Toyota Road Report: June 10-15

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MWL South Bend Cubs

Toyota Road Report: June 10-15

June 9, 2025 - Midwest League (MWL)
South Bend Cubs News Release


The last road trip of the Midwest League's first half is upon us, and it's a rivalry renewed this week at Parkview Field in Downtown Fort Wayne. It's the South Bend Cubs and Fort Wayne TinCaps matching-up for the second time this season, and the first in the 260.

While there will be no first half playoff implications in this series, it's always a fun battle when these two teams get together. You always see a bunch of cubbie blue in the stands at Parkview Field, and whether in South Bend or Fort Wayne, big crowds are drawn to watch any series between the Cubs and TinCaps.

Without question, top prospects highlight this week's series. For South Bend, infielder Jefferson Rojas was just recently highlighted as the new Chicago Cubs number-five overall prospect, with former South Bend Cub Matt Shaw graduating from prospect level. There could be more prospect movement in the near future, as 2023 South Bend right-hander Cade Horton will soon also lose his prospect status. Shortstop Cristian Hernandez remains in his number-10 prospect slot, where he has been all season. And recently, South Bend Cubs RHP Ryan Gallagher cracked the top-30 list for the first time, as Chicago's 2024 sixth-round pick is ranked as the number-18 prospect in the organization, per MLB Pipeline.

Gallagher has lead a South Bend starting rotation that has been dynamite over the last few weeks. More on right-hander Erian Rodriguez a bit later, but it is showing consistently now that Cubs starters are going deeper into ballgames, and in turn, they've been able to really show their stuff. Look at Kenten Egbert, who went 5.2 shutout innings on Sunday at Four Winds Field. He has won two of his last three starts, after a bit of a wavy beginning to the season. But over the last few starts, he has found it.

It's also been fun to watch the first couple Midwest League starts from Brooks Caple. He matched a career-high with seven innings of work last Tuesday against the Great Lakes Loons. Tyler Schlaffer was brilliant again last week as well, after posting arguably the best start by a South Bend Cub ever on the road in Quad Cities with those eight innings with one run, one hit, and one walk allowed with eight strikeouts. Evan Aschenbeck has been a machine on the mound too, working a complete game in the conclusion of Friday's doubleheader.

Back to the high-level prospects note though. Fort Wayne is also loaded with top talent, but from the San Diego Padres system. As always this season, it starts with San Diego's top prospect, 18-year-old shortstop Leo De Vries. We saw plenty of him at Four Winds Field back in May, but he remains on the roster. Oddly, (and knock on wood here), he has been a bit cold to begin the month of June. This month, he is 4/23 in six games with one RBI. Of course, that can flip at a moment's notice.

Fort Wayne is also benefiting from the services of third baseman Rosman Verdugo, the little brother of former South Bend Cub and 2022 Midwest League Champion Luis Verdugo. We've seen Rosman the last couple of years in the Midwest League, but he is really developing into a nice player. Not only is he towards the top of the charts in the Midwest League with nine home runs, but he's got the same defensive genes as his brother. One of the best gloves we've ever seen at third base in South Bend.

By the way, big shoutout goes to Luis Verdugo, who is now playing in the Philadelphia Phillies organization. Verdugo made his Triple-A debut yesterday for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, and crushed a home run in his first AAA game. He also finished with three RBI. Keep it up, Dugie!

Also in the Fort Wayne order, Sean Barnett is a top-30 Padres prospect, ranked as number-28. Lastly, a guy you won't see in the top prospects list, but one that packs a bunch is Jacob Campbell. He had a five-hit game against South Bend at Four Winds Field back on May 7. And he's a former Cubs draftee. Selected by the Cubs out of high school in the 36th round of 2018, Campbell chose not to sign and to attend the University of Illinois, he delivered his best day as a pro against the Cubs last month.

