Cubs Insider Weekly Farm Report: 5/25 – 5/31

AAA: Iowa Cubs (3-4 record on the week)

Utility man Arismendy Alcantara has been on fire as of late. For the week he went 10-26 with a home run and 3 RBI. The speedster also swiped 2 bases and walked 4 times. This tweet from Sahadev Sharma notes how hot Alcantara has been. On the season, he is now sporting a triple slash line of .262/.329/.490.

Outfielder Matt Szczur has had it going all year while at Iowa this season. He went 10-25 for the week with 5 stolen bases. It’s great to see Szczur not get down on himself after being bounced around like a yo-yo from the big league team back to Iowa.

I’ve asked it before and I’ll ask it again: what’s an update without Donn Roach? Roach had another dominant outing his last time out on the mound. He went 7 innings allowing only 2 runs. Roach has gone 6 innings while allowing 3 or fewer runs in 8 of his 10 starts. It has been a great run for the Arizona alum.

Reliever Brian Schlitter may be putting himself back into the conversation with the big league club. On the season at Iowa, he possesses a 1.74 ERA in 10.1 innings. Out of his 10 appearances, he has held the opposition down in 9 of them. He may be a punching bag a lot of the times, but give credit where credit is due.

Hitter of the week: Arismendy Alcantara– 10-26, HR, 2B, 3 RBI, 4 BB, 2 SB, 6 R

Pitcher of the week: Donn Roach– 1 GS, 7 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K (ND)

 

AA: Tennessee Smokies (4-2 record on the week)

Catcher Kyle Schwarber continues to generate buzz. For the week he went 8-18 with 2 home runs and 5 RBI; the big man also walked 5 times. The hype machine is strong with Schwarber. Even a comparison to Kris Bryant was made. You probably wouldn’t believe it, but Schwarber is outpacing Bryant through their 1st 45 games at AA. Statistical data listed below.

Willson Contreras prolonged his hot stretch. For the week he went 8-21 with 2 home runs and 6 RBI. Contreras also walked 4 times and is batting .343 in his last 10 games.

Billy McKinney shows us every day that he is not over-matched at his new level. The outfielder went 7-22 with a triple, double, and 3 runs driven in on the week. McKinney is now .298/.333/.421 at Tennessee.

Corey Black picked up win last Friday. He went 5 strong innings allowing only 1 run and also struck out 6. That is back-to-back dominating 5-inning outings for the hard-throwing right-hander. In his last 2 outings, Black has thrown 10 innings and allowed only 1 run on 4 hits. He has also struck out 12 and walked only 1. On the season, Black is 2-2 with a 3.09 ERA.

Hitter of the week: Willson Contreras – 8-21, 2 HR, 2 2B, 6 RBI, 4 BB, 7 R

Pitcher of the week: Corey Black – 1 GS, 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K (1W)

 

High-A: Myrtle Beach Pelicans (5-1 record on the week)

We’re not exactly sure what else Mark Zagunis can do at Myrtle Beach. He had another typical week at the plate, going 3-16 with 7 more walks. On the season, Zagunis has walked 39 times versus only 29 strikeouts.

Jeimer Candelario is starting to get the power going. He went 6-24 on the week with 2 home runs and 2 doubles and he now has 4 home runs in his last 10 games.

Chesny Young continues to rake, going 8-21 on the week with 5 walks. He is a what we could call a professional hitter.

On the mound last Tuesday, Jen-Ho Tseng out-dueled one of the best pitching prospects in all of baseball, Lucas Giolito. Tseng threw 6 scoreless innings while surrendering only 2 hits. He also struck out 6 hitters. Tseng has not been as good as last year, but that could change with a few more starts like this one.

Paul Blackburn had a really nice start Saturday versus the Nationals. The righty went 5 innings allowing only 1 run and also struck out 6. It is good to see him string some quality starts together. That is 3 strong starts in a row for him; on the season, he sits 4-2 with a 4.26 ERA.

Duane Underwood Jr. finally took his first L of the season. It wasn’t due to lack of a quality outing, though. Underwood tossed 6 strong innings allowing only 2 runs. Unfortunately, the offense could not muster any offense as they were shut out 2-0. Underwood now is 5-1 on the season with a 1.60 ERA.

Hitter of the week: Kevin Brown – 9-21, HR, 3B, 2B, 5 RBI, 3 BB, 4 R

Pitcher of the week: Jen-Ho Tseng – 1 GS, 6 IP, 2 H,0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K (W)

 

Low-A: South Bend Cubs (2-4 record on the week)

Yasiel Balaguert had one of the better weeks any Cubs prospect has had thus far this season. The outfielder went 14-22 with 3 home runs and 6 RBI. He was named Midwest player of the week Monday.

Second baseman Andrew Ely provided quite the spark at the dish. Ely went 8-20 with a home run and 3 doubles. In limited action, Ely is hitting .353 on the season.

Shortstop Gleyber Torres went 7-22 on the week with 5 RBI. Torres is hitting .320 on the season.

On the hill, Ryan Williams went another 8 innings last Thursday versus Dayton. He picked up a no decision as he allowed 4 runs on 7 hits. For those keeping track at home, that is back-to-back starts going 8 innings for Mr. Williams.

Hitter of the week: Yasiel Balaguert – 14-22, 3 HR, 2 2B, 6 RBI, 6 R

Pitcher of the week: Ryan Williams –  1 GS, 8 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 2 K (ND)