Cubs Minor League News

Jerry Lai - USA Today Sports

Dustin Riese · Senior Writer · Wednesday, June 04 2025

For the first time this season, all seven of the Cubs' affiliated teams were set to take the field, a trend that will become the norm in the future. However, with Mother Nature getting in the way and washing away one of those seven games, the Cubs' full slate of games will have to wait a tad longer.

Still, with six games taking place across 12 hours, there was plenty of Minor League action to follow, and with the Cubs picking up a 3-3 mark to begin the week, things look to be trending in the right direction. That is exactly what you want as a fan now that the trade deadline talk is here, and the better your prospects play, the more likely it will be that the Cubs will be able to package some of these pieces for big-time players.

IOWA CUBS at OMAHA STORM CHASERS (Postponed)

KNOXVILLE SMOKIES 4 - CHATTANOOGA LOOKOUTS 2

In a game where pitching was the story, it was the Smokies finding a way to get it done as they rallied for four late-game runs to double up the Lookouts. All of the runs came on one swing as the BJ Murray Jr eighth-inning Grand Slam was the difference in a 4-2 win.

Jaxon Wiggins was back on the mound, and despite making just a handful of AA starts, he has emerged as the Ace of the Smokies. The flame-throwing right-hander pitched into the seventh, going 6 1/3 innings and allowing two runs. He walked one and struck out four as his ERA sits at 2.79 in AA.

As good as Wiggins was, Ryan Cardona was even better as he blanked the Smokies through six innings despite walking three and striking out one. With things deadlocked 0-0 entering the seventh, it was the Lookouts striking first as they used a pair of sacrifice flies from Jay Allen and Dominic Pitelli to take a 2-0 lead.

It was a lead that was short-lived as the Smokies put the game away in the eighth with one swing of the bat as Murray Jr connected for the Grand Slam for his 10th bomb of the season in the 4-2 Smokies win. Murray paced the Smokies with two hits and four RBIs as Reivaj Garcia added two hits.

SOUTH BEND CUBS 11 - GREAT LAKES LOONS 3

As bad as things have gone for the Cubs this season, they have been turning it around the last few weeks, which could lead to more success down the road. Tuesday was all about the offense as the Cubs used a trio of massive innings to break the game open and pulled away for the 11-3 win.

Brooks Caple was on the mound for the Cubs and, after struggling across his first few High-A appearances, found a way to grab his first win. Caple was solid on the mound, striking out five across seven innings and allowing three runs. That isn't a perfect outing, but when the Cubs' offense backs him for four runs of support in the fourth, you don't have to be perfect, as the Cubs raced out to a massive lead.

Edgar Alvarez and Andy Garriola opened the scoring with a pair of RBI singles, while an Ivan Brethowr double pushed the Cubs' lead to 3-0. Ariel Armas closed out what was the first of three big innings with a sacrifice fly as the Cubs led 4-0 through four. Following a Nelson Quiroz single that put the Loons on the board in the fifth, it was a Jake Galof homer in the sixth that made things interesting as the Loons were within 4-3.

That would be as close as things would get as the Cubs ended the game with seven unanswered runs to break the game open. Four of those runs came in the seventh, with Carter Trice picking up a solo shot ahead of a pair of RBI singles from Alvarez and Garriola. One inning later, the Cubs continued to damage as they added three more runs in the eighth to open up an 11-3 lead.

Two of those runs came from a Cristian Hernandez double, while the Alvarez single closed out the scoring in what was an 11-3 Cubs win. Alvarez and Hernandez paced the Cubs offense with four hits, with Alvarez adding three RBIs. Garriola added three RBIs with his two hits as the Cubs' offense was impressive.

MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 5 - KANNAPOLIS CANNONBALLERS 1

Although the Cubs system posted a 3-3 record, it was the full-season teams that stood out as they went a perfect 3-0. That included another win from the Pelicans, who delivered a strong 5-1 showing against the Cannonballers. Yenrri Rojas earned the win in this one, tossing five shutout innings with five strikeouts to lower his ERA to 1.19.

Facing off against Ricardo Brizuela, the Pelicans found themselves in a 0-0 tie through three innings, only to have the offense break through for three runs over the next two frames, which is all the offense they would need. Matt Halbach opened the scoring for what was a game-winning two-run shot, while another run scored in the fifth off a double play to put the Pelicans up 3-0.

The long ball continued to play a role for the Pelicans in the seventh as Alexey Lumpuy left the building for his fourth homer of the season before a wild pitch closed out the scoring for the Birds with a 5-0 lead. Kannapolis was able to put an end to the shutout in the eighth inning off a Ronny Hernandez double, but that wasn't going to be enough as the Pelicans took care of business 5-1.

Halbach was one of three players to secure multiple hits as he was joined by Yahil Melendez and Ty Southisene, who led the way with three hits. Halbach also led the way with two RBIs in the win.

ACL BREWERS 11 - ACL CUBS 2

It was nice to see the Cubs win some games over the past few days, but all good things must come to an end, and the Brewers ended the Cubs' streak with an 11-2 win. Edwardo Melendez got roughed up for five runs in 3 2/3 innigs as was Chris Clarke who struggled across his two innings of relief.

Jayden Dubanewicz got the start for the Brewers, going five shutout innings to lower his season ERA to 2.66. Alexis Hernandez delivered the Cubs' long RBI on an eighth-inning single, with their second run coming on a double-play ball in the ninth.

DSL REDS 5 - DSL CUBS BLUE 0

After winning their season opener on Monday, the DSL Blue squad took a step back Tuesday and fell to the Reds 5-0. A big reason for that was an offense held to three hits, as they couldn't get anything going against the Reds' staff.

Darlyn De Leon, Jose Carillo, and Josias Ramirez picked up the three hits in what was otherwise a quiet day at the plate for the Cubs.

DSL ORIOLES 3 - DSL CUBS RED 2

Despite a strong pitching performance across the board, it was the Cubs' offense that struggled to get going as they fell to the Orioles 3-2. Emannoel Madeira got the start for the Cubs, going three innings and striking out a run in a no-decision effort.

Bryan Landaez took over in relief later in the game, striking out three across 1 1/3 scoreless frames. Behind a strong pitching performance from Emmanuel Pena, who struck out four across four scoreless innings, it was the Orioles who grabbed an early lead as the Argenis Valdez double led to two runs in the fourth and gave the Orioles a 2-0 lead.

Alexander Rincon brought home the game-winning run in the sixth on a single as they opened up a 3-0 lead. Both of the Cubs' runs came home in the bottom of the sixth as DSL Red started to mount a late-game comeback. Freiker Betencourt opened the scoring for the Cubs with an RBI triple before the Wilfri De La Cruz grounder pulled the Cubs within 3-2. They would fall by that score.