Cubs Minor League News

Jerry Lai - USA Today Sports

Dustin Riese - Senior Writer - Monday, May 26 2025

It was another tough night at the ballpark for the Cubs Minor League System in more ways than one. Not only did they struggle to win games, posting a 1-3 record, but they also lost one of their top pitching prospects to an injury, leaving his future in question for the rest of this season. Throw in another injury to Miguel Amaya on the Major League front, and the Cubs took some bumps on Saturday as they are hoping for better fortunes on Sunday.

COLUMBUS CLIPPERS 5 - IOWA CUBS 1

As mentioned, the Cubs lost a starter for the foreseeable future as Iowa left-hander Jordan Wicks went down with an injury just two batters into the game. While the diagnosis hasn't been reported yet, it doesn't look good from a short-term outlook as the Cubs are down another arm.

Following his departure, the Cubs had to piece together a bullpen day the rest of the day, and despite a rough first inning, they pitched fairly well before falling 5-1. Four of the five runs the Clippers scored came off Brandon Hughes in the first inning as the Clippers opened up a 4-0 lead and never looked back.

Johnathan Rodriguez and Kyle Datres were responsible for three of those RBIs with a pair of RBI doubles, while an error aided the other run in that inning to put the Clippers on top 4-0. Doubles continued to be the theme for the Clippers in the fourth as Petey Halpin picked up another RBI double off of Frank Scalzo Jr to put the Clippers in front 5-0.

The lone run of the game for Iowa came in the seventh inning when Chase Strumpf delivered an RBI single in a 5-1 loss for the Cubs. Iowa was held to five hits in the loss, with Greg Allen and James Triantos picking up two hits to go with the hit from Strumpf. Iowa also saw Jack Neely and Tyson Miller toss scoreless innings later in the game.

BILOXI SHUCKERS 8 - KNOXVILLE SMOKIES 5

One thing we have noticed with the Smokies this season is that when they get good pitching, they tend to win, and when they don't, they tend to lose. That trend continued on Saturday as Chris Kachmar didn't have his best stuff, allowing five runs in five innings as part of an 8-5 loss.

Luis Lara put the Smokies in an early hole as his two-run double put the Shuckers in front 2-0 after one inning of play. Knoxville tried to battle back in the top of the third on the Pedro Ramirez homer, but with the Shuckers responding for three runs in the bottom of the third, Knoxville found themselves down 5-1 early.

Lara connected for a two-RBI single as part of that three-run third with a sacrifice fly adding the final run. That would be all KC Hunt would need as the right-hander struck out eight across five innings, allowing that lone run. With the game firmly in the hands of the bullpen, the Shuckers went back to work against Zac Leigh in the sixth as they broke the game open with three more runs.

All of the runs came from costly miscues, as a pair of bases-loaded walks and a wild pitch pushed the Shuckers' lead to 8-1. Credit Knoxville for battling until the end, as they did a great job of making things close late. Backed by a Brett Bateman RBI fielder's choice in the seventh, the Smokies offense was finally showing signs of life as they were within 8-2 with traffic still on the bases.

That was followed up by a sacrifice fly from Ramirez mixed with an error as the Smokies scored three times in the seventh to pull within 8-4. Knoxville closed out the scoring with another RBI forceout from BJ Murray Jr in the ninth as they fell to the Shuckers 8-5. Bateman and Jordan Nwogu led the offense with two hits, while Ramirez paced the offense with two RBIs. Following another scoreless outing, Brad Deppermann has yet to give up a run in AA, and you wonder if a promotion is forthcoming.

SOUTH BEND CUBS 6 - WISCONSIN TIMBER RATTLERS 2

Believe it or not, the lone win in the Cubs system came in High-A as the Cubs ended their losing streak 6-2. Backed by some instant offense that had the Cubs in front from the first inning on, the pitching stood out as South Bend finally had a strong performance across the board.

Once again, it was Ryan Gallagher delivering the goods as he has emerged as the Ace of the South Bend staff, and now Jaxon Wiggins is in AA. For the third time in as many starts, Gallagher racked up at least eight strikeouts as he struck out nine across six innings, allowing just one run on two hits. His ERA is now 3.23 for the season as he continues to perform well.

Anytime your offense can give you the lead in the first inning, it does make things easier when it comes to pitching, as a pair of first-inning RBI singles from Cristian Hernandez and Andy Garriola put South Bend in front for a good 2-0. South Bend saw their lead cut in half in the top of the second off an RBI grounder, but with that being the only run off Gallagher, things were looking good for the Cubs.

Immediately after allowing that run, the Cubs offense got back to work as Rafael Morel connected for an RBI double to put the Cubs in front 3-1 in the second. That score would hold until the seventh when Jefferson Rojas tacked on an RBI single to push the lead to 4-1, with another run coming home on a double play. Both teams scored a run in the eighth inning, as those were the final runs in a 6-2 Cubs win.

Rojas has been on quite a tear for the past three weeks, and with a team-high three hits, that trend continued. He was joined by Hernandez, and his two hits at the top of the Cubs' lineup gave the Rattlers fits.

HICKORY CRAWDADS 4 - MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 3

Of all the losses on Saturday, this was the most competitive game, as the Pelicans are starting to play better ball. Despite falling behind early, the Pelicans used a three-run inning to tie things up before getting walked off in the ninth for the loss.

This was one of those games where the starting pitcher deserved better, as Kevin Valdez had a great outing. The right-hander allowed one run through six innings and struck out five as he worked around plenty of command issues to limit the damage. The command was a factor in the only run he allowed as a bases-loaded walk to Hector Osorio, which resulted in a 1-0 Hickory lead.

That was the game's only run until the sixth, when the Pelicans' offense erupted for three runs, as that was all of their offense in the game. Once again it was Jose Escobar doing the damage as this is becoming the Escobar coming out party. With an extra-inning Grand Slam early in the week to go with a game-winning single, Escobar continued to carve up the Crawdads as he connected for a three-run shot to put the Pelicans in front 3-1.

Unfortunately for them, those were their only runs of the game, and it didn't take long for the Crawdads to answer as an RBI fielder's choice mixed with an error led to two runs in the seventh and brought things back to even 3-3. That score would hold until the ninth when Yeremy Cabrera cashed in with a game-winning RBI single to walk off the Birds 4-3. Escobar had one of the Pelicans' three hits, joining Owen Ayers and Eriandys Ramon.