IOWA CUBS (51-35) @ COLUMBUS CLIPPERS (39-47)
Saturday, July 15, 2023 • 6:05 PM CT • Huntington Park • Columbus, OH
RHP Riley Thompson (2-5, 5.26) vs. LHP Joey Cantillo (2-1, 4.38)
IOWA CUBS (51-35) @ COLUMBUS CLIPPERS (39-47)
Saturday, July 15, 2023 • 6:05 PM CT • Huntington Park • Columbus, OH
RHP Riley Thompson (2-5, 5.26) vs. LHP Joey Cantillo (2-1, 4.38)
TONIGHT’S GAME: Iowa and Columbus will play game two of their three-game set tonight, with Riley Thompson facing off against Joey Cantillo. Thompson is set to pitch in his 18th game with Iowa, making his 12th start of the year. He enters tonight’s game with a 2-5 record and a 5.26 ERA, allowing 31 earned runs on 48 hits and 35 walks. He has struck out 54 batters in his 53.0 innings pitched, limiting opponents to a .242 batting average against him on the year. He is 0-2 with a 13.50 ERA in four games against the Clippers this year, allowing 12 earned runs on 11 hits and nine walks in 8.0 innings pitched. Columbus is hitting .344 against him in those four games. Cantillo enters tonight with a 2-1 record and a 4.38 ERA in his eight games (six starts), allowing 19 earned runs on 33 hits in his 39.0 innings pitched. He has walked 25 batters compared to 46 strikeouts over that span, allowing opponents to hit .231 against him. The southpaw started one game against Iowa, allowing three earned runs on six hits and two walks while striking out seven in his 4.0 innings.
SWING AND A MISS: After allowing 13 walks to St. Paul in its last game before the All-Star break, the Iowa pitching staff bounced back by striking out 17 batters against Columbus last night. The 17 strikeouts marked a new season high in a game for Iowa this season. The previous season high was set at 16, which occurred on June 14 versus Indianapolis. Every pitcher for Iowa in last night’s contest recorded at least two strikeouts and starter Caleb Kilian led the way with a total of seven on the night. With seven strikeouts in his outing, Kilian upped his total to 55 on the season, which ranks third on the team. Iowa pitchers have been some of the best in the strikeout department in 2023 as well. The I-Cubs pitching staff has racked up 821 strikeouts this season, which is tied for the second most in the International League.
BIG BATS: The middle of the order delivered big time in last night’s 7-3 win over Columbus. Iowa’s 2-6 hitters led the offensive charge against the Clippers collecting eight out of the 10 total hits. Combined the middle of the order hit at a clip of .381 with four doubles and five runs batted in. The trio of Nelson Velazquez, Matt Mervis and Alexander Canario, hitting out of the two, three and five holes, each recorded two hits in the game. While the duo of Edwin Ríos and Jake Slaughter, the No. 4 and 6 hitters, each recorded two RBI. Slaughter now has a total of 61 RBI on the season after his two-RBI performance last night, which leads the I-Cubs and ranks fourth in the International League.
MASTERFUL FROM MARTIN: Following a rough Triple-A debut back on June 15 versus Indianapolis in which he allowed three earned runs off four hits, relief pitcher Riley Martin has been one of the better options out of the bullpen for the I-Cubs. Since his debut, the left-hander has appeared in eight games for Iowa and has not allowed an earned run over that span. His current streak of eight consecutive games without allowing an earned run is tied for the second-longest streak in the International League. Martin was called out of the bullpen last night against Columbus and in two-thirds of an inning he allowed just one hits, two walks, and struck out two. Since June 18, Martin has tallied eight innings of work and a record of 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA to go along with just eight hits allowed and six walks compared to 14 strikeouts.
DOWN IN THE STRUMPFS: After a seven-game hitting streak from June 14-22, infielder Chase Strumpf has fallen into a slump at the plate. The struggles continued for Strumpf with a 0-for-4, one strikeout performance in the series opener against Columbus last night. Since the end of his hit streak on June 22, the 25-year-old has gone 1-for-36 at the plate, which totals to just a .028 hitting clip. The strikeout numbers have also been relatively high during that span for Strumpf, as he has racked up 14 strikeouts since June 23. That means Strumpf has struck out in nearly 39-percent of his at-bats during this time frame. Over his past seven games, he has gone 0-for-24 with 10 strikeouts, which results in a strikeout nearly 42-percent of the time. With the recent hitting struggles, Strumpf’s batting average at the Triple-A level has now dipped below the Mendoza line and currently sits at .173, marking the lowest batting average on Iowa’s active roster.
WELCOME BACK: Alexander Canario made his season debut with Iowa last night after missing the first four months of the season due to shoulder and ankle injuries sustained in the Dominican Winter League. The outfielder played in 10 games with South Bend to start the year after seven games with the ACL Cubs. In his time with South Bend, the 23-year-old hit at a clip of .256 with a double and seven RBI to go along with an on-base percentage of .370 and a slugging percentage of .282. In his first game with Iowa last night, Canario went 2-for-5 with a run scored and a run batted in, striking out twice along the way. He plugged right back into the five-hole of Iowa’s lineup, showing why he is the No. 10 ranked prospect in the system with his instant production. Canario appeared in 20 games for Iowa during the 2022 season and hit .231 (15-for-65) with two doubles, six home runs, and 14 RBI. Overall, in 2022 Canario led the Cubs minor league system and finished second among all minor league players with 37 home runs over his three levels.
AGAINST COLUMBUS: Iowa and Columbus are set to play game two of their shortened three-game series here at Huntington Park this weekend, marking the final time the two teams play this year. With their victory last night, the I-Cubs moved to an even .500, at 8-8 this year against the Clippers. They are now 3-4 here at Huntington Park this year, moving to 9-10 on the road all-time against Columbus. The win moved their overall all-time record to 19-27 against Columbus, ending a three-game losing streak to the Clippers from June 2-4 at Principal Park.
SHORT HOPS: Jake Slaughter stole his 13th base of the season last night, good for the team lead; the infielder has now accounted for 19% (13-of-69) of the team’s stolen bases on the year…despite coming one out shy of the victory last night, Caleb Kilian solidified himself as one of the best pitchers in the International League; the righty is 5th in ERA (4.27), sixth in batting average against (.257), fourth in WHIP (1.28) and first in winning percentage (.857) among qualified IL pitchers…Nelson Velazquez extended his on-base streak to 22 games with his 2-for-5 night, tied with David Bote for the team’s longest active streak.
