his slider. But he is still working on getting his location back. In terms of the stuff that he has, he is right where he needs to be and he needs to put it where he wants it. I am digging this story. One stat that boggles my mind is his groundball to flyball ratio is 7:1.

More good news came from Mesa this week as Nazier Mule pitched two scoreless frames in EXST. He might be one of those guys who heads to a full season affiliate at the beginning of May. I imagine they will try to keep him out in the heat as long as possible before he’s ready for full season ball. 

Pipeline Pub

MLB Pipeline wrote a nice article this week about 1 prospect in each organization who could be an impact callup. For the Cubs, Mr. Cade Horton got the nod. Here is what they had to say about the young 22-year-old righty.

The Cubs have no shortage of Top 100 prospect candidates for this exercise, including outfielders Pete Crow-Armstrong (No. 16) and Owen Caissie (No. 44) and third baseman Matt Shaw (No. 50). But they’ll probably have a greater need for arms than bats, and Horton ranks among the very best pitching prospects in the game. The seventh overall selection in 2022 after starring at the College World Series for Oklahoma, he overmatches hitters with a mid-90s fastball and a mid-80s slider, while continuing to improve his curveball and changeup. He has allowed two total runs (one earned) in his first two Double-A starts this year, fanning nine in eight innings.

In addition to that article, two Cubs made Pipeline’s Prospect Team of the Week last Monday. Luis Vazquez of Iowa and Matt Shaw of Tennessee are holding down the left side of the infield. It’s for an organization to have two players on this nod, let along two in the infield!

Transactions

There were a lot of transactions this week throughout the entire minor-league system. I will list them below here in a minute. 

Some of you were wondering why the “Tuesday Transaction” post has not made its debut. There are a couple reasons for that.

One is that the affiliates are under strict orders not to release that information until almost game time. There was a snafu last year with one player at Tennessee and that resulted in all the other affiliates getting the clamp put down on them. 

The other reason is that it is really early in the year. Usually there’s a big moving day on May 1 which I will be covering that day the week after next. 

Iowa – Added Julio Teheran, Chris Kachmar, Luke Little, Daniel Palencia, Miles Mastrobuoni, and they also placed Kohl Franklin on the IL. Alexander Canario went to Chicago while Hayden Wesneski went up and back. Colten Brewer was called up to Chicago. Then Kachmar was sent down to Tennessee yesterday and Chase Strumpf was placed on the IL. Walker Powell was moved from the 7-Day IL to the 6-Day IL. And Luke Little was recalled back to Chicago yesterday.

Tennessee – Activated Caleb Knight and Blake Weiman

South Bend – Added Jack Patterson, Brody McCullough, and Grayson Moore. Fabian Pertuz and Dilan Granadillo we’re placed on the development list. Hunter Viets was placed on the 7-Day IL

Myrtle Beach – Added Leonel Epiinoza, Vince Reilly, and Luis Rujano.

Mesa – Derniche Valdez is back in Mesa and off the Restricted List while infielder Eriandys Ramon and outfielder Juan Delgado arrived from the DSL.

There was some sad news this week as 18-year-old outfielder Daniel Benschop from Aruba retired. It always seems weird saying that an 18 year old retired. Good luck to Daniel!

We could probably see more moves coming north from the DSL here in the next few weeks as the Arizona complex league is set to kick off in about 10 days.

Pics of the Week

Video of the Week

Anthony from Milwaukee stole the show last night.

Coming Up on North Side Bound

“The Breakdown” comes out tomorrow, the next Cubs on Deck drops on Tuesday, and I might do some more random thoughts this week about who could possibly be promoted on May 1. I might even look at the stats totals through three full weeks. I will be in Springfield with my History Club on Thursday and Friday and the bus trip is the perfect time to do some writing. 

Jam of the Week

I have been teaching about the 1980s this week with my US History classes, which always takes me back to high school and my celebrity crush back then, Pat Benatar. So, let’s roll with one of her deeper cuts this week – Take It Anyway You Want It. I just love the sound of the guitars on this cut!