Chicago Cubs’ prospect Adbert Alzolay twirls another gem for Iowa

This Chicago Cubs’ big league starting pitching staff has been on fire of late, silencing the Milwaukee Brewers over the weekend to continue a trend.

Yet again, another fantastic start to a fresh series by the Chicago Cubs. Not only did they manage to take back first place on Monday but they put together a really nice winning streak.  An impressive stretch led made possible by phenomenal baseball.

Fans who attended the Friendly Confines over the weekend were dazzled by outstanding performances. Men who had struggled to keep opposing hitters from crossing the plate early on in contests.

Southpaw Jon Lester kept Chicago’s starting staff’s 33 2/3 innings stretch of zero earned runs in-tact despite two Rockies scoring against him. Two unearned runs across 5 2/3 frames. That streak, unfortunately, came to an end on Tuesday night when Kyle Hendricks allowed a pair of first-inning blasts.

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As for the Triple-A Iowa Cubs, they entered Monday on an eight-game losing streak. Pretty rough for the kids within Chicago’s minor league system.

While the Cubs handled their business with Colorado, top prospect Adbert Alzolay placed his team on his shoulders.

In his previous outing against the Oklahoma City Dodgers, Alzolay yielded three earned runs on five hits, picking up his first loss.

Rather than staying in the moment, the 23-year-old right-hander found his groove early on against the Omaha Storm Chasers. Through seven strong innings of work, Alzolay carried a no-hitter into the sixth.

A World Series champion and son of Raul Mondesi, Adalberto Mondesi, would break up the no-no with an infield single. Surely, these two will square off again later on down the road.

Crunching his first three outings

So, how well is Alzolay handling the step below the show? Entering his next start, which should be this weekend, he has given up only four earned runs in 17 frames. In addition, his K/BB ratio sits at 14-to-6 while opposing bats average .140.

Before we continue on, I’d like to point out that Mike Freeman provided some run support with his first three home runs of the year. Freeman launched bombs in the third, seventh and eighth innings, ending the evening 3-for-5 with five RBI.

Round those bases, young man. Anyway, watching Adbert cruise through all these innings should excite Cubs’ fans immediately. Think about it, he’s pretty close to cracking the major league roster but it will definitely take a little bit more time.

You don’t want him being brought up as soon as possible and risking a nightmare debut. Allow him to make some adjustments in Iowa, chew through more innings, hurl a couple no-no’s and then make the call.

Only fools rush in.

Next: Cubs top Rox for fifth straight win

Until then, picture how great this starting rotation is going to be when it includes Kyle Hendricks, Alex Lange, Jose Quintana and Adbert Alzolay. I’m drooling.