Billy McKiney
Bees Whitewash South Bend & Mr Rogers Bashes the 66ers
Jacob Rogers blasted a grand slam home run (off the roof of the Angels clubhouse) and a triple, Billy McKinney belted a solo HR, singled twice, and scored two runs, Mark Zagunis singled twice, walked, and scored a run, and Paul Blackburn threw 5.2 IP of two-hit shutout ball (no-hitter thru 4.2 IP), leading the Myrtle Beach Pelicans (Cubs Hi-A affiliate) to a 7-1 victory over the Inland Empire 66ers (Los Angeles Angels Hi-A affiliate) on Field #7, and Mike Bolaski (ex-3B) and four relievers combined to toss a six-hit shutout with 10 strikeouts, as the Burlington Bees (Angels Lo-A affiliate) blanked the South Bend Cubs (Lo-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs) 5-0 on Field #4, in Cactus League Minor League game action this morning at Diablo Park in Tempe, AZ.
Somewhat appropriately, the Burlington Bees - South Bend Cubs game on Field #4 was delayed for several minutes while a swarm of bees hovered overhead, apparently looking for a landing spot. The players who were on the field at the time hit the ground the way soldiers do when a hand grenade is thrown into their vicinity. This is the second time in two years that bees have descended upon Diablo Park when I've been there (a hive had to be removed from a tractor that was situated in the bullpen at Field #7 last year). Naturally, the Angels have not one but two affiliates (Lo-A Burlington and AAA Salt Lake City) with the "Bees" nickname.
The game on Field #7 was pre-planned as a ten-inning affair so that all of the pitchers scheduled to throw today could get their scheduled work.
Here are the abridged box scores from the two games (Cubs players only):
Recent comments
Cubster (view)
Kris Bryant to IL with low back strain. He’s keeping the Rockies docs busy.
crunch (view)
m.busch out here bunting for a hit with the infielders back.
it worked.
Arizona Phil (view)
Cubs recall RHSP Hayden Wesneski and select RHRP Colten Brewer from AAA Iowa (Brewer was Iowa's closer), option Luke Little and Daniel Palencia to Iowa, and transfer Julian Merryweather to the 60-day IL.
BTW, Brewer is out of minor league options in case that becomes an issue at some point.
Also, now that Merryweather has been transferred to the 60-day IL, he cannot be reinstated any earlier than June 5th.
Dolorous Jon Lester (view)
Busch has been great so far, but the Dodgers are one of the orgs I’m always leery of trading with. They’re so savvy about their internal scouting.
videographer (view)
Here is an interesting thought: There seems to be an assumption that the Cubs had to trade 2 prospects to get Busch with Almonte thrown in to even out the trade. What if the initial trade was Ferris for Busch, but Hoyer wanted Almonte (a cheap RP) and Hope was the ask from the Dodgers. This scenario makes the trade more complicated to ponder the future ramifications.
Arizona Phil (view)
Zyhir Hope and Reggie Preciado were co-MVPs at Cubs AZ Instructs last fall, and every MLB organization had scouts at the AZ Instructs games so Hope was well-known to everybody (and was clearly a Cubs Top 30 prospect with a bullet).
https://www.thecubreporter.com/cubs-2023-arizona-instructional-league-s…
azbobbop (view)
I can’t speak to how many organizations had newfound interest in Zyhir Hope but I did talk to a Dodger scout who told that the Ddodgers always had their on him.
I hardly think of my self as a “scout” but I saw a beautiful smooth left hand swing, easy power, an aggressive base runner as in very limited action, a good defensive player. He certainly caught my attention, moreso than anyone else on the ACL team last year.
George Altman (view)
Ditto. The can DFA him when they activate Taillon.
crunch (view)
cade horton with his 2024 AA debut of 4ip 4h 0bb 4k, 1r/0er is followed up even better...
4ip 1h 1bb 5K, 0r/er
he's still on a pitch count restriction, btw. he probably could have gone 6+ innings in both outings if he was off a leash.
crunch (view)
okay, officially done with hendricks as a starter.
dunno if counsell is there, but i'm there.