On the mound, it has been a similar starting rotation all year long for Fort Wayne. Top-30 Padres prospects Isaiah Lowe (#10) and Clark Candiotti (#26) will face the Cubs this week. And also South Bend will try and get some revenge versus righty Miguel Mendez. In his High-A debut on May 9, Mendez was the winning pitcher at Four Winds Field with five scoreless innings, no walks, and seven strikeouts.

Players to watch on South Bend...

Carter Trice, OF/INF: It seems like the South Bend Cubs have found their new lead-off man. What a week it was for Carter Trice against the Great Lakes Loons. Not only did he match the best power surge by any South Bend Cubs hitter this season with three straight games with a home run, but two of the three were lead-off bombs. The last guy to do it was Andy Garriola from April 18 to April 20, and Trice had himself a couple Tiki Hut shots this week. Impressively so on Sunday, Trice did what a lead-off guy should, reaching base five times, scoring three runs, walking three times, stealing three bases, and giving the lineup energy. Trice also gives manager Nick Lovullo a lot of options, considering he can play literally anywhere. Primarily, Trice has remained in center field, but he has literally played every position at some point in his amateur or pro career. He has played some first base this year. Heck, he was even catching last season for the Myrtle Beach Pelicans. Trice's outburst gives guys like Jefferson Rojas and Cristian Hernandez opportunities to do damage with runners on base in the two and three spots of the order. Let's see if Trice can bring the same power and efficiency into this week's road series.

Erian Rodriguez, RHP: The only guy we did not highlight earlier in the South Bend starting rotation breakdown was on purpose, because we need to talk further about how sharp Erian Rodriguez has looked since he came back from an early season injury. Rodriguez started the campaign on the Injured List, and after a couple rehab starts down in the Arizona Complex League, Rodriguez has looked like the guy that ended the 2024 season with South Bend pitching the best baseball of his career. Rodriguez did walk four batters in his Friday start against the Loons. However, wash that one away. He had to pitch in the literal pouring rain at the end of that outing, and it was really tough to even grip the baseball. His start at Quad Cities last road trip tells more of the story. Five innings, one run, zero walks, five strikeouts. Rodriguez has shown a great mix, and the slider is menacingly good. He's also seemingly throwing harder this season, with the changeup developing into a nice third option for him. Last September, he was arguably South Bend's best pitcher at the end of the season. He'll pitch at Parkview Field for the first time since September 8 last year, in his final outing of 2024, where he went four shutout innings with just one hit allowed.

Brian Kalmer, INF: The breakout for Brian Kalmer is coming. In a similar stretch to last season where it took a little while for Kalmer to club his first home run, it's just a matter of time for the Cubs first baseman. Kalmer looked really good over the weekend against Great Lakes. Especially in the crunch time base-hit he looped to get the Cubs on the board in Saturday's regularly scheduled game of the doubleheader. Kalmer started that plate appearance down 0-2 against Jorge Gonzalez, then worked it full, fouled off a bunch of pitches, before slapping a ball the opposite way for a knock. He was then on base four times Sunday with a single and three walks. Kalmer has probably shown South Bend's best keen eye at the plate this year, with 31 walks on the season. While Kalmer remains without a home run this season, as mentioned, he hit his first last year on May 31. He then crushed four in June of 2024, and five in July. It's coming. And if he powers one out of the yard this week in Fort Wayne, a surge is coming for BK.

Schedule and Probables...

Tuesday, June 10 - 7:05 PM ET: RHP Brooks Caple vs RHP Ian Koenig

Wednesday, June 11 - 7:05 PM ET: RHP Tyler Schlaffer vs RHP Clark Candiotti

Thursday, June 12 - 7:05 PM ET: LHP Evan Aschenbeck vs. TBA

Friday, June 13 - 7:05 PM ET: RHP Erian Rodriguez vs. RHP Miguel Mendez

Saturday, June 14 - 6:35 PM ET: RHP Ryan Gallagher vs. LHP Isaiah Lowe

Sunday, June 15 - 1:05 PM ET: RHP Kenten Egbert vs. RHP Eric Yost

Check out the South Bend Cubs Statistics



Midwest League Stories from June 9, 2025


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