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May 29 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs at Memphis Redbirds

May 29, 2022 - International League (IL)
Iowa Cubs News Release


IOWA CUBS (23-23) @ MEMPHIS REDBIRDS (26-21)

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

RHP Luke Farrell (2-0, 3.00) vs. RHP Angel Rondon (2-0, 3.97)

TONIGHT'S GAME: After suffering three consecutive losses to the Redbirds, Iowa will look to salvage a second win from the series in tonight's series finale. Luke Farrell is set to make his third start for Iowa this season, going 2-0 with a 3.00 ERA in his four total outings. Over those four games, the righty has allowed just five earned runs on seven hits including one home run, while walking nine and striking out 12 over his 15.0 innings pitched. Farrell is set to pitch for the second time this series, after coming in relief in the series opener on Tuesday. He threw three innings of two-run ball against the Redbirds in that game, allowing two hits while walking three. Opposite of Farrell will be Angel Rondon toeing the rubber for Memphis in the sixth and final game tonight. Rondon has primarily been a reliever this year, making 11 appearances including just two starts for the Redbirds. In those 11 games, the righty is 2-0 with a 3.97 ERA, allowing 10 earned runs on 16 hits over 22.2 innings pitched. 31% (5-of-16) of the hits he has allowed have been home runs, while he has walked 13 batters and struck out 27.

ROSTER ROTATION: Iowa has made a flurry of roster moves over the last three days leading up to tonight's game, adding four players while losing two. On Friday, they added pitchers Brandon Leibrandt and Samuel Reyes to the mix, both from Double-A Tennessee. Leibrandt pitched in 10 games for the Smokies before getting assigned to Iowa on Friday, making his first start for the I-Cubs last night. Last night with Iowa marked Reyes' first game of the season after starting the season on Tennessee's injured list. The righty went 2-1 with a 4.11 ERA in nine games with the Smokies last year. Nick Madrigal and Michael Rucker each began Major League rehab assignments last night with Iowa, putting five Major League rehabbers on Iowa's current roster. Madrigal was placed on the 10-day injured list on May 10 with a low back strain. He was hitting .203 (16-for-79) with three doubles in 23 games with the Cubs. Rucker hit the 15-day injured list on May 19 with left turf toe after pitching in eight games with Chicago. In those eight games, the righty had a 4.20 ERA, allowing seven earned runs on 13 hits including two home runs over 15.0 innings. On the other side, Clint Frazier ended his Major League rehab with Iowa last night, rejoining Chicago's roster after being placed on the 10-day injured list on April 22 with an appendicitis. Mark Leiter Jr. also got recalled by Chicago today, taking the place of Wade Miley who hit the 15-day injured list with a left shoulder strain.

FIRST OF THE SERIES: Nelson Velazquez had been struggling entering last night's game, going 0-for-14 with eight strikeouts in the first four games of the series against Memphis. He broke his hitless streak with a double in the second inning, driving in a run on an error by the Redbirds. He broke out of his slump in a big way, ending the night going 3-for-4 with two runs scored, a double, a home run and a run batted in. The solo shot in the sixth inning marked his third of the season with Iowa and 12th of the season after hitting nine in 22 games with Double-A Tennessee.

REHAB RECORD: With the additions of Nick Madrigal and Michael Rucker yesterday, Iowa's roster is now home to five Major League rehabbers. In joining Alec Mills, David Bote and Sean Newcomb, Madrigal and Rucker set a new club high for simultaneous Major League rehab assignments. The I-Cubs had previously topped out at four concurrent assignments, which they matched most recently in 2021, when Dillon Maples, Willson Contreras, Jonathan Holder and Adbert Alzolay all spent August 31 and September 1 with the team. The 2022 Iowa roster has already hosted Wade Miley, Clint Frazier and Andrelton Simmons on rehab assignments, but they still have a ways to go to break the record for most individual players to rehab in one season. That record was set last summer, when 16 Chicago players spent time rehabbing with the I-Cubs.

FARRELL KNOWS THE BIRDS: Tonight's starter Luke Farrell has faced the Redbirds nine times in his career, six with Triple-A Omaha and three with Iowa. In 2016, Farrell met Memphis for the first time and went 1-1 in two starts and 1.2 innings of relief. In three more starts against Memphis in 2017, Farrell went 1-0 with two quality starts and two nine-strikeout outings. When he joined the I-Cubs for the first time in 2018, Farrell matched up with the Redbirds twice more with mixed results. He lasted five innings against them in the first start, but allowed seven runs on seven hits. The next time around, he pitched only three innings, but held the Redbirds scoreless on just two hits. His ninth outing came in the first game of the series, when the righty spun 3.0 innings of two-run ball.

DID HIS PART: In his first game with the I-Cubs, Brandon Leibrandt took the ball trying to break Iowa's two-game skid. The lefty made his third start of the season last night, with his first two coming as a member of Double-A Tennessee. Leibrandt was 2-2 with a 3.64 ERA in 10 games with the Smokies this year, allowing 12 earned runs on 35 hits over 29.2 innings pitched. Last night, in his Iowa debut, the southpaw spun four innings of two-run ball. He allowed four hits and four walks while striking out three, leaving the game after four innings with the lead. Despite the loss, Leibrandt did what he could to put Iowa in a spot to win the game.

AGAINST MEMPHIS: After their 10-5 loss last night, Iowa officially dropped the series to Memphis, losing three straight games and four of the first five between the two teams. The Redbirds have outscored the I-Cubs by 16 runs through the first five games this series, 38-22. Entering the sixth and final game of the series, Iowa is 33 games below the .500 mark all-time against Memphis, at 145-178. Here at AutoZone Park, Iowa is 53 games under even, winning 55 games compared to 108 losses.

SHORT HOPS: Memphis has scored 38 runs this series, seven more than Iowa has surrendered in any other series this year with a game still to go tonight; their previous high was 31 runs allowed to St. Paul... John Hicks took a walk yesterday, just his second walk of the season in 107 plate appearances.

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