Frankie Scalzo Jr. Named Midwest League All-Star
Today Minor League Baseball announced their selections for High-A All Stars and South Bend Cubs reliever Frankie Scalzo Jr. earned a spot for the Midwest League. Votes were cast by league managers and final decisions were determined by the Commissioner’s Office. Scalzo was a member of the South Bend Cubs
Today Minor League Baseball announced their selections for High-A All Stars and South Bend Cubs reliever Frankie Scalzo Jr. earned a spot for the Midwest League. Votes were cast by league managers and final decisions were determined by the Commissioner’s Office.
Scalzo was a member of the South Bend Cubs opening day roster and flourished the entirety of his time at Four Winds Field. The former Antelope at Grand Canyon was selected in the 14th round of the 2021 MLB Draft and is finishing up his best pro season with AA Tennessee in the Southern League playoffs.
The 6-foot-3 right-hander began the year in long relief but it didn’t take long for Lance Rymel to start using him in high leverage spots at the end of games. In 35 appearances with the Cubs, Scalzo dominated with a 2.31 ERA, .205 batting average against, and a 1.09 WHIP. Of the 51 hits he allowed only 13 went for extra bases and at the end of the season his eight saves remained the most of anyone on the roster this year.
In the most memorable game of the 2023 season back on July 6, it was Scalzo who came on for the ninth inning against Peoria as South Bend looked to preserve their first no-hitter since August of 2021. Scalzo walked a batter but recorded a couple outs and then faced Jeremy Rivas with two outs and the Cubs up 4-0 with a chance at a historic moment. Scalzo punched out Rivas swinging on a vicious breaking ball and then unleashed a few fist bumps before getting mobbed by his teammates.
On August 30 the man with the most killer mustache in the league earned a promotion to AA. In four outings with Tennessee before the end of the regular season, Scalzo worked 6.1 innings and allowed two runs, a solid effort with a 2.84 ERA in a small sample. In just 6.1 innings he punched out nine batters and only allowed two hits.
About the South Bend Cubs
The South Bend Cubs are the High-A affiliate of the 2016 World Series Champion Chicago Cubs. Over the past 34 seasons, the team has won five Midwest League titles, most recently in 2022, and has captured nine division titles. In 2023, Four Winds Field, home of the South Bend Cubs, was voted Best High-A ballpark in the country by Ballpark Digest, having also won the award in 20223 and as a Low-A ballpark in 2017. In 2019, the South Bend Cubs hosted the final Midwest League All-Star Game. In 2015 the team was named Ballpark Digest's Team of the Year and received the John H. Johnson President's Award, the highest award in minor league baseball. The team is owned and operated by Swing-Batter-Swing, LLC whose principal shareholder is Andrew T. Berlin of Chicago, Ill.