MWL South Bend Cubs

Ruoff Mortgage Homestand Preview: July 22-24

Published on July 21, 2022 under Midwest League (MWL)
South Bend Cubs News Release


When you are a first place baseball team, immediately all eyes around the division are focused on you. For the South Bend Cubs, that's exactly the situation they are in as we maneuver out of the All-Star Break.

A chance to catch your breath, get some rest, heal bumps and bruises, and reflect on the first three-and-a-half months of the season. With a win on Sunday over the Peoria Chiefs, South Bend maintains a three-game lead over the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers for first place in the West Division. A big thank you is in order, by the way, to the West Michigan Whitecaps, who walked-off Wisconsin on Sunday, giving the Cubs that extra game of insurance going into the Midsummer Classic.

Back to it this weekend at Four Winds Field, South Bend is set to host the Quad Cities River Bandits on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Game times on Friday and Saturday are set for 7:05 PM, while Sunday will begin at 2:05 PM.

Although the River Bandits are eight game behind the Cubs for the top spot in the division, they have played well all season against South Bend. In three total series, the Cubs are just 6-10 versus Quad Cities this year. In this shorter series that in total is a 9-game homestand, this will complete six games at home against the River Bandits after they were in South Bend for three games on Opening Weekend.

As we like to say, you cannot clinch Midwest League playoff berths in July, but you can certainly set yourself up to do that by taking care of business against the teams that are near you. Quad Cities may be eight game back, but in these division match-ups, it does not take much to fall behind or claw back quickly. The Cubs will have to be ready.

Players to watch on Quad Cities...

Juan Carlos Negret, OF: At this point in the season, you run into a lot of hitters who have been with the same team all season, and their year-in-total stats might come off as a little deceiving. That seems to be the case with Juan Carlos Negret. His .217 batting average is certainly not going to jump off the page, but over his last 15 games he has been a whole lot better. The powerful right handed batter has his average clocked in at .317 over his last two weeks, and he has his home run total up to 13 for the campaign. Back on opening weekend when it was chilly, the River Bandits crushed a few home runs off of South Bend pitching. Now into the dog days of summer, the ball will be traveling a lot better, and Negret is one of the most viable power hitters on this season. At Low-A Columbia last year, he hit 23 bombs and could get there to end this season with a late year power surge.

Emilio Marquez, LHP: South Bend will be in search of some revenge this week when they once again see Emilio Marquez on the mound. This season, Marquez is 3-1 with 1.32 ERA against the Cubs alone. In six games, he has fired 13.2 innings, and has struck out 18 batters with only five walks. That's really good. Versus the rest of the league, the numbers have been nearly as solid. His season ERA is 2.54. And Marquez has the ability to work out of the bullpen in both long and short relief. Quite the weapon to have for Brooks Conrad in this short series. If one of the River Bandits starters struggles, possibly look for Marquez to come in and try to turn the tables in getting them back into a game.

Kasey Kalich, RHP: The big right-hander Kasey Kalich arrived to the Kansas City Royals organization with quite the pedigree and high expectations. Originally a 4th-round pick of the Atlanta Braves back in 2019, he was traded away from the Braves to the Royals in what ended up being a key move to Atlanta's World Series run. Kalich was involved in a one-for-one deal that sent Jorge Soler to the Braves. Soler, the former Chicago Cub, ended up as the 2021 World Series MVP. That move worked out pretty well for Atlanta, but what about the Royals? Kansas City is still waiting on Kalich to fully dominate through the Midwest League, but he has acted as the River Bandits' solidified closer all year long. The former Texas A&M Aggie comes in with an ERA at 3.10 and five saves. However, has blown more saves than the total number he has executed. The Cubs have been dynamite at home, and they've finished off some of their most important moments this season in comeback fashion. Could we be due for some late inning drama between South Bend and Kalich?

Players to watch on South Bend...

Yohendrick Pinango, OF: If you're talking about who's hot on the Cubs, you must start with the Midwest League Player of the Week. Yohendrick Pinango is torching the baseball right now, and he just finished up a monstrous series on the road in Peoria where South Bend took four of six games for another series win. Pinango has his average up to .294, and played all six games in Central Illinois, going 11/26 and having multi-hit games in five of the six contests. Those are video game numbers. The pace he is going at in the month of July is pure madness as well. This month, Pinango is hitting .394 with an OPS of 1.003. Like, come on now. That's wild. With only a couple weeks left to go in July already, Pinango has put down quite the case to contend for the Chicago Cubs Minor League Player of the Month. The insane part is that he is only 20-years-old doing this. Such a bright future for the big lefty who can absolutely mash.

Riley Martin, LHP: It had been a little while before last homestand since we saw Riley Martin on the mound for the South Bend Cubs. Following a stint on the Development List, Martin has been activated and has pitched exceptionally well for the Cubs. Martin came into South Bend with rather high expectations as a 6th-round pick and after he posted a 0.68 at Low-A Myrtle Beach, it was tough to see a Development List assignment, but whatever Martin and the organization worked on has certainly worked. In three games since coming off the Dev List, Martin has combined for 5.2 innings of work and has not surrendered a single hit or a walk. The lone baserunner that has reached against Martin has been via a HBP. That's all. Add six total strikeouts to those 5.2 innings and you're seeing Martin flourish. Great work by the southpaw to stay positive through the downtime, and also the South Bend Cubs and Chicago Cubs coaches and coordinators for getting him shining yet again.

BJ Murray, INF: Heading into this series with the longest active South Bend hitting streak is the switch-hitting BJ Murray. Murray has gotten a knock in seven straight games, and over that time is batting .320 with four RBI. Since Murray arrived from the Myrtle Beach Pelicans about a month ago, he has consistently given South Bend fantastic at-bats and a keen eye at the plate. For much of his stay in South Bend, Murray has had more walks than strikeouts, and gives Lance Rymel some flexibility in the lineup with his ability to play both third and first base. As Chicago Cubs Director of Hitting Justin Stone put it, "how crazy is it that you have BJ Murray batting 8th in your lineup when he was one of the best contact hitters in the Carolina League?" No kidding Justin. This is a stacked lineup and if you have a guy like Murray batting in the bottom-third, you're doing something right.

Schedule...

Friday, July 22 - 7:05 PM ET: TBD vs. TBD

Saturday, July 23 - 7:05 PM ET: TBD vs. TBD

Sunday, July 24 - 2:05 PM ET: TBD vs. TBD

Catch this weekend's three-game series on Sports Radio 960 AM WSBT, online at wsbtradio.com, or on MiLB.com with Max Thoma and Brendan King on the call.

Check out the South Bend Cubs Statistics

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Midwest League Stories from July 21, 2022


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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