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I-Cubs Ride Hot Streak in Nevada
The I-Cubs are off today and on their way home to begin a binge of games in Des Moines over the next six weeks after a junket to Nevada where they cleaned up by going 7-1 in Las Vegas and Reno. Seems like a good time to check up on them.
In the last 10 days the club has raised its team BA about 25 points. While winning eight of their last nine they've pummeled the opposition by a count of 74-26. Chad Tracy didn’t play in yesterday’s 6-1 getaway win in Reno, but Iowa is 7-0 in his starts since he was demoted in the Castro shuffle. He’s hitting a little league-esque .581!
Thomas Diamond was yesterday’s winning pitcher. He didn’t walk a man in six one-run innings while running his record to 3-0 and now sports a flashy 2.08 ERA for the year. He’s only given up more than two earned runs once in eight starts, and then only three, but hasn’t stretched out too far yet, logging only 43 total innings. He also bears a striking resemblance to golfer Hal Sutton even though his middle name is Nicklaus [yes, that’s how it’s spelled].
Jay Jackson threw another scoreless inning yesterday as he preps for a possible role in the Wrigley relief corps. In contrast to the parent club, the I-Cubs’ bullpen has compiled an ERA of 2.89 in 123 innings.
Another contrast between the siblings is that Iowa is 17-3 when outhitting their opponent. After last night’s mini-sweep of the Rockies the C-Cubs are only 11-9 in that category, another indication of their penchant for wasted opportunity.
Behind the plate Wellington Castillo continues his one-man speed trap for PCL base stealers. He leads the league with a 58% CS rate [10-17].
Micah Hoffpauir finally nudged his BA north of .200 on the road trip, but even when he struggles, he produces. For the year he’s managed to drive in 29 runs with only 28 hits. Very soon he’ll own the team record for career doubles.
Darwin Barney has gotten hot enough to be hitting just over .300 for the year, but he’s fanned 22 times while drawing only five walks. He would seem like a nice accent to a trade package given the talent above and below him in the organization at SS.
Cashner should pitch the Sunday matinee here after winning his first two Triple A starts on the road and I hope to have my first look at him then.
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