IL Iowa Cubs

July 14 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs at Columbus Clippers

Published on July 14, 2023 under International League (IL)
Iowa Cubs News Release


IOWA CUBS (50-35) @ COLUMBUS CLIPPERS (39-46)

Friday July 14, 2023 - 6:05 PM CT - Huntington Park - Columbus, OH

RHP Caleb Kilian (6-1, 4.16) vs. RHP Zach Plesac (2-3, 7.03)

TONIGHT'S GAME: Iowa and Columbus are set to play game one of their short, three-game series tonight, with each team coming off a four-day break following the All-Star break. Iowa will send righty Caleb Kilian to the mound, set to make his 14th start of the year for Iowa. The righty enters tonight's game with a 6-1 record and a 4.16 ERA, allowing 31 earned runs on 63 hits and 22 walks. He has struck out 48 batters over hits 67.0 innings pitched, allowing opponents to hit .253 against him. In three starts against the Clippers this year, Kilian is 1-1 with a 7.43 ERA, allowing 11 earned runs on 15 hits in 13.1 innings pitched. Opposite of Kilian will be Zach Plesac taking the ball for the Clippers, ready to make his seventh start of the year for Columbus. Plesac enters tonight's contest with a 2-3 record and a 7.03 ERA, allowing 25 earned runs on 37 hits and 15 walks compared to his 28 strikeouts over 32.0 innings pitched. Over that span, he has allowed opponents to hit .294 against him. In two starts against Iowa, the righty is 1-1 with a 7.36 ERA, allowing nine earned runs on 10 hits including four home runs, four walks and eight strikeouts.

NOT SO ROARING 20'S: The last time the I-Cubs took the field before the All-Star break it was a rough go to say the least. Iowa lost its final game before the break to St. Paul by a final score of 20-4, which marked the most runs Iowa has allowed this season. The previous high for runs allowed by the I-Cubs this season was 16, which they had done on two separate occasions but were 1-1 in those contests. Iowa beat Louisville on April 27, 18-16, and lost to Memphis, 16-6, on June 25. The last time Iowa allowed 20 or more runs in game happened during the 2021 season on two separate occasions. The first time happened on September 11 in a 21-4 loss versus Toledo. The Mud Hens racked up 21 hits with six home runs and eight doubles off seven different I-Cub pitchers. All 21 runs were earned runs as well. A couple of weeks later, on October 1, Iowa lost 22-4 versus Omaha. In that contest, Omaha tallied 18 hits with seven home runs and three doubles off seven Iowa pitchers. All 22 runs counted as earned runs. All three games mentioned above in which Iowa allowed 20 or more runs came at Principal Park and Iowa tallied four runs in each game.

TAKE A WALK: An Achilles heel for the Iowa pitching staff this season has been the number of walks issued. In its last game versus St. Paul, Iowa allowed a total of 13 walks, which played a big part in the Saints putting up 20 runs on the scoreboard. Iowa used eight different pitchers against St. Paul's lineup, which marked the most pitchers used in a game by Iowa this season, and five of the eight allowed at least one walk while three of the eight walked three or more batters. The 13 walks by Iowa last Sunday were not a season high, however. Iowa set its season high in walks back on June 2 when it gave 16 free bases to the Columbus Clippers, which also set a new franchise record for walks allowed in a nine-inning game. On the season, the I-Cubs have totaled 435 walks which ranks fourth in the International League. Tonight's opponent, Columbus, ranks first in the International League with 485 walks. The I-Cubs also have a trio of pitchers who rank inside the top-20 in walks allowed in the International League with Cam Sanders (T-3rd, 44), Riley Thompson (T-12th, 35), and Ben Brown (T-18th, 34).

COME ON UP, CANARIO: Tonight will mark the season debut of Alexander Canario for the I-Cubs. The outfielder, who currently ranks as the No. 10 prospect in the Cubs' system according to MLB Pipeline, was placed on Iowa's injured list to start the season after breaking his left ankle and dislocating his left shoulder in the Dominican Winter League, with both injuries requiring surgery, and has gone through two rehab assignments with the Arizona League Cubs and the High-A South Bend Cubs. During his time in Arizona this season, Canario slashed .286/.423/.619 with two doubles, a triple, one home run, and five RBI over seven games. In South Bend, he appeared in 10 games and hit at a clip of .256 with a double and seven RBI to go along with an on-base percentage of .370 and a slugging percentage of .282. Canario has become another exciting young prospect in the outfield for the Cubs as he rose through the minor leagues last season, starting in South Bend and ending with Iowa. The 23-year-old appeared in 20 games for Iowa during the 2022 season and hit .231 (15-for-65) with two doubles, six home runs, and 14 RBI. Overall, in 2022 Canario led the Cubs minor league system and finished second among all minor league players with 37 home runs over his three levels.

