Ruoff Mortgage Homestand Preview: April 8-13

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Ruoff Mortgage Homestand Preview: April 8-13

April 8, 2025 - Midwest League (MWL)
South Bend Cubs News Release


It is Opening Night at Four Winds Field! And with the anticipation of a new season buzzing around Downtown South Bend, the South Bend Cubs are nearly ready to take the field. Nick Lovullo is leading the Cubs in year two as manager, and a roster packed with talent is prepared to make a run at South Bend's third Midwest League Championship as a Chicago Cubs affiliate.

South Bend has already wrapped up their first series of the season up in Beloit, and interestingly, both the Cubs and their opponent this week, the Peoria Chiefs, are still looking for their first victory of the season. The Cubs and Chiefs have played some high-spirited games over the years, and this week is an opportunity for either clubhouse to get back on track, and more importantly, if the Cubs win the series, they could put some pressure on Peoria in the standings race very early in the campaign.

Although the Cubs did not pick up a win on the road against the Sky Carp, they did some very good things. And like any stop in the Midwest when baseball is played in the month of April, sometimes an unlucky moment or two come your way. That was exactly the case on Sunday afternoon, when Cristian Hernandez flew out to the warning track in left field, which would have been a game tying home run. And then Rafael Morel drove a ball to the top of the wall in left as well, where it was caught. That ball would have been a go-ahead grand slam.

Ivan Brethowr was also on base all four times on Sunday, and the Cubs lineup is just starting to groove as we move into the home opener. If there's one thing that was extremely impressive about the road trip, it's the South Bend bullpen.

We can start on Opening Day from Friday when Nolan Clenney made his Cubs organization debut after being a Rule-5 draft pick of the Cubs from the Mets over the winter. He tossed 1.2 shutout innings to get his Cubs career started. As well, Johzan Oquendo returned with a scoreless frame on Friday. It was Oquendo's first appearance in a game since 2023, as he missed all of last season due to injury.

On Saturday, Chase Watkins kept the Cubs in it with 2.2 shutout innings in his season debut. That included getting South Bend out of a bases loaded jam to keep the score in reach. As South Bend forced extra innings that day, right-hander Vince Reilly got the Cubs out of the 9th inning with the winning run at third base. Reilly was the primary closer last season with Low-A Myrtle Beach.

And then on Sunday, it was all hands on deck for the Cubs bullpen, needing to throw a combined 8.2 innings to finish off the game. And in that stretch, only one Beloit run scraped across the box score. Angel Hernandez saved the day with three scoreless innings, to go along with three strikeouts. Marino Santy worked 2.2 quality innings of his own, Kenyi Perez fired a shutout frame, and so did Sam Thoresen.

Point being, South Bend did some very good things over the weekend. Now it's just a matter of finishing games, and going to lock away some wins.

For Peoria, the Chiefs also played an extra inning affair on Sunday, in a winding game where they needed to use infielder Johnfrank Salazar as a pitcher. There is certainly one very familiar name on the Chiefs roster, and that's 2023 and 2024 South Bend Cubs pitcher Angel Gonzalez. The hard-thrower from Puerto Rico was a taken in the Rule-5 Draft by the St. Louis Cardinals, and he changed organizations over the off-season. Gonzalez vs his former teammates will surely be something to watch this week.

Players to Watch on South Bend...

Cristian Hernandez, INF: It was a momentous season debut for the Chicago Cubs number-11 overall prospect, no question. Hernandez picked up five base hits in last weekend's opening series versus Beloit. And that makes Hernandez one of just four players in the Midwest League to have five or more hits through the first three games of the season. We talked all about it before the season started, of what kind of year we were going to see from Hernandez. He came with all of the accolades, and of course the big signing bonus. Now with an opportunity to play everyday, Hernandez can certainly breakout here in 2025. The biggest thing to watch; his power development. Five home runs last year split between Myrtle Beach and South Bend, Hernandez can very well double that total with a big year in 2025. That's usually the biggest piece of development to watch for a young middle infielder. When they can pair the power stroke, along with his consistent ability to slap line drives, and push the ball the other way, that's when this guy becomes so dangerous. 10 home runs in 2025 for Hernandez. I think that's my official call.

Tyler Schlaffer, RHP: Tonight's Opening Night starter for the South Bend Cubs comes with an exceptional story. The South Suburbs kid, Tyler Schlaffer, who played his high school baseball at Homewood-Flossmoor, was drafted in the 9th-round in 2019 by Chicago. Since then, Schlaffer has shown some wipeout stuff, no doubt, on the mound. In 2022, as just a 21-year-old, Schlaffer got his first opportunity to pitch with the South Bend Cubs. It was a mid-summer start, as that team was approaching the Midwest League postseason. Schlaffer was solid in that start, but got injured. It was Tommy John Surgery that was necessary, and Schlaffer ultimately missed the rest of that year, along with all of 2023. In 2024, the right-hander returned to start on Opening Weekend out in Quad Cities for the Cubs, but after a stretch with South Bend, he was ultimately sent back to Myrtle Beach to continue to work at Low-A. There, he continued to learn under the tutelage of now South Bend pitching coach George Thanopoulos, and Schlaffer was exceptional, posting an ERA under 2.00 into eight appearances and six starts. Now, both Schlaffer and Thanopoulos are working together in South Bend, and we at last get to see a fully healthy Schlaffer at High-A. This is a big start for him tonight.

Rafael Morel, INF/OF: As most South Bend Cubs fans know, when there is a Morel on the diamond here at Four Winds Field, exciting things tend to happen. It is great to have Rafael Morel back in town, after he spent the summer last year with the Cubs as well. And of course, his brother Christopher shined in this ballpark back in 2019. Rafael continues to come into his own though, before our very eyes. Not only is he a coaches dream, of playing anywhere and everywhere, he is now developing into a leader. Morel played every infield or outfield position last season, except for first base. And if you asked him to play 1B, he'd say no problem. He could probably get on the mound or behind the plate too. This is a big season for Morel, who now has one year of High-A ball under his belt. We saw some good things from him on the road trip in Beloit, including a dazzling diving play at shortstop to save a couple runs from scoring. The big thing this season is hitting for a consistent average. The power certainly is there, but if he can jump and hang in the .270's or .280's this year, it's going to be a breakout 2025 for younger 'Energizer Bunny'.

Schedule and Probables...

Tuesday, April 8 - 7:05 PM ET: RHP Tyler Schlaffer vs RHP Hancel Rincon

Wednesday, April 9 - 7:05 PM ET: RHP Nick Dean vs RHP Darlin Saladin

Thursday, April 10 - 7:05 PM ET: RHP Jaxon Wiggins vs. RHP Cade Winquest

Friday, April 11 - 7:05 PM ET: RHP Kenten Egbert vs. RHP Gerardo Salas

Saturday, April 12 - 4:05 PM ET: TBD vs. RHP Jose Davila

Sunday, April 13 - 2:05 PM ET: RHP Luis Rujano vs. RHP Hancel Rincon

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Midwest League Stories from April 8, 2025


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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