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MWL South Bend Cubs

Ruoff Mortgage Homestand Preview: June 17-22

June 16, 2025 - Midwest League (MWL)
South Bend Cubs News Release


A rematch of the 2022 Midwest League Championship series is in order this week at Four Winds Field. The South Bend Cubs will play their final six home games of June against the Lake County Captains, the High-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians, beginning this Tuesday, June 17. The Captains have been to three of the last four league championships, winning it all last year against the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers.

New Half, New Vibes: When this series reaches its midway point, the 2025 Midwest League season will do the same. Thursday's game will mark the end of the first half, whose title is still up for grabs in the Midwest League West. It'll come down to the division-leading Quad Cities River Bandits and the Cedar Rapids Kernels, who are a game apart and hope to join the West Michigan Whitecaps in winning their first-half division and locking down a postseason spot.

The second half, and thus a new opportunity to win the division and reach the postseason, will begin with Friday night's action. And with the midway point on the horizon, the Cubs have been playing like a different team lately. Since snapping a six-game losing streak on May 24, they have a 12-8 record, a drastic departure from their season-long mark of 22-41. The impetus for change has been pitching, as the Cubs rank third in the Midwest League with a 3.36 earned run average over the past month. South Bend starters have delivered a quality start in more than half of the team's last 17 games to boot.

This past week, the Cubs earned their first road series win of the season and their first series win of any kind since April 8-13. They did it in style, enlisting rehabbing studs Felix Stevens in the outfield and James Triantos up the middle to go 5-1 against the Fort Wayne TinCaps. Stevens made his presence felt with outfielder Carter Trice on Tuesday, as both hit ninth-inning home runs to seal a memorable, 11-9 win.

South Bend's pitching staff carried the load from there, allowing just two runs as the Cubs won four more games between Wednesday and Saturday. Right-hander Tyler Schlaffer turned in seven shutout innings in Wednesday's 5-0 victory, and lefty Evan Aschenbeck followed suit in Thursday's 10-1 romping. The Cubs went on to sweep a doubleheader on Saturday, as Trice won the opener with a late single before right-hander Erian Rodriguez fired off a complete game shutout across seven innings in the finale. Although the Cubs outhit Fort Wayne 7-3 on Sunday, they walked 11 and lost the game by a 5-4 score.

Captains Tossed by Whitecaps in First Half**:** It just had to be the West Michigan Whitecaps putting the Captains' title defense hopes in choppy waters by capturing the first-half Midwest League East. But Lake County's voyage isn't over. Like the Cubs, the Captains will look to the second half for their shot at returning to the postseason. Fittingly, when Lake County and South Bend met in the championship series in 2022, they both got there via second-half postseason bids.

Last year, the Captains followed a simple formula to their second Midwest League title. They scored more runs than anyone else in the Midwest League and allowed fewer runs than anyone else in the Midwest League. The going hasn't been as straightforward this year, though, as evidenced by their 33-30 record and 10-game distance behind West Michigan. Lake County has pitched well again, ranking third in the Midwest League with a 3.75 ERA. However, the Captains haven't done much beyond playing long ball on offense, as they rank third in the league with 52 home runs.

Speaking of home runs, Lake County has one of the league's best players in that category with Alfonsin Rosario. The No. 25 Guardians prospect has thrived during his first High-A season, blasting 11 home runs and doubling 10 times to drive in 31 runs. He's already gone deep three times in the month of June. Ralphy Velazquez and Wuilfredo Antunez, though not high average guys, have backed Rosario up nicely, combining for 15 home runs and 60 RBI. Jonah Advincula might be Lake County's best all-around offensive weapon, leading the team in batting average (.284), on-base percentage (.431), OPS (.878), walks (33), and stolen bases (20).

Josh Hartle and Jack Jasiak are the anchors of Lake County's pitching staff. Hartle, a starting pitcher and a top-25 Guardians prospect, owns a 2.77 ERA and a 5-1 record across 12 starts. Expected to make Thursday's start, his last two outings have been his best of the season, each spanning six scoreless innings. Jasiak, meanwhile, has been a bullpen man on a mission in June, earning the save in all four of his appearances this month. He also carries a scoreless streak of 8.2 innings, a 1.14 ERA, and only three walks to go with his 28 strikeouts.

South Bend's players to watch...

Edgar Alvarez, INF/OF: In a shocking turn of events, Alvarez just put together another excellent series against Fort Wayne. The big lefty started five games, going 8 for 22 with four doubles, three RBI, and four runs scored. He was a key part of South Bend's success early on in the series win, totaling seven hits across the week's first three contests. Alvarez has hit better than .300 for more than a month now, pulling his season-long batting average above .250 and his OPS north of .700.

Drew Bowser, INF: Despite a largely challenging start to his first High-A season at the plate, Bowser has become a quality on-base man as of late. Though his 133 at bats don't qualify him for the Midwest League rankings, his .360 on-base percentage would rank top-25 in the league. He was all over the basepaths in Fort Wayne, going 4 for 9 with six walks across four games. Bowser also mixed in a couple of doubles, one of which cleared the bases in Thursday's blowout win. After rattling off an 11-game hit streak in late May, he checks into the Lake County series with five consecutive contests in the hit column.

Chase Watkins, LHP: We've seen a handful of South Bend starting pitchers post seven scoreless innings within the past week. Reliever Chase Watkins has accomplished the same feat, only doing so across four outings rather than within a single night. With two of those appearances covering 2.1 shutout innings, Watkins remains one of South Bend's top options for steady long relief. His command has also made a jump during his recent run of success, as Watkins has eight strikeouts and no walks to his name across his last 7.1 innings.

Top prospects in the series...

South Bend: INF Jefferson Rojas (Cubs No. 5, MLB No. 74), INF James Triantos (Cubs No. 6), INF Cristian Hernandez (Cubs No. 10), RHP Ryan Gallagher (Cubs No. 18)

Lake County: OF Jaison Chourio (Guardians No. 3, MLB No. 50), 1B Ralphy Velazquez (Guardians No. 6), C Jacob Cozart (Guardians No. 15), LHP Jackson Humphries (Guardians No. 17), LHP Josh Hartle (Guardians No. 22), OF Alfonsin Rosario (Guardians No. 25)

Schedule and probables...

Tuesday, June 17 - 7:05 PM ET: RHP Brooks Caple vs. LHP Jackson Humphries

Wednesday, June 18 - 7:05 PM ET: RHP Tyler Schlaffer vs. LHP Caden Favors

Thursday, June 19 - 7:05 PM ET: LHP Evan Aschenbeck vs. LHP Josh Hartle

Friday, June 20 - 7:05 PM ET: RHP Erian Rodriguez vs. RHP Yorman Gómez

Saturday, June 21 - 7:05 PM ET: RHP Ryan Gallagher vs. LHP Matt Wilkinson

Sunday, June 22 - 2:05 PM ET: RHP Kenten Egbert vs. LHP Jackson Humphries

Check out the South Bend Cubs Statistics



Midwest League Stories from June 16, 2025


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