IOWA CUBS (30-41) vs. LOUISVILLE BATS (28-45)
Thursday, July 29, 2021 • 7:08 PM • Principal Park • Des Moines, IA
LHP Justin Steele (0-0, 1.56) vs. RHP Hunter Greene (2-4, 4.45)
IOWA CUBS (30-41) vs. LOUISVILLE BATS (28-45)
Thursday, July 29, 2021 • 7:08 PM • Principal Park • Des Moines, IA
LHP Justin Steele (0-0, 1.56) vs. RHP Hunter Greene (2-4, 4.45)
TONIGHT’S GAME: Iowa and Louisville will play game three of the six-game series tonight, knotted up at one win apiece. After allowing 17 runs on 17 hits last night - both season highs for Iowa’s pitching staff - they’ll send lefty Justin Steele out to try and quiet the Louisville lineup tonight. Steele has been excellent since joining Iowa’s rotation, allowing only one earned run in 10.2 innings over three starts for the I-Cubs so far. His mound opponent tonight will be Hunter Greene, MLB.com’s No. 54 overall prospect. Greene joined the Bats in the middle of June after a promotion from Double-A Chattanooga and has pitched to a 2-4 record and a 4.45 ERA (16ER/32.1IP) since then.
STARTING STEELE: Justin Steele’s start tonight will be his fourth for the I-Cubs since being activated from the injured list and optioned to Iowa to stretch out. Despite the pitch counts he’s been held to as he works his way back to starting games, Steele has been the most effective pitcher in Iowa’s rotation over the past few weeks. He’s allowed just two total runs (one earned) on three hits during 10.2 innings as a starter for Iowa this season. That’s good for an ERA of just 0.83, which leads the rotation by a wide margin. Though he hasn’t yet made it far enough in a game to be credited with the win, the I-Cubs have gone on to victory in all three of the games he’s started.
CATCHING UP: In the first two games against Louisville, the I-Cubs have received quite a boost from their backstops. After Erick Castillo’s 3-for-4 night in game one, Tony Wolters and Caleb Knight both hit home runs last night, combining to drive in four out of Iowa’s five runs for the evening. For Wolters, the homer was his fourth on the season and served as his first extra-base hit since July 9. For Knight, who appeared as a pinch hitter, the long ball was his first of the season and the first of his career at Triple-A. Iowa’s catchers have now gone a combined 5-for-9 in the series with a double and two home runs. They’ve driven in seven out of the eight runs the I-Cubs have scored against the Bats so far.
SLOW THEM DOWN: Louisville’s offense scored a season-high 17 runs on 17 hits last night, their highest run total since a 22-1 victory on July 13, 2012. They had four players register multi-hit games, including their No. 4 prospect ranked by MLB.com, Jose Barrero. Barrero went 4-for-5 with four runs scored, a double, a home run and drove in a career-high six RBI. His four hits tied a season high allowed by Iowa’s pitching staff, who also gave up a season-high 17 hits. They tied their season high, allowing 17 runs, but all 17 were earned last night whereas on May 25 against St. Paul, only 12 of the 17 were earned.
ROSTER ROTATION: One day before the trade deadline for the major leagues is sure to have some implications for a Triple-A roster, and that has shown for the I-Cubs. Iowa made five roster moves today, losing righties Trevor Megill and Jake Jewell to the big leagues along with infielder Sergio Alcántara. They added righty Keegan Thompson and newly acquired outfielder, Greg Deichmann to the fold as well. Deichmann, 26, is a left-handed hitting outfielder that slotted into the No. 15 ranked prospect in the Cubs’ organization by MLB.com as soon as he was acquired. He was hitting .300 (63-for-210) in 60 games with Triple-A Las Vegas before being traded, and grew up in Metairie, Louisiana, just blocks away from new teammate, infielder Trent Giambrone.
MANNY IN CHARGE: While the majority of Iowa’s pitchers got hit around last night, righty Manuel Rodriguez managed to shut the Bats down, allowing just one single in his inning of work. Rodriguez was the only pitcher to put up a zero for Iowa in last night’s game, and in doing so, he extended his scoreless streak to seven straight games. Since joining the I-Cubs roster on June 30, Rodriguez has pitched 7.1 innings for Iowa and has yet to allow an earned run. He’s given up six hits and walked two batters overall while striking out eight.
AVELINO AT LAST: Abiatal Avelino hit his second home run of the season last night, taking Reiver Sanmartin deep in the second inning to tie the game at one. It was Avelino’s second home run of the season but his first since May 5, when he hit a grand slam in the I-Cubs’ second game of the year. Avelino appeared in 56 games and took 199 at-bats between his two home runs, hitting .276 with 10 doubles and three triples during that span. The infielder hit 12 long balls in 2019, and the longest he went between home runs that season was 25 games. The last time Avelino hit two or fewer home runs in a season was 2014, when he hit two in 61 games between rookie ball and Single-A.
AGAINST LOUISVILLE: The Bats evened the current series at one win apiece with their win over Iowa last night. It was Louisville’s first victory at Principal Park since June 11, 1996, and only their third win in Des Moines in team history. The I-Cubs still hold the edge in the all-time series at 11 games to Louisville’s nine, and they’ve won eight of the 11 contests at Principal Park.
IN A PINCH: After collecting his first Triple-A extra-base hit, run, and RBI on the road against Columbus, Caleb Knight checked another accomplishment off last night with his first Triple-A home run, which he drove out in the bottom of the eighth with two men on. Knight came to the plate as a pinch hitter for the pitcher’s spot, making the home run his second pinch hit as an I-Cub and the team’s first pinch-hit home run of the 2021 season. Iowa’s pinch hitters have now hit .296 (8-for-27) with a double, a home run, six RBI, and seven walks this season.
SHORT HOPS: Joe Biagini took the loss last night, bringing him to 0-5 in five starts at Principal Park...the I-Cubs lost by 12 runs last night, which is their largest margin of defeat so far this season. They've been beaten by 11 runs twice, most recently on June 26 in a 13-2 loss to Omaha... Johneshwy Fargas went 1-for-3 with a run scored in his Iowa Cubs debut last night.
