September 29 Game Notes: Iowa vs. Omaha

IOWA CUBS (51-74) vs. OMAHA STORM CHASERS (69-56)

Wednesday, September 29, 2021 • 12:08 PM • Principal Park • Des Moines, IA

RHP Blake Whitney (0-1, 9.00) vs. LHP Marcelo Martinez (4-7, 5.24)

TODAY’S GAME: The I-Cubs will open their final series of the 2021 season today against the Omaha Storm Chasers, hoping to get back on track after dropping four straight against the St. Paul Saints. Iowa will send out Blake Whitney to make his first Triple-A start in game one. Whitney joined the I-Cubs on August 19, but pitched exclusively out of the bullpen for his first month and a half with the team. Today will mark his second start of the season but his first for the I-Cubs. He’ll be in familiar territory, however, as five out of his nine relief outings have come against the Storm Chasers. Whitney has pitched to a 5.79 ERA (3ER/4.2IP) in those outings. He’ll face off with lefty Marcelo Martinez for Omaha, who will start against Iowa for the fifth time in 2021. Martinez has gone 1-2 against the I-Cubs this season and owns a 5.85 ERA (13ER/20IP) in those matchups. He last faced the lineup on September 15 at Werner Park and lasted six innings, but surrendered four earned runs.

ROAD WRAP UP: Iowa wrapped up their road slate on Sunday in St. Paul, securing a 30-35 record away from Principal Park this season. The I-Cubs finished with a .247 average (555-for-2245) and a .730 OPS in their 65 games around the Triple-A East Midwest. They logged 183 extra base hits, including 62 home runs, and walked 277 times. Iowa’s hottest hitters on the road were P.J. Higgins, who hit .409 (9-for-22) in his limited time with the Triple-A club this season, and Alfonso Rivas, who hit .343 (37-for-108) in 30 road games. Trayce Thompson led the way in terms of production, driving in a team-high 30 RBI on the road and clubbing eight long balls in those matchups. That tied him for the team lead with Michael Hermosillo, whose eight home runs contributed to a road OPS of 1.084, which ranks first among Iowa players. On the other side of the ball, Joe Biagini led the team in road innings pitched with 56.0, earning himself a 3.38 ERA (21ER/56IP) outside of Des Moines. Cory Abbott racked up a team-leading 56 strikeouts en route to four road wins, which was also most on the team. Justin Steele was lights-out when pitching as the visitor, limiting home teams to an average of just .094 and earning an ERA of 0.90 (1ER/10IP) on the road - both of which lead the team (min. 10 IP). From the bullpen, Ethan Roberts led the way with a 1.46 ERA (2ER/12.1IP) in nine games pitched, which was first among relievers (min. 10 IP).

WELCOME HOME: Both Brennen Davis and Christopher Morel will be making their Principal Park debuts this week after joining Iowa during their two-week road trip. Davis, who is Chicago’s No. 1 ranked prospect by MLB.com, played all eleven games of the two road series and hit .326 (14-for-43) with two doubles, four home runs, and nine RBI. He started games in both right and center field for the I-Cubs. Morel, the Cubs’ No. 20 ranked prospect by MLB.com, joined the team in St. Paul and played all five games against the Saints. He started at second base, third base, and center field and hit .278 (5-for-18) in the five matchups with a double and a home run. He also drove in two runs and stole two bases in his first series at Triple-A.

NOT ANOTHER ONE: Iowa will face Marcelo Martinez today, a pitcher they have had some success against. The I-Cubs have scored 13 runs against Martinez in four games, handing him a 1-2 record with a 5.85 ERA. The success against a left-handed pitcher is not a normal thing for the I-Cubs this season, as they are just 9-25 against southpaws. As a team, they are hitting just .233 with 29 home runs, 112 walks and 325 strikeouts. St. Paul threw a lefty on Sunday, and he threw five innings of one-run ball, allowing just four hits while striking out seven.

ROTATION REMIX: Blake Whitney will make his first start for Iowa today after appearing nine times out of the I-Cubs’ bullpen. Today will mark Whitney’s second start of the season, with his only previous start coming on July 29 for Advanced-A South Bend. In that outing, Whitney pitched two innings and gave up six earned runs on five hits and a walk. He does have a history in the rotation, however; Whitney made 48 starts in 63 total games in college and started all nine of his first professional games in 2018 rookie ball. Today marks his first career start at Triple-A in his tenth outing at the level. So far for the I-Cubs, Whitney has given up 13 earned runs in 13 innings. He has walked 14 men but struck out 18 and holds an 0-1 record for Iowa.

ROCKY START: Dakota Mekkes made just the second start of his career in the I-Cubs’ loss on Sunday in St. Paul. Mekkes, who made his professional debut in 2016, had pitched exclusively out of the bullpen at all levels until September 19, but he has now made two consecutive starts for Iowa. His second one didn’t go quite as smoothly as the first, as he allowed just one hit, but walked five men in his 1.2 innings of work. The five free passes are a new career-high for the righty, who had previously never walked more than three batters in an outing. He issued three walks on five separate occasions in three different levels, most recently on July 30, 2019, with Iowa. Mekkes’ five walks also tie the I-Cubs season high for walks by a starter. Iowa starters have now walked five men seven times this season, with Mekkes and Adrian Sampson responsible for one outing each and Cory Abbott accounting for the other five.

WALKS WILL HAUNT: Iowa had a bullpen game on Sunday in St. Paul, featuring seven pitchers in eight innings. That number ties Iowa’s season high for pitchers used in a single game, previously set on September 11 against Toledo. Because Luis Lugo lasted just 2.1 innings in his start on Saturday, that also means the bullpen was responsible for 13.2 out of 16 innings the I-Cubs pitched in the final two games in St. Paul. The work seemed to catch up to them on Sunday, as five out of seven pitchers allowed an earned run, and the seven of them combined for eleven runs on ten hits, two hit batters, and 13 walks. The 13 free passes were a new season-high for the I-Cubs, easily surpassing their previous high of nine. The bullpen also came just one walk shy of the franchise record for a nine-inning game. That record stands at 14 and was accomplished against Oklahoma City on August 3, 1990. The walks in Sunday’s game definitely came back to haunt the I-Cubs, as six out of the 11 runners who scored for the Saints had reached base on a walk.

AGAINST OMAHA: With 36 meetings already under their belts, Iowa and Omaha will meet for their seventh and final series of the 2021 season starting today. The two teams have faced each other more than any other opponent this season, and Omaha leads the season series 20 games to Iowa’s 16. The teams split their matchups at Werner Park an even nine games apiece, meaning the Storm Chasers have held the upper hand in Des Moines, 11 games to seven. A sweep of the final five-game set would boost the I-Cubs to a win in the season series, while the Storm Chasers need only one win this week to secure the win for themselves.

NUMBERS TO WATCH: St. Paul registered 10 hits on Sunday against Iowa, out-hitting them 10-to-5 to take the series finale. With the loss, Iowa is now 9-51 when they are out-hit by their opponent, and 6-36 when their opponent has 10 or more hits. On those 10 hits, the Saints scored 11 runs to beat the I-Cubs 11-1, making Iowa 0-15 on the year when their opponent scores 10 or more runs.

SHORT HOPS: Iowa hit just two home runs against St. Paul last week, tying them with Buffalo for last place in homers during the Triple-A Final Stretch...the I-Cubs are now 23 games below .500, which is the lowest point of the season so far...at 27-28, the I-Cubs have a losing record in games where they do not commit an error...they are 34-34 in games where they’ve hit a home run.