Cubs name their Minor league Player, Pitcher of the Month |
CHICAGO – The Chicago Cubs have named Single-A South Bend outfielder Eddy Martinez and left-handed pitcher Jose Paulino the organization’s minor league player and pitcher of the month for July, respectively. Martinez, 21, hit .362 (34-for-94) with six doubles, two triples, three homers, 17 runs scored and 22 RBI in 27 games with South Bend in July. He drew 15 walks, contributing to a .446 OBP and a 1.010 OPS, both of which led the Cubs organization. Martinez registered a 10-game hitting streak in the first 10 games of July, batting .487 (19-for-39) with five doubles, a triple, a home run and 10 RBI. He recorded five-straight multi-hit games, July 6-July 10, going 12-for-21 (.571) with five doubles, a triple and seven RBI. All told, he reached base in 25 of 27 games and raised his batting average from .236 to .269 over the course of the month. He tallied three games with two outfield assists (July 21, July 22, July 29) for a total of six in July. Martinez was signed by the Cubs as a non-drafted free agent in October 2015 and is in his first professional season. The native of Las Tunas, Cuba, is batting .266 (101-for-379) with 20 doubles, two triples, nine homers, 60 runs scored and 62 RBI in 105 games with South Bend this season. In the 40 games since the Midwest League All-Star Break, Martinez is batting .308 (45-for-146). Paulino, 21, went 4-0 with a 1.50 ERA (5 ER/30.0 IP) in five July games between Single-A Eugene and South Bend, allowing just 17 hits, four walks and striking out 31. He held batters to a .160 clip (17-for-106) and recorded a 0.70 WHIP. Before being promoted to South Bend on July 25, the southpaw was 4-0 with a 0.72 ERA (2 ER/25.0 IP) in four games with Eugene and had walked only two batters compared to 27 punchouts. He was selected to the 2016 Northwest League Mid-Season All-Star Team, but did not play due to his promotion. In eight starts this season between Eugene and South Bend, Paulino is 5-0 with a 0.96 ERA (5 ER/47.0 IP) while allowing only one homer, walking seven and striking out 45. Three of his eight starts this season have been scoreless outings, including a 6.0-inning one-hit effort, July 8 at Everett, in which he faced only two over the minimum. Paulino was named the MiLB.com Northwest League Player of the Month for July and has twice been named the Northwest League Pitcher of the Week (July 4-10 and July 18-24). Paulino was signed as a non-drafted free agent in July 2011 out of San Cristobal, Dominican Republic. The lefty is in his fifth year with the organization, going 19-19 with a 3.57 ERA (106 ER/267.0 IP) in 60 games (38 starts) between the DSL Cubs, Mesa Cubs, Eugene and South Bend.