NO FIREPOWER IN JULY: Despite being one of the more higher-powered offenses all season long, the I-Cubs offense has had a slow start to the month of July. Over nine games played this month, Iowa is hitting at a clip of just .237, which ranks as the second-lowest mark in the International League. The low batting average has influenced the number of runs Iowa has scored as well, with only 32 this month, the lowest total in the league. Another key factor at play is Iowa's strikeout numbers. So far this month, I-Cubs hitters have racked up 88 strikeouts which leads the International League and averages out to nearly 10 strikeouts a game (9.78). In its most recent series versus St. Paul, the offense struggled to score runs as it averaged just three runs per game over the six-game series. This average ranked as the second-lowest runs per game average in a series this season by Iowa. The lowest average runs per game in a series from Iowa this season occurred on the road in Indianapolis May 16-21, when it accumulated 2.5 per game over that six-game series. It wasn't for a lack of trying, however, as Iowa was able to produce hits versus the Saints averaging just over seven hits per game in the series. Hopefully the short break will bring the I-Cubs offense back on track this month.

NOT AGAIN: The I-Cubs and Clippers are meeting for the fourth and final time this season, entering their three-game series with a record of 7-8 this year. Iowa went just 2-4 the last time they played here at Huntington Park, with three players playing a huge part in their four losses. This year, Raynel Delgado is hitting .324 (12-for-37) against Iowa in 11 games. He is hitting .271 in 58 games on the season, but against Iowa has hit two doubles, a home run and driven in four runs while also taking four walks. Chris Roller is hitting .310 (9-for-29) against Iowa in 10 games, much better than his season-long average of .209 in 62 contests. Roller has two doubles, four home runs and 15 RBI against Iowa, walking seven times compared to eight strikeouts. His four long balls against the I-Cubs account for half of his eight total home runs on the year. The third and final player on Columbus that is excited to see Iowa back in town is Daniel Schneemann. Schneemann is hitting .345 (10-for-29) in nine games against Iowa, clubbing one double, one triple and one home run. He has driven in six, while walking the same number of times he has struck out, at eight.

GREAT TIMING: Iowa's last game before the All-Star break was one to forget. They lost the series finale to St. Paul by a score of 20-4, allowing 19 hits and 13 walks. The performance moved them back in the International League rankings in many different pitching categories. They fell in ERA from 12th to 15th, going from 5.36 to 5.54 as a team, runs allowed from 10th to 14th having allowed 471 this year before Sunday and 491 runs after Sunday's game. They stayed at 16th in walks despite moving from 422 to 435 and stayed first in hits allowed despite moving from 676 to 695 this year. Hopefully the four-day break was enough to forget about Sunday and reset, as Iowa looks to get back on track in the second half.

AGAINST COLUMBUS: Iowa and Columbus are set to play three games here at Huntington Park this weekend, the last three games the two teams will play this season. Iowa opened the year with a three-game sweep of Columbus, but since then, games have gone the Clippers' way. Iowa enters tonight's game with a record of 7-8 this year against Columbus, including going 2-4 here at Huntington Park. They are 18-27 all-time against the Clippers, having gone 8-10 all-time here on the road against Columbus. Iowa comes into tonight with a three-game losing streak against Columbus dating back to June 2-4 when Iowa lost the final three games of the series to Columbus as part of their season-long five-game losing streak.

SHORT HOPS: Iowa enters tonight's game with the second-worst batting average (.237) in the month of July among all International League teams, while Columbus leads the IL in batting average, hitting .348 in eight games this month...Iowa allowed the most runs in a single inning to any opponent last time out, surrendering eight in the fourth inning; their previous high was six runs allowed in a single inning and they had done that six times...the I-Cubs used a season-high eight pitchers to get through Sunday's game, with the previous high being seven pitchers done three times...with their 6,569 fans attending Sunday's game against St. Paul, Iowa has now played in front of over 500,000 fans this year, totaling 504,569 in 79 dates, good for an average of 6,387 per date...it has been over a week since Iowa's last victory, with their last win coming back on July 6 against St. Paul.

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International League Stories from July 14, 2023


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