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April 5 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs at Buffalo Bisons

April 5, 2022 - International League (IL)
Iowa Cubs News Release


IOWA CUBS (0-0) @ BUFFALO BISONS (0-0)

Tuesday - 1:05 PM ET - Sahlen Field - Buffalo, NY

RHP Cory Abbott (0-0, -.--) vs. LHP Nick Allgeyer (0-0, -.--)

TODAY'S GAME: Iowa and Buffalo will play the first official game of any the 2022 season, starting off the year for both Major League Baseball and Minor League Baseball. Cory Abbott will take the mound for the I-Cubs, starting the season with Iowa for the second straight year. In 2021, the righty spun 96.0 innings over 19 starts for Iowa, holding a 5-6 record with a 5.91 ERA. He struck out 130 batters and held opponents to a .257 batting average against him. He will face off against lefty Nick Allgeyer getting the nod for the Bisons. Allgeyer started 17 of 22 games last year with Buffalo, going 5-5 with a 5.34 ERA over that span. The Southpaw allowed 53 earned runs on 15 home runs over 89.1 innings pitched, while striking out 80 compared to 52 walks.

NEW LEAGUE, WHO DIS? For the second consecutive season, the Iowa Cubs are part of a new league, after joining the International League prior to the 2022 season. Major League Baseball announced they would return to the historical names for the 11 leagues that comprise the player development system for MLB's 30 clubs. For the 2021 season, leagues had regional names while the rights to the use of the historical league names were in the process of being acquired by MLB. Since becoming a part of the IL, the I-Cubs are now one of just three Minor League Baseball franchises to play in all three historic (American Association, Pacific Coast League, International League) Triple-A Leagues, joining Nashville and Omaha.

FAMILIAR FACES: Of the 33 players on the Opening Day roster, Iowa will see 19 players from either the 2019 or 2021 season. Returning from the 2019 Pacific Coast League American Division Championship roster are Erick Castillo, Donnie Dewees, Robel Garcia, Trent Giambrone, P.J. Higgins, Dixon Machado and Matt Swarmer. From last season, Cory Abbott, Brennen Davis, Greg Deichmann, Levi Jordan, Ben Leeper, Tyler Payne, Manuel Rodriguez, Adrian Sampson, Aneuris Rosario, Erich Uelmen, Ildemaro Vargas and Jared Young will all be back. Entering the 2022 season, the 19 players have played a total of 860 games in an Iowa Cubs uniform.

SOMETHING TO LOOK FOR: Major League Baseball announced some rule changes for Minor League Baseball and Triple-A specifically that will affect the Iowa Cubs this year. The pitch clock will be back, requiring batters to be ready to hit and pitchers required to deliver the pitch within allotted periods of time. With runners on base, pitchers will have additional allotted time for each pitch but will risk automatic baserunner advancement if a third pick-off attempt or step-off within the same plate appearance is made without recording an out. The sizes of first, second and third base will be increased from 15 inches square to 18 inches square in an effort to reduce player injuries. Automated Ball-Strike ("robo-umps") will be seen across the Pacific Coast League starting on May 17 and in Charlotte all season long.

WELL, WHAT HAPPENED WAS: Iowa is coming off a season in which they finished the regular season in last place of the Triple-A East Midwest division, 22.5 games below the first-place Toledo Mud Hens. The I-Cubs finished with a record of 51 wins and 78 losses, tied with the 1992 team for the second-lowest number of wins in any season, one more win than the 2018 I-Cubs. They had multiple long losing streaks throughout the year, pushing their record from above .500 to well below. From May 22-June 13, Iowa lost 18 of 20 games, including streaks of nine and seven straight losses. They fell from 9-5 to 11-23 over the four-week span. From May 22 to June 10, Iowa lost all 11 games they played at home, setting the all-time season record for longest home losing streaks. They finished the 2021 season losing 10 of their last 11 games, including their final eight overall, and their final seven home games from September 10-October 3.

SWING AND MISS STUFF: Cory Abbott gets the nod as the I-Cubs Opening Day starter after spending time with both Iowa and Chicago last year. The righty finished second in all of Triple-A in strikeouts with 130 last season, falling just seven strikeouts shy of the Triple-A leader, Gwinnett's Kyle Wright, who finished with 137. Despite finishing second to Wright in overall strikeouts, Abbott threw 41.0 less innings and made five less starts than Wright at the Triple-A level. Abbott pitched in seven games and threw 17.1 innings for Chicago, getting recalled five separate times throughout the year. The righty fanned a career-high 13 batters on May 30 against St. Paul, and nine or more in three consecutive starts from August 28 through September 9.

AGAINST BUFFALO: Today will mark the first-ever meeting between Iowa and Buffalo on Opening Day and the first matchup between the two teams since 1997. Iowa is 108-100 all-time against Buffalo, holding a 60-43 mark at home while going 48-57 on the road against the Bisons. In 1997, the last year the two teams played before Iowa joined the PCL, the I-Cubs won the season series 11 games to seven, going 8-1 at home and 3-6 on the road. In the 12-year playing history between the two teams, each team has swept three series here at Sahlen Field.

SHORT HOPS: Since 1998, Iowa is 11-11 in their first road game of a season, including an 11-1 victory over the St. Paul Saints last year and a 5-4 win over Nashville on Opening Day in 2019...today's game marks the first game in MiLB or MLB to be played in the 2022 season.

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