June 24 Game Notes: Iowa vs. Omaha

IOWA CUBS (15-26) vs. OMAHA STORM CHASERS (30-13)

Thursday, June 24, 2021 • 7:08 PM • Principal Park • Des Moines, IA

RHP Mike Hauschild (0-0, 3.38) vs. RHP Eddie Butler (2-1, 3.57)

TONIGHT’S GAME: Iowa and Omaha will face off for the third time in two days tonight after splitting a doubleheader yesterday. The I-Cubs will send Mike Hauschild to the mound tonight looking for his first win this year in his Principal Park debut. The righty pitched 2.2 innings and allowed one run in his first start for Iowa last Friday in St. Paul. The Storm Chasers will counter with righty Eddie Butler, who will be making his fourth start for Omaha. Butler is 2-1 with a 3.57 ERA in 12 games.

ONE AND ONLY: The Iowa Cubs won a series in unconventional fashion last night with their game-two victory over the Storm Chasers. Because that game was the makeup of May 18th’s rainout, Iowa’s win last night officially secured the series victory a month after they played the first five games. The I-Cubs took the first three from May 19-21, then the Storm Chasers came out on top in the second two, so the final win last night locked down the series for Iowa by a tally of four games to two. Significantly, that makes the I-Cubs the first team to win a series against the Storm Chasers this season. The Storm Chasers are also in a category of their own, as they are the first team to lose a series to Iowa. The I-Cubs are now 1-1-3 in series play, with two series - the season-opener against Indianapolis and the most recent road trip in St. Paul - yet to be determined because of rainouts. The Storm Chasers are 6-1 in series play after last night’s defeat.

VETERAN UPDATE: Iowa started this season with a roster full of veterans, with 16 out of their season-opening 24 active players having logged at least one game in the Major Leagues. Although many of those players have since departed Iowa’s roster, the players who have replaced them provide a lot of experience, too. Iowa opened the season with 3,094 games of MLB experience on their roster, and heading into tonight’s game, they’ll feature 2,556 games. Of their current active players, 18 out of 30 have at least one game of MLB experience - including seven of the original 24 players from their opening day roster. They’ve played for 18 different teams in 11 different seasons, and five players have logged at least one game in the Majors in 2021.

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK: While Iowa’s roster features a strong veteran presence, many of the players who’ve joined the roster this season are playing at this level for the first time. When Edwin Figuera took the field last night, he was the 11th player to make his Triple-A debut with Iowa in 2021. The I-Cubs have seen five rookie pitchers take the mound so far this season, and they’ve gone 3-5 with a 5.73 ERA (38ER/59.2IP). Those five pitchers - all of who are still on the roster - have accounted for 16.7% of Iowa’s innings this season. The I-Cubs have also featured six position player debuts. Those players have hit for a combined .173 average (24-for-139) with ten runs, six doubles, a home run, 14 RBI, six walks, and 50 strikeouts. They’ve taken 10.2% of the team’s at-bats this season. Of the six position players, only two - Figuera and Vance Vizcaino - are still on Iowa’s roster.

DOUBLE DIP: Last night’s games marked the first doubleheader for each Iowa and Omaha this season, making up the postponed game on May 18 between the two teams. Last season, Iowa played in seven double-headers, all before May 23. They split five and swept two of the seven, going 9-5 overall. Omaha played in just two last season, splitting each of them. With the split last night in the doubleheader, Iowa moved to 15-26 while Omaha brought their record to 30-13. The first place Storm Chasers are now seven games up in the Triple-A East Midwest division.

POWER FROM ALL FIELDS: Iowa’s outfield has been providing a lot of pop for the team in June. So far this month, the five of them - Michael Hermosillo, Nick Martini, Ian Miller, Trayce Thompson, and Vance Vizcaino - have hit .267 (66-for-247) with 11 doubles, 12 home runs, and 46 RBI. In yesterday’s doubleheader alone, the outfielders went a combined 8-for-16 with a double, two home runs, and 5RBI. Hermosillo has been leading the charge, as he’s hit .352 (19-for-54) with three home runs and 13 RBI since joining the team at the beginning of the month. He leads the team in hits (19) and doubles (5) this month. Miller has hit .326 since the calendar turned, good for second place behind Hermosillo. Thompson has been impressive as well, and he leads the team in runs (12), home runs (7), RBI (16), and walks (12). Between the three of them, they lead the active roster in every offensive category except stolen bases. The outfield has hardly been slacking on the bases though; Miller and Hermosillo’s two stolen bags this month are second only to Dee Gordon, who has three.

BACK ON TRACK: Jake Jewell earned his second save of the season in game two of the doubleheader last night, striking out two on his way to a scoreless ninth inning. It has been a good year for Jewell for the most part, with just three hiccups in his 16 appearances. In his first outing of the season on May 5 against Indianapolis, the righty got the win, but did allow one run on two hits over one inning of work. After that, he went 11.1 innings over nine games without allowing an earned run. Over that stretch, Jewell allowed just five hits and walked five while striking out 10. He then had the two games in which he gave up three and eight runs, respectively. The scoreless outing last night marked his fourth straight scoreless appearance after giving up those eight runs in two games. He has also had at least two strikeouts in each of his last four appearances.

AGAINST OMAHA: The I-Cubs have now faced the Storm Chasers 13 times this year out of 36 scheduled games. Iowa trails in the season series by three games, 5-8, but they are 4-3 when facing Omaha at Principal Park. Both teams won their first home series against each other, as the Storm Chasers took five out of six in Omaha earlier this month. The teams will meet twice more in Omaha and once more in Des Moines this season.

SHORT HOPS: The eight earned runs Matt Swarmer allowed in game one yesterday are the most by an Iowa starter this season... Mike Hauschild will be the 13th different pitcher to start a game for Iowa at Principal Park this season.