March 27 Game Notes: Columbus Clippers vs. Iowa Cubs
IL Iowa Cubs

March 27 Game Notes: Columbus Clippers vs. Iowa Cubs

Published on March 27, 2026 under International League (IL)
Iowa Cubs News Release


IOWA CUBS (0-0, 0-0) vs. Columbus Clippers (0-0, 0-0)

Friday, March 27 - 7:08 PM CT - Principal Park - Des Moines, IA

RHP Javier Assad (0-0, -.--) vs. LHP Ryan Webb (0-0, -.--)

TONIGHT'S GAME: The Iowa Cubs and the Columbus Clippers are set to open up their 2026 campaigns tonight...Iowa is coming off of a 2025 season in which they finished 74-75 (.497) and finished fifth in the International League West Division...Columbus finished 2025 64- 81 (.441) and finished seventh in the IL West last season...Iowa is scheduled to start right-hander Javier Assad while Columbus is set to start left-handed pitcher Ryan Webb.

ROSTER RUNDOWN: In conjunction with the Chicago Cubs, the Iowa Cubs today announced their Opening Day roster...the roster features 16 players with Major League service time and 16 players who have past suited up for Iowa...additionally, the roster features seven players on the Cubs' Top 30 Prospects List according to MLB.com, including RHP Jaxon Wiggins (No. 2), OF Kevin Alcántara (No. 4), INF Jonathon Long (No. 7), INF Pedro Ramírez (No. 9), INF James Triantos (No. 10), OF Brett Bateman (No. 21) and LHP Riley Martin (No. 28).

LONG BALL: Jonathan Long, the No. 7 overall prospect in the Chicago Cubs minor league system (MLB.com), was named the 2025 Buck O'Neill Chicago Cubs Minor League Player of the Year... former I-Cub Moises Ballesteros received the award in 2023 and 2024...Long batted .305 (157-for-514) with 23 doubles, 20 home runs and 91 RBI...he ranked among International League leaders in hits (1st), total bases (2nd, 246), runs scored (2nd, 86), walks (3rd, 79), RBI (3rd, 91) and on- base percentage (5th, .404)...Long reached base in 35 straight games from July 9-Aug. 24 setting an I-Cubs record since data was made available in 2005...his 157 hits were the most by an I-Cub since Felix Pie (158) in 2006.

PLAY BALL!: The I-Cubs are 34-38 all-time on Opening Day and 25-33 on Triple-A Opening Day...Iowa is 4-0 in home openers since becoming members of the newly restructured International League in 2022...the I-Cubs have gone 2-2 in their last four Opening Night games, including a 6-3 vs. Omaha in 2025 at Principal Park.

AT THE HELM: Iowa Cubs Manager Marty Pevey returns as Iowa's manager for the 14th consecutive season in 2026, extending his records of longest tenured and winningest manager in Iowa history... his 82 wins in 2023 were the second most by any team Pevey has managed, trailing the 2000 Advanced-A Dunedin Blue Jays, who went 84-54 (.609)...Pevey has 822 career wins with Iowa, and holds a career managerial record of 1,466-1,511...he has the fifth-most career wins among MiLB skippers.

PROSPECTING: Right-handed starter Jaxon Wiggins, the No. 58 ranked prospect in all of baseball (MLB.com) made 19 appearances last season (18 starts) and went 3-4 with a 2.19 ERA (19 ER in 78.0 IP) and 97 strikeouts...among pitchers who tossed at least 70.0 innings, Wiggins' 31% strikeout rate led all Cubs' minor leaguers and ranked 30th in all of minor league baseball...the 24-year-old made three starts with the I-Cubs last season and went 0-2 with a 4.66 ERA (5 ER in 9.2 IP).

MARCH ON: The I-Cubs got off to a strong start last season as they posted a 14-10 record through March/April of last year...the I-Cubs played just two games in March with the finale of the series getting postponed to rain...during the two contests, Iowa batted .294 with three home runs and 13 RBI.

RUNNIN' WILD: James Triantos, the No. 10 in the Cubs organization (MLB.com), is coming off a season in which he batted .258/.315/.369 (133-for-443) with 29 extra- base hits and 28 stolen bases...James became the first Cubs minor leaguer with at least 130 hits and 45 stolen last season since 2010 in 2024.

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK: Pedro Ramírez and Brett Bateman are making their Triple-A debuts tonight vs. Columbus... Ramírez played in 129 games with Double-A Knoxville and batted .280 (140-for-500) with 21 doubles, eight home runs and 73 RBI...he was named a Southern League Postseason All-Star... Bateman hit .261 (86-for-329) with 33 RBI and 19 stolen bases.

Check out the Iowa Cubs Statistics

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