Minor League Weekly Review

On Monday of every week we will be bringing you a recap of the previous week’s minor league action and a preview of what to look for in the upcoming week for each of the Cubs’ farm teams. This week there is nothing to recap since no minor league games have been played yet, but in all four full season leagues Opening Day is just days away.

Minor league rosters are coming into focus now, and I’ll have more updates on who is playing where as the week progresses. For now, let’s take a quick look at the minor league week ahead.

Iowa Cubs (0-0) Pacific Coast League (AAA)
Iowa opens their season with an eight game road trip, featuring four games first in Round Rock (Texas Ranger) and then in Albuquerque (Los Angeles Dodgers). One story for Iowa will certainly be their pitching staff, one that includes a very potent bullpen.

Tennessee Smokies (0-0) Southern League (AA)
Series tend to be five games long in the Southern League, and the Smokies will open just down the interstate with five games in Chattanooga (Los Angeles Dodgers). Tennessee returns a lot of players from last years team, and might feature the highest concentration of top level talent in the Cubs’ farm system.

Daytona Cubs (0-0) Florida State League (High A)
Remember that the entire league takes place in a fairly small geographic area. That helps explain why Daytona opens Thursday on the road against Brevard County (Milwuakee Brewers), and then plays their home opener on Friday against the same team. We’ll see a lot of scheduling oddities like that in the FSL this season.

Peoria Chiefs (0-0) Midwest League (Low A)
Peoria opens at home against Cedar Rapids (Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim) before heading on the road. Peoria fans will be treated to an early look at highly touted Matt Szczur and Cuban prospect Ruby Silva. Hayden Simpson will start his professional career in Peoria as well.