IL Iowa Cubs

July 16 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs at Columbus Clippers

Published on July 16, 2023 under International League (IL)
Iowa Cubs News Release


IOWA CUBS (51-36) @ COLUMBUS CLIPPERS (40-47)

Sunday - 3:05 PM CT - Huntington Park - Columbus, OH

RHP Hayden Wesneski (1-0, 0.75) vs. RHP Hunter Gaddis (1-6, 7.12)

TONIGHT'S GAME: The I-Cubs and Clippers are set to play the third and final game of their series tonight, with Hayden Wesneski getting the call for Iowa. Wesneski started the year and has pitched for the majority of the season up with Chicago, going 2-3 with a 4.75 ERA in 15 games (10 starts) with the Cubs. In his three starts with Iowa, the young righty has been lights out, going 1-0 with a 0.75 ERA. He has allowed just one earned run on four hits and seven walks while striking out 15. He has faced 48 batters at the Triple-A level this year and they are collectively hitting just .100 against Wesneski. On the other side, Hunter Gaddis will toe the rubber for Columbus, set to make his ninth start of the year in what will be his 11th game with the Clippers. Gaddis comes into tonight's game with a 1-6 record and a 7.12 ERA, allowing 29 earned runs on 46 hits and 17 walks. He has struck out 37 batters over his 36.2 innings pitched, but opponents have hit .301 against him. In one start against Iowa this year, Gaddis took the loss, allowing three earned runs (five total) on five hits including two home runs. In that contest, he walked two batters while striking out six over his 6.0 innings pitched.

MOVES MADE: Prior to last night's game, Iowa made four roster moves, with one really standing out. They transferred Dom Nuñez to the injured list after getting hit by a foul ball in the hand in the opener on Friday, replacing his roster spot with catcher Jake Washer from the development list. The other move they made was releasing reliever Rowan Wick in order to add Riley Thompson, who started for Iowa in last night's loss. Over five years in the majors, Wick pitched in 146 games, including 136 games with Chicago from 2019-2022. He went 6-9 with a 3.66 ERA in his 136 games with Chicago, striking out 153 batters over 137.2 innings pitched. The righty also recorded 20 saves with Chicago, including a career-high nine saves in 2022. With Iowa this year, the 30-year-old was 4-3 with an 8.60 ERA, walking 19 batters compared to 35 strikeouts over 30.1 innings pitched. He was coming off one of his better outings of the year, allowing one hit and walking two while striking out four batters to earn the win in 1.1 innings on Friday night.

FIRST FOR EVERYTHING: Luis Vazquez earned a promotion from Double-A Tennessee to Iowa back on June 28, immediately proving he belonged. In his first 10 games with Iowa, the shortstop hit .394 (13-for-33) with two doubles, three home runs and nine runs batted in. He had an on-base percentage of .447, drawing four walks compared to just six strikeouts. In that 10-game span, he recorded five multi-hit efforts, including four straight from July 5 to July 8 against St. Paul. Since that streak ended, however, Vázquez has entered his first slump. He has gone hitless in three straight games, going 0-for-9 with a walk and two strikeouts. The slump has lowered his overall batting average to .310, still good for the team-lead.

TRACKING THOMPSON: Despite losing the game to Columbus last night, the I-Cubs received another solid performance from starting pitcher Riley Thompson. In his outing against the Clippers last night, Thompson went 5.0 innings and allowed one run off one hit while walking and striking out three batters each. This comes on the heels of the first quality start of his professional career when he tossed 6.0 innings with one run allowed off three hits to go along with seven strikeouts versus St. Paul on July 5. Thompson is certainly trending in the right direction after being taken out of his normal starting role and moving to the bullpen for six appearances. The recently turned 27-year-old saw his ERA climb to a season high 7.66 on May 24, which was his return to starting. Since then, his ERA has dropped all the way down to 4.97 and he has not allowed more than three earned runs in eight appearances with 35.2 innings of work.

WONDERFUL WESNESKI: Today's starting pitcher for Iowa, Hayden Wesneski, has spent the majority of his season up in the big leagues with Chicago, but is currently on his second stint with Iowa. The right-hander has been nothing but shy of impressive over his three previous starts with the I-Cubs to say the least. When Wesneski has donned an I-Cub uniform this season he is 1-0 with 0.75 ERA. Over 12.0 innings of work, he has allowed just one earned run off four hits and has tallied seven walks compared to 15 strikeouts. He owns a WHIP of 0.92 and is holding opponents to a hitting clip of just .100 as well. In his last outing on July 7 versus the St. Paul Saints, which was his first since being optioned to Iowa on July 4, the 25-year-old was dominate against one of the best offenses in the International League. Wesneski was on a short leash in a "build-up" role and spun just 3.0 innings versus the Saints but did not allow a run and gave up just two hits. Wesneski was dialed in on the strike zone in that outing too as he recorded six punch outs compared to just one walk with nearly 71-percent of his pitches (34-of-48) going as strikes.

GOOSE EGG: For the first time this season, the I-Cubs failed to plate at least one run in game after falling to Columbus 4-0 last night. Iowa's offense struggled to get anything going versus the Clippers pitching as it was only able to tally three hits on the night. Iowa hitters also racked up 13 strikeouts with all nine starters striking out at least once. Prior to last night, Iowa had scored a run in all 86 games it had played in 2023, which marks the longest streak in the International League. The second-longest runs scored streak in the International League goes to Rochester at 80 games and is currently active. Iowa has had its fair share of close calls on being shutout this season before last night, however. Coming into yesterday, The I-Cubs have scored just one run in game nine times. In those games where Iowa has scored just one run, they have a record of 2-7. The shutout last night marked the first time Iowa put a zero on the scoreboard since September 8, 2022, in a 16-0 loss to Jacksonville. Iowa is faring much better this season in the shutout department than it was last season, however, as it was shutout a total of 11 times in 2022.

AGAINST COLUMBUS: Iowa and Columbus are set to play the third and final game of their current series and the final game of 18 between the two teams this year. Iowa dropped game two last night, evening their current series at one game apiece. The overall series has been a close one, as with the loss, the I-Cubs now trail the season series 9-8. A win today would put the two teams at an even .500 mark against each other to finish the year. Last night's loss moved Iowa's record here at Huntington Park to 3-5 this year and 9-11 all-time on the road against Columbus. They enter tonight's game going 19-28 all-time against Columbus, looking for their 20th all-time win against the Clippers to round out the series.

SHORT HOPS: Three players each had one hit in Iowa's 4-0 loss last night, with all three hits being singles; on the other side, three of the Clippers' four hits went for extra bases, with two doubles and a home run... David Bote and Sergio Alcántara have been two big parts of Iowa's success this year, but have both not played for a long time; Bote has played in 64 games for Iowa and last played on July 9, while Alcántara has played in 60 games with Iowa but hasn't played since July 6... Jake Slaughter stole his 14th base of the season last night, good for the team lead; the infielder has now accounted for 20% (14-of-70) of the team's stolen bases on the year.

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