Ruoff Mortgage Homestand Preview: August 16-21

The biggest week of the season has arrived at Four Winds Field, and it’s getting to be crunch time across the Midwest League.

In the East Division, the Lake County Captains have come all the way back to take a one-game lead on the West Michigan Whitecaps, who have nearly held first place exclusively all second half long. The same can be said for the battle in the West Division too. The South Bend Cubs have been in first place for practically the entire summer, but the clubs behind them are really starting to creep in.

Enter the Beloit Sky Carp. The Miami Marlins affiliate has already been at Four Winds Field this year, but that was way back in April at the start of the campaign. Nearly everything about both the Cubs and Sky Carp internally has changed, so as these two teams begin a pivotal six game series, it’s time to lock in.

South Bend just got back from Appleton, Wisconsin, and now the Timber Rattlers are also more in striking range for first place too. Wisconsin is just three games behind the pace set by the Cubs, and Beloit is on a red hot run, most recently taking five of six games away from West Michigan. Lake County owes the Sky Carp a big thank you for handling the Whitecaps so well.

In any case, this will be a battle of two different styles in Downtown South Bend this week. Beloit is dead last in the league in number of home runs hit, and as a team, they have about 100 less base knocks than the Cubs do. South Bend continues to lead the league in hitting with a team average of .254, and a league high 920 hits.

What Beloit has done exceptionally well all year though is pitch. Their rotation is full of top Miami Marlins prospects, with many of them being super high draft selections. The Sky Carp have the second lowest team ERA in the league at 3.62.

The last time that the Cubs saw the Sky Carp was in July at ABC Supply Stadium in Beloit. That was just before we hit the 4th of July, but put all records aside now. This will be a battle, and the victor of this series may put themselves in prime position for that valuable second half playoff spot and who gets the honor of playing the Cedar Rapids Kernels in round one of the Midwest League Postseason.

A programming note, catch Max Thoma and Brendan King on Marquee Sports Network this series! Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday’s games will all be aired live on the television home of the Chicago Cubs.

Players to watch on Beloit…

Ynmanol Marinez, INF: Of the 71 homers that Beloit has crushed this year, the big right-handed batter Ynmanol Marinez has clobbered 14 percent of them. This is a guy that South Bend has to be careful with. So far on the season, they’ve done a pretty good job with that. Marinez is batting .256 against South Bend, but he is steaming hot heading into this series. You can pencil him in nearly everyday as the number three or cleanup man for Beloit too. In the month of August, Marinez is hitting .413, and has seven RBI in 12 games played. There is one severe weakness about this guy though, he’s a free swinger. That of course, can be a blessing and a curse. Marinez has just 21 walks to 97 strikeouts this year. He’s going to be often swinging. Sometimes, he connects big and the ball travels a long-long way. But he’s going to fish for a lot of bad stuff in the dirt. With guys in the bullpen that feature some nasty stuff like Zac Leigh, Sheldon Reed, Yovanny Cruz, and others, let’s see if the Cubs can post some big strikeout numbers this week.

Dax Fulton, LHP: It is legitimately hard to miss Dax Fulton when he is on the mound. And that’s not just because he is 6’7’’ and 225 pounds. He’s really good too. Fulton, who was Miami’s second round pick in 2020 as the Marlins swiped him away from his Vanderbilt commitment. The Oklahoma City native has had some ups and downs in professional baseball, but the last time that South Bend saw him, he was electric. Fulton is 5-6 on the year with a 4.14 ERA in 19 starts. His best start hands down was against the Cubs on July 1. Lance Rymel’s club did get to Fulton with four runs in 5.1 innings, but that does not tell the story. At ABC Supply Stadium, Fulton finished with 10 strikeouts, but the first nine were all consecutively to begin the game. The southpaw struck out each of the first nine that he faced. Now looking it up on the fly while on the air, that has only happened in Major League Baseball twice. We could not find if it ever happened in the Minors before. The first guy to ever do it was Mickey Welch in 1884. The next? Marlins righty Pablo Lopez in 2021. So no, that does not happen a whole lot.

