IL Iowa Cubs

May 28 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs at Memphis Redbirds

Published on May 28, 2022 under International League (IL)
Iowa Cubs News Release


IOWA CUBS (23-22) @ MEMPHIS REDBIRDS (25-21)

Saturday - 6:35 - AutoZone Park - Memphis, TN

LHP Brandon Leibrandt (0-0, -.--) vs. RHP Johan Oviedo (4-2, 5.24)

TONIGHT'S GAME: With back-to-back losses, Iowa will need to win tonight to keep their hopes of a series split alive. Tasked with keeping Memphis off the board will be lefty Brandon Leibrandt, set to make his Iowa debut tonight. The southpaw started the year with Double-A Tennessee, pitching in 10 games including two starts for the Smokies. He has gone at least four innings in each of his last three appearances for Tennessee, striking out 39 batters compared to just four walks. Opposite of Leibrandt will be righty Johan Oviedo set to make his 10th start of the year for the Redbirds. The righty is 4-2 with a 5.24 ERA entering tonight's game, striking out 43 batters compared to 20 walks. Opponents are hitting .230 against Oviedo, with 26 earned runs on 38 hits over 44.2 innings pitched.

DON'T LOOK AT THE BOX: Alec Mills made the third start of his Major League rehab yesterday, tossing 3.2 innings of two-run ball. Despite two runs being on his line, Mills threw great, leaving the game in the fourth inning with runners on first and second and two outs. Both those runs came around to score, the only two runs he would allow. The righty walked two and struck out one, throwing 34 of his 52 pitches for strikes.

NUMBERS AREN'T EVERYTHING: Outfielder Nelson Velazquez has had a rough go this series, going 0-14 with eight strikeouts in the first four games against Memphis. The 23-year-old started the year with Tennessee, where he hit .288 (23-for-80) in 22 games. In those 22 games, he recorded four doubles, a triple and nine home runs, driving in 17 runs. He was assigned to Iowa on May 6 and is hitting .182 (12-for-66) through his first 18 games. Despite the low numbers and struggles in this series against Memphis, Velazquez is having good at-bats, battling pitchers and fighting off hard pitches before ultimately recording an out.

THROW IT IN THERE: Sean Newcomb entered the game in the fourth inning last night with runners on first and second and two outs. The lefty threw seven straight balls to start his outing, walking the first batter he faced and going down 3-0 to the second batter he faced. He threw a strike to break the streak, but on his next pitched allowed a grand slam to give the Redbirds a 4-0 lead. Newcomb has been known to struggle throwing strikes, surrendering 205 walks in 147 Major League games and 197 walks in 92 Minor League games.

QUITE THE EFFICIENCY: Memphis' offense has been extremely efficient this series, outscoring Iowa by 11 runs (28-17) despite being outhit by five, 34-29. They have been able to score 28 runs on just 29 hits due in large part to long at-bats, drawing 16 walks so far this series in just four games. They have also hit five home runs accounting for 17% of their hits, including two grand slams.

WALK WOES: Iowa's pitching staff walked nine batters last night, which fell just two short of their season high for a single game. On the other side of the ball, Iowa's hitters took just one walk, marking the ninth time this season that the lineup took less than two free passes in a game. So far in 2022, the I-Cubs have been on the wrong side of the walk rankings in both pitching and hitting. On the offensive side, the I-Cubs have taken 164 walks this year, which ranks 12th out of 20 International League teams, and is tied for 22nd out of all 30 Triple-A clubs. From the pitching perspective, they've walked 199 batters, which is the fifth most in the International League, and tenth most in Triple-A. The hitter who leads the team in walks, Dixon Machado, has taken the exact same number (22) that the pitching leader, Cayne Ueckert, has issued. The active roster boasts just four batters who have walked at least ten times, while the pitching staff has six members who have walked ten or more batters.

QUITE THE EFFICIENCY: Memphis' offense has been extremely efficient this series, outscoring Iowa by 11 runs (28-17) despite being outhit by five, 34-29. They have been able to score 28 runs on just 29 hits due in large part to long at-bats, drawing 16 walks so far this series in just four games. They have also hit five home runs accounting for 17% of their hits, including two grand slams.

NOT SOMETHING YOU SEE: Robel Garcia went 0-for-3 in last night's game, marking the first time he has gone hitless in back-to-back games since April 19-23 against Louisville. Since those three games without a hit and before his two hitless games here against Memphis, the infielder has been on a tear, hitting .378 (31-for-82) in 24 games. Over those 24 games, Garcia hit four doubles, one triple and 12 home runs, driving in 26 runs along the way. He took 16 walks compared to 27 strikeouts, holding an on-base percentage of .475.

AGAINST MEMPHIS: With back-to-back losses, Iowa now trails three games to one in the series entering tonight's game. Entering game five of their six-game series here at AutoZone Park, Iowa holds a 145-177 all-time against Memphis and they are just 55-107 on the road against the Redbirds.

SHORT HOPS: After allowing seven runs in last night's game, Iowa has now surrendered seven runs in back-to-back games for the first time all season...losing by seven runs ties the most Iowa has lost by all year, losing 8-1 to Indianapolis on April 29 and by the same score to St. Paul on May 4...Iowa's bullpen allowed five runs on just three hits yesterday, walking seven batters along the way.

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