IOWA CUBS (54-38) vs. INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS (44-49)
Saturday, July 22, 2023 • 6:08 PM • Principal Park • Des Moines, IA
RHP Hayden Wesneski (1-0, 1.80) vs. RHP Jared Jones (2-1, 5.18)
IOWA CUBS (54-38) vs. INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS (44-49)
Saturday, July 22, 2023 • 6:08 PM • Principal Park • Des Moines, IA
RHP Hayden Wesneski (1-0, 1.80) vs. RHP Jared Jones (2-1, 5.18)
TONIGHT’S GAME: With the series tied at two, the I-Cubs will send Hayden Wesneski to the mound for game five tonight. Since re-joining Iowa on July 7, Wesneski has struck out 11 hitters across 6.0 innings while walking just two. He’s allowed just two earned runs on six hits. The righty’s lone Triple-A win this season came in his start against Indianapolis on May 20. Wesneski spun 5.0 scoreless, hitless innings while striking out five and walking four. The outing remains his only start without allowing a hit and is the only shutout he’s tossed in a start stretching four or more innings. Starting for the Indians tonight will be Jared Jones who is set for just his fifth career Triple-A start. He has earned a win in each of his last two appearances as he’s allowed four runs in 9.0 innings combined while striking out 13. Jones’ first Triple-A win came in a relief appearance on July 7 against Memphis. Tonight marks his first career start against the I-Cubs.
SPECIAL K: In last night’s game the I-Cubs and Indians struck out a combined 28 times. Iowa struck out a total of 15 times, while Indianapolis struck out 13 times. For Iowa, it tied the season-high for strikeouts in a game, which they had done twice previously with the last time coming on April 19 against Buffalo. Every pitcher used in the game recorded at least one punchout. Adrian Sampson recorded the most for Iowa with six over 3.1 innings and Kent Emanuel led the way for Indianapolis with eight in 4.2 innings of work. A total of eight players struck out multiple times with five coming from the I-Cubs and three from the Indians. Only four players didn’t strikeout last night. Nick Madrigal, David Bote, and Matt Mervis escaped without a K on the scorecard for Iowa and Josh Palacios was the lone player from Indianapolis to avoid a strikeout.
STRUMPF IN A SLUMP: 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-3, three strikeout performance last night versus Indianapolis. This comes on the heels of a 0-for-4, four strikeout outing in the game on Thursday night. Since the end of his hit streak on June 22, the 25-year-old has gone 2-for-50 at the plate, which totals to just a .040 hitting clip. The strikeout numbers have also been noticeably high during that span for Strumpf, as he has racked up 25 strikeouts since June 23. That means Strumpf has struck out in exactly 50-percent of his at-bats during this time frame. Over his past 10 games, he has gone 1-for-34 with 18 strikeouts, which results in a strikeout 53-percent of the time. In 34 games with Iowa this season Strumpf has tallied 140 plate appearances and 51 strikeouts resulting in a strikeout percentage of 36.4 which is the highest mark on the team. In the International League, his 36.4 strikeout percentage ranks sixth among players with a minimum of 100 plate appearances this season. With the recent hitting struggles, Strumpf’s batting average at the Triple-A level is well below the Mendoza line and currently sits at .161.
MAKING MOVES: The Chicago Cubs announced today that Jared Young has been optioned to Iowa with the return of Dansby Swanson from the injured list. Young, who has spent most of the 2023 season with Iowa, received a promotion to Chicago on June 27 after his stellar play over the first three months of the season. The Canadian national appeared in 52 games with Iowa before his promotion and slashed numbers of .326/.426/.605 with seven doubles, a triple, 13 home runs, and 45 RBI all of which were near the top of the team rankings for Iowa. In particular, Young was tearing the cover off the ball during the month of June. In 21 games last month, the 28-year-old hit at a clip of .395 (30-for-76) with four doubles, eight home runs, and 25 RBI. He racked up six games with multiple hits and went on his two longest hitting streaks of the season at nine games from June 6-14 and seven games from June 18-25. While up with Chicago, Young appeared in 13 games and hit .171 with two triples, a home run, and five RBI. In his season debut he went 1-for-2 with a home run and followed up by going 3-for-7 with two triples and three RBI in his next two games.
HEART OF THE ORDER: Iowa’s offensive production last night largely came from its three through five hitters as they collected seven of the teams 10 hits and drove in five of the six runs scored. Hitting out of the three hole was Nelson Velazquez, who provided the power by going 2-for-3 with two home runs and two RBI. Velázquez’s homers marked his 14th and 15th of the season, which is just one shy of the team lead. It was also the fourth time this season an I-Cub hit two home runs in a game and the first time a player went deep twice in the same game since Jared Young did so on June 13 versus Indianapolis. In the cleanup spot was David Bote and he tallied a two-hit performance with a double and a RBI, extending his on-base streak to 25 games. Jake Slaughter hit fifth and recorded his first three-hit game of the season with a double and two RBI. Slaughter and Velázquez are now tied for second on the team with 18 multi-hit games this season.
AGAINST INDIANAPOLIS: The Indians evened the series at two with their 9-6 win last night. Iowa still holds the season-series lead 10-6 overall and 7-3 at home. The I-Cubs have suffered back to back losses versus Indianapolis twice this season, first on May 21 and June 13 and then on Thursday and Friday this week. The I-Cubs’ longest losing streak against the Indians came in 2021. They lost five straight between Aug. 5 and Aug. 31.
SHORT HOPS: Following last night, Iowa has lost just five games at home when scoring first while they’ve won 17, a .777 win percentage ... The I-Cubs moved to 17-19 when recording one error, their worst clip of any error total besides four ... Last night, Iowa used a pinch hitter for just the eighth time this season with Matt Mervis who went 0-for-1 with a walk ... Pinch hitters are now hitting at a clip of just .167 (2-for-12) with one home run and one RBI on the season for Iowa.
