April 4 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs vs. Toledo Mud Hens

TONIGHT’S GAME: Iowa and Toledo will play game number three of their six-game series today, with Thomas Pannone set to take the mound for Iowa. This will be Pannone’s first start as an I-Cub at Principal Park and the second outing of the season for the lefty as he was the Opening Day starter on the road against Omaha on March 29. In his Opening Day outing against the Storm Chasers Pannone held Omaha scoreless over 5.0 innings of work allowing just two hits and striking out four. This will be the first-career outing versus Toledo for Pannone. Opposite of Pannone will be right- hander Devin Sweet. Sweet is making his first start of the season with Toledo tonight after a relief appearance on March 30. Sweet tossed 2.0 scoreless innings versus Nashville in his lone appearance so far in 2024 and allowed a pair of hits and struck out three. Tonight will be the first time Sweet has faced Iowa in his career.

AGAINST TOLEDO: Iowa and Toledo will play game three of their current six-game series tonight, game three of 12 here at Principal Park against the Mud Hens and the third of 18 total matchups between the two teams. With Toledo winning yesterday’s matinee, Iowa moved to 1-1 against Toledo this year, putting their all- time total at 20-33 against the Mud Hens. The loss moved their all-time record at Principal Park to 15-20.

THROWING HEAT: Another solid performance from the Iowa bullpen yesterday was from Daniel Palencia. The hard-throwing right-hander came into the game of Riley Thompsonand worked 2.0 innings with one hit, one run, one walk, and three strikeouts. Despite the colder weather, Palencia brought the heat on the mound hitting the upper-90’s on the radar gun multiple times. Palencia is sure to be a key player in the I-Cubs rotation and even possibly the Chicago Cubs’ rotation as he is on the 40- man roster for Chicago. Last season, Palencia appeared in 13 games for Iowa tossing 13.2 innings with 18 strikeouts and earned two saves. He made his Major League debut last year as well on July 4 versus the Milwaukee Brewers. While up in the big leagues, Palencia appeared in 27 games and tallied a record of 5-3 with a 4.45 ERA with 33 strikeouts compared to 14 walks.

RILEY IN RELIEF: Iowa went to its bullpen relatively early in yesterday’s game versus the Mud Hens after starter Chris Kachmarwent just 1.2 innings. The ball was then given to Riley Thompson and the right-hander had a solid outing to keep Iowa within striking distance. Thompson’s final line from yesterday was 3.0 innings pitched with four hits allowed, one run, one walk, and six strikeouts. The 27-year-old has been a go-to arm out of the bullpen for Iowa through the first five games of the season with three appearances. Over those three outings he has earned one win and an ERA of 1.50. In just 6.0 innings this year Thompson has allowed one run off five hits, has nine strikeouts compared to one walk, and is holding opponents to a .227 hitting clip. His nine strikeouts also has him tied for lead in the International League.

DAILY DOUBLE: The I-Cubs and the Mud Hens had an affinity for hitting doubles in yesterday’s ballgame. There were nine two-baggers hit between the two clubs with Iowa hitting six and Toledo hitting three. Outfielder Darius Hill led the way for the I-Cubs knocking a pair of doubles while Pete Crow-Armstrong, Alexander Canario, and Owen Caissie also recorded doubles. With the doubles from Crow-Armstrong, Canario, and Caissie that meant Iowa’s 1-3 hitters in the lineup all recorded an extra base hit. Through five games this season Iowa has totaled 14 doubles, which ranks second in the International League. Norfolk leads the league with 17. The 2024 I-Cubs are following in the footsteps of 2023 I-Cubs. Last season Iowa had a total of 302 doubles, which ranked third in the International League and was tied for the second most doubles hit in a season in franchise history.

CAISSIE IS CRUSHING: It hasn’t taken long for the Cubs’ No. 3 prospect and MLB’s No. 45 prospect, Owen Caissie, to find his footing at the Triple-A level. In yesterday’s game versus the Mud Hens he went 1-for-4 with a double and three RBI. Caissie’s double was the biggest hit of the day for Iowa as it came in a clutch moment. With the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth, the 21-year-old delivered as all three runners came across to score and the I-Cubs took the lead at 6-4. Caissie has been impressive through his first five outings slashing .450/.522/.600 with five RBI. The Canadian national has recorded a hit in every game so far this season and ranks sixth in the International League in batting average and hits (9).

EXTRAS, EXTRAS: The Iowa Cubs have already played their fair share of extra inning baseball in 2024. Out of the four games that Iowa has played it has gone into extras in three of those contests. Iowa and Omaha went to extras in two of three games last weekend and opened the series versus Toledo with another extra inning affair last night. Fortunately, the I-Cubs were able to come out on top in last night’s ballgame giving them their first extra innings win of the season. Iowa dropped both extra inning contests to Omaha last weekend. In comparison to last season, Iowa played just 10 extra inning games and managed to go 4-6 in those contests.