Chicago Cubs Around the Farm 32nd Edition: 9/13/22

Around the Chicago Cubs’ farm on Tuesday, Sept. 13, we had some playoff baseball down in Low-A and High-A! Fun! Well, one game was fun, and—even then—it wasn’t fun until the eighth inning.

All the other games were rough to try to make it through. The Iowa Cubs collected three hits as a team. The Smokies? Only two hits, but at least both were home runs. Let’s dive in and check out the best and worst performances around the farm.

Triple-A Iowa Cubs: 1-5 Loss to Memphis Redbirds

Biggest Yes: Esteban Quiroz — 2/3, 2B

The score doesn’t even do it justice. This game was SO bad for the Iowa Cubs. Only two players got hits. That’s it. John Hicks had one, which was his 17th home run of the year, then Quiroz had the other two. Talk about slim pickings. I went Quiroz over Hicks for three reasons.

1. Hicks also had an error and a passed ball.

2. Hicks has MLB experience. Quiroz, 30 years old, has been a minor leaguer his entire career. Beyond that, his season this year has stunk to the tune of a .189/.343/.270 slash line. If I can give him a Biggest Yes award for performing in a game where basically no one else did, I’m gonna.

3. Remember when the Cubs traded Harold Ramirez for Quiroz and now Ramirez is hitting .318 with 20 doubles, five home runs, and 53 RBIs as a 28-year-old while Chicago regularly started Rafael Ortega in the outfield? No? Well, now you do, and you can be upset along with me. So, maybe this can make us feel a little better about it? (No? Yeah. No.)

Biggest Yikes: Darius Hill — 0/4, 2 LOB, E

Darius Hill has had a breakout season in Tennessee and Iowa—consistently hitting above .300. Even after his 0-for-4 performance Tuesday, Hill is hitting .325 in Triple-A. Still, in a game where the Cubs desperately needed somebody—anybody—to step up offensively, their most likely option to get a hit couldn’t.

Beyond that, Hill had his first error of the season to dampen an otherwise stellar defensive profile. I still believe in Hill as a potential fourth outfielder in the MLB. He’s at least earned a shot. However, my No. 33 Chicago Cubs' prospect had a tough performance at the plate and in the field Tuesday.

Double-A Tennessee Smokies: 2-6 Loss to Chattanooga Lookouts

Biggest Yes: Bryce Ball — 1/3, BB, HR (11), RBI

If you thought the Iowa Cubs game was rough to watch offensively, the Tennessee Smokies at least gave them a run for their money in the category of being incredibly unproductive on Tuesday. The Smokies had two hits. Both of them were home runs (Cole Roederer hit the other one).

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Ball just received a Biggest Yikes award in the last edition of this series for going 0-for-5 with two strikeouts and five left on base. This time, he turns it around with a .500 OBP and his 11th home run of the season. It’s nice to see some power from the slugger who has seemingly sacrificed a lot of it to (successfully) make more consistent contact.

Biggest Yikes: Chris Clarke — 5.0 IP, 9 H, 1 BB, 5 ER, 7 SO

It feels strange to me to give Biggest Yikes to a pitcher when the Smokies only garnered two hits as an offense. However, here’s the deal: Tennessee also took seven walks, and Chris Clarke gave up, like, a bunch of runs. The 24-year-old Clarke just got lit up. He allowed two home runs, a triple, and a double to go along with several singles to keep the base paths full at all times.

The good news? Clarke threw strikes. The bad news? The Lookouts then proceeded to hit those strikes thrown. He’s going to have to recover from this one.

High-A South Bend Cubs: 2-1 Victory Over Cedar Rapids Kernels

Biggest Yes: Luis Devers — 6.0 IP, 5 H, 2 BB, 1 ER, 4 SO

I’m not sure there’s a pitcher in High-A I’d want on the mound for a playoff game more than Devers. It seems the South Bend agreed as my 12th-best Cubs prospect trotted out to the mound and effectively controlled the game for six innings. He needed to be at his best, too. Kernels' pitcher David Festa (right up there with Devers for a guy you want out there pitching in a playoff game) went six innings giving up just two hits while striking out 10.

Devers got into some jams, but he was almost always able to get out of them. The only earned run he gave up was on a home run in the first inning. Then, he settled in and worked his way through the Kernels' lineup for five more innings of shutout ball. It helped the Cubs stay in the game so they could eventually win, and it earned Devers his fourth career Biggest Yes award, tied for third in the Cubs’ system.

Biggest Yikes: Pete Crow-Armstrong — 0/4, SO, 1 LOB

Pete Crow-Armstrong was one of several South Bend players who struggled offensively. He takes home Biggest Yikes due to leaving runners in scoring position and coming up empty out of the third hole.

As a 20-year-old playing in High-A, PCA has some booms and some busts out there, which explains his five Biggest Yes awards and three Biggest Yikes awards. Hopefully, he turns it around and has some fun out there Thursday.

Low-A Myrtle Beach Pelicans: 1-6 Loss to Charleston RiverDogs

Biggest Yes: Kevin Alcantara — 2/4, HR, RBI

While the Pelicans put up a collective bummer of a game, Kevin Alcantara was having none of it. My third-best prospect in the Chicago Cubs' system went out there and straight-up performed in their first playoff game. It earned him his fourth Biggest Yes award as he provided his usual power and excitement. Alcantara has zero Biggest Yikes awards, too, which makes him and Luis Devers (see above) the only prospects at the tippy top of the Biggest Yes awards list while being Biggest Yikes-free.

Biggest Yikes: Johzan Oquendo — 0.2 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 3 ER, 1 SO

Like with the Smokies, Biggest Yikes is going to a pitcher despite the fact that the offense was almost nonexistent. Oquendo came into the game in the sixth inning and quickly got two outs. It was enough for the Pelicans to send him back out there to start the seventh inning. He wouldn’t collect another out.

Oquendo surrendered a walk, a single, another walk, then another single before getting pulled. At that point, he had only given up one run, but he left with the bases loaded. Chase Watkins came in to try to limit the damage. He almost had it, but two more runs came in on Oquendo’s tab off yet another single before Watkins could get out of the inning. Yes, the offense didn’t produce, but you can’t have these types of performances from your pitching staff in the playoffs.