Jose Salas, INF: It’s a star-studded Beloit Sky Carp roster visiting South Bend this week, and one of the biggest names you will see is Jose Salas. The number-eight Miami Marlins prospect is only 19-years-old, and he made his Midwest League debut against the Cubs in June. That also included crushing his first High-A home run on June 30. Salas has an interesting story. He was born in Florida, then as a teenager moved to Venezuela where much of his family had once played professionally. Becoming fluent in English and Spanish was key for Salas, and now he has signed with Miami, who gave him a bonus of 2.8 million dollars. Salas is a guy who can play shortstop, second base, and third base with skill, and he’s a switch hitter. Salas is still pretty raw, but he looks to be a legit prospect.

Players to watch on South Bend…

Luis Verdugo, 3B: As part of the South Bend Cubs opening day roster, Luis Verdugo has been win this team every step of the way in the 2022 season and he is once again showing great promise both in the field at third base and at the plate. Through 12 games in the month of August, Verdugo is hitting .386 with an OPS of 1.017. That is madness. The catch phrase for Luis around the cage is “two doubles”, meaning that’s the goal of everyday. Verdugo is also seeing the ball extremely well at the plate to begin this month. His monthly walk total of eight matches his RBI number, and he only has struck out four times in August. We all though that Verdugo could have made a running for the Chicago Cubs Minor League Player of the Month in June when he was doing exactly what he is now yet again, but it might be hard to not present him with that award for August if he keeps up this pace. South Bend needs a big series from their stars if they want to remain in first place, and Verdugo is included on that list.

Zac Leigh, RHP: The back end of the South Bend bullpen has been constantly changing over the course of this summer. Guys like Jeremiah Estrada, Bailey Horn, Eduarniel Nunez, Hunter Bigge, and others being called up to Double-A Tennessee, that has given a window to others to step in and put their fingerprint on the bullpen. One of those guys is Zac Leigh. The bearded right-hander just continues to find his groove with his filthy slider, which has been complimented big time by Chicago Cubs bloggers and writers across the system. Leigh has appeared in 17 games with the Cubs and has posted a very good 2.35 ERA. Batters are hitting .186, and he only has eight walks in 23 innings. Against Beloit in July, Leigh worked out of a bases loaded jam to secure the Cubs an improbable win. What makes Leigh hard to pick up is the quick pace that he works at nearly all the time. He is ready to fire almost immediately after getting the ball back from his catcher. Sometimes, hitters are not prepared for that kind of arsenal with a fast-working reliever. It has worked out for Leigh as well, he has not surrendered an earned run since July 26.

Jordan Nwogu, OF: The former Michigan man Jordan Nwogu continues to find his stride at the plate as we roll along the Dog Days of Summer. Thanks to the GOAT Bryan Smith from Bleacher Nation for posting this information on Twitter, but Nwogu now has 10 home runs on the campaign, and that makes him one of 11 players in the Cubs organization with double-digit bombs and stolen bases. Nwogu has his average up to .247, and he has struck out only six times in 10 games played in August. Just looking at Nwogu, he is a physical freak, when he powers baseballs out of the yard, they go a long way. As he continues to tap into his power, and with getting older and more experienced, Nwogu will not be able to deal with in the years to come. What kind of jump will he now take in the last month of the season?

Schedule…

Tuesday, August 16 - 7:05 PM ET: LHP Luke Little vs. RHP M.D. Johnson

Wednesday, August 17 - 7:05 PM ET: RHP Porter Hodge vs. RHP Edgar Sanchez

Thursday, August 18 - 7:05 PM ET: RHP Luis Devers vs. RHP Evan Fitterer

Friday, August 19 - 7:05 PM ET: RHP Kohl Franklin vs. RHP Jake Walters

Saturday, August 20 - 7:05 PM ET: RHP Richard Gallardo vs. LHP Dax Fulton

Sunday, August 21 - 2:05 PM ET: RHP Daniel Palencia vs LHP Luis Palacios

Catch the entire six-game series on Sports Radio 960 AM WSBT, online at wsbtradio.com, or on MiLB.com with Max Thoma and Brendan King on the call.