Toyota Road Report: April 7-12

The first road trip of the season has arrived for the South Bend Cubs, and it’s a key road stint in a West Division battle to set the tone for the first half. The rivalry is back on, with the Cubs taking on the Peoria Chiefs at Dozer Park in Central Illinois.

Weather wise, it's going to be a wide-ranging series. With a chilly Tuesday expected to lead into a beautiful end to the week, momentum is on the line, and whoever may be able to steal a cold series opener on Tuesday night could have an upper edge for the rest of the week. Temperatures in the mid-70s are expected for the weekend.

The Cubs also head to Peoria with revenge on their minds. First year manager Daniel Wasinger was South Bend’s bench coach last season, and Nate Spears is back as hitting coach. Last August, the Chiefs swept the Cubs in six games, culminating in a Sunday walk-off thanks to outfielder Won-Bin Cho. That series sweep put a wrench into South Bend’s second half playoff hopes, and with 19 total returning players on this South Bend Cubs roster, many remember what happened in Peoria last summer. It’s a major opportunity to deal a big blow right back to the Chiefs to begin the first half.

Peoria is a team with talent, and with returning manager Roberto Espinoza at the helm, the Chiefs are trying to make some noise in the West Division following their campaign with no playoffs last year. After dropping two of three games to the Cedar Rapids Kernels on Opening Weekend, the sense of urgency will be high in the Peoria clubhouse as they host their first homestand.

In the Big Leagues, the St. Louis Cardinals have been a busy organization over the last year slinging deals, and building for their future. In turn, the Cardinals farm system has been replenished with all kinds of top talent. We saw it in the August 2025 series at their place last season with the emergence of talented infielder Jesús Baez. The former New York Mets farmhand was traded over to St. Louis in the Ryan Helsley deal, and made a massive difference late in the season for the Chiefs.

St. Louis did not stop there with the trades, as they shipped Brendan Donovan to Seattle for outfield prospect Tai Peete, and then acquired pitchers Blake Aita and Yhoiker Fajardo in the Willson Contreras trade that sent the former Cubs 2016 World Series Champion to Boston. All four of those players listed, Baez, Peete, Aita, and Fajardo are currently on this Chiefs roster. The 19-year-old Fajardo will start twice against the Cubs this week, on both Tuesday and Sunday. At just 19, Fajardo has been traded twice, initially signing with the Chicago White Sox as an international free agent, and then being traded to the Red Sox, before been acquired by the Cardinals for Contreras.

Former Notre Dame right-hander Jack Findlay is a member of this Chiefs roster as well. An 8th-round pick in 2024 out of ND, Findlay tossed 1.2 shutout innings against the Cubs on August 28 last season.

Players to watch on South Bend…

Koen Moreno, RHP: The stars have finally aligned for Koen Moreno to get a legitimate, healthy opportunity to succeed on the mound in 2026. His career has featured countless oddities since being drafted in the COVID-shortened 2020 MLB Draft in the 5th-round by the Cubs out of high school. Immediately starting your career in the pandemic environment was without a doubt a challenge, and when things finally got to normal, it was Tommy John Surgery that was required after being injured back in 2024. Moreno returned quickly, and got himself in position to pitch out of the South Bend Cubs bullpen last season. It was a spectacle about how he returned, and what he had to do to post zeros on the mound a year ago. The first appearance after TJ surgery? Arguably the most important series of the season to date for South Bend at that point, a first place battle against the Beloit Sky Carp on August 16. Moreno masterfully tossed 2.1 shutout innings, and in each inning had to work out of the frame with a man in scoring position, twice with a man at third base. He gave up no runs. He was then the winning pitcher in his next outing vs Cedar Rapids. He did face the Chiefs on August 28 last season, and wrapped up the year with three strong frames vs Wisconsin. That then took Moreno into the Arizona Fall League, where he was terrific. He was one of the most eye-catching prospects in the desert last year, and worked a 3.86 ERA, pitching again as a starter. Now, after a fully healthy off-season, Moreno can solely focus on the path in front of him and building off what he did last year, with no rehab needed. He’s going to start twice this week in Peoria. Tuesday is going to be cold, Sunday will be beautiful. If he can set the tone on Tuesday and give the Cubs a chance to win, you could be talking about an impeccable performance on Sunday, as he can get past those first start jitters to begin the year.

Matt Halbach, INF: This South Bend Cubs lineup has an enormous amount of potential to be one of the best power-hitting ball club’s in the entire Midwest League. And a big right-handed bat that is going to be counted on will be Matt Halbach. Selected in the 10th-round by the Cubs in 2024 out of UC San Diego, last season in Myrtle Beach was Halbach’s first career action, after not playing following his draft process of 2024. In 103 games, he hit .244, good for average for a power hitter, and crushed nine home runs with 67 RBI. A big man that hits for average and power in his league is rare. You think about guys last year in the Midwest League like Wisconsin’s Luke Adams, Lake County’s Alfonsin Rosario, West Michigan’s Josue Briceno, and others with big body types, they were always threatening to hit a ball to the gap as much as they were to drive the ball out of the park. Halbach can profile the same way. He was uber impressive in a couple simulated game batting practice sessions that South Bend held before the season began, and he’s going to be a great option in the South Bend order, especially if he continues to be sandwiched between Owen Ayers and Cameron Sisneros in the middle of the lineup. That 4,5,6 trio can give any pitcher nightmares when you think about how all three of those guys can grind out at-bats. Keep an eye on Halbach as well, his first pro home run was crushed on opening day last season, and he had three-hit nights in back-to-back games to open up 2025.

Jackson Kirkpatrick, RHP: We’ve talked plenty about what the South Bend Cubs starting rotation can deliver this year, but South Bend also possesses something that is quite a rarity in the Midwest League: A veteran driven bullpen. Jackson Kirkpatrick shined out of the South Bend bullpen a year ago, and delivered for the Cubs in some of the most high intensity moments last year. Back to that Beloit series we brought up about Koen Moreno a little earlier. This statement is absolutely true. South Bend does not leapfrog into first place in that series in 2025 without Jackson Kirkpatrick. He closed the 9th inning twice in that series, with one of them being one of the wildest endings you will ever see. Beloit loaded up the bases, and was within a run. They had the tying run 90-feet away at third, and the winning run at second. There was nobody out. Kirkpatrick entered, and shut the door. The Cubs escaped everything, won the game, and Beloit left them loaded on a game-ending double play. Kirkpatrick saved the lives of every South Bend Cub that night, and it was just one example of a dominant 2025 for the big right-hander. It was a bit surprising (in a good way) to see him back with South Bend to open this season, but nobody is complaining. It may not be very long until he is a member of the Knoxville Smokies, but we are happy to have him while we do. Kirkpatrick is clearly one of, if not the most reliable 9th inning guys that South Bend will have out of the bullpen, and he will need to find the final three outs in one, maybe two, or even three games this week in Peoria.

Schedule and Probables…

Tuesday, April 7 - 7:35 PM ET: RHP Koen Moreno vs RHP Yhoiker Fajardo

Wednesday, April 8 - 7:35 PM ET: RHP Brooks Caple vs RHP Nolan Sparks

Thursday, April 9 - 7:35 PM ET: TBD vs. RHP Tanner Franklin

Friday, April 10 - 7:35 PM ET: RHP Nazier Mulé vs. RHP Leonel Sequera

Saturday, April 11 - 7:05 PM ET: LHP Cole Reynolds vs. RHP Blake Aita

Sunday, April 12 - 3:05 PM ET: RHP Koen Moreno vs. RHP Yhoiker Fajardo