Chicago Cubs Minor League Recap: Owen Caissie goes deep again

Iowa Cubs (AAA)
Tennessee Smokies (AA)
South Bend Cubs (A+)
Myrtle Beach Pelicans (A)

Iowa Cubs (AAA)

The Iowa Cubs were off on Monday

Tennessee Smokies (AA)

The Tennessee Smokies beat the Birmingham Barons 10-1

The Smokies were the only affiliate team of the Cubs that were in action on Memorial Day and they didn’t disappoint. The pitching was great again as they held the Barons to one run, and the bats showed up in a big way with Owen Caissie even breaking out the fireworks as he hit his 11th homer of the season.

Pete Crow-Armstrong (OF) went 2-5 with a double, a single, three RBI and a run scored.

BJ Murray (3B) went 3-5 a double, two singles and two RBI.

Chase Strumpf (2B) was 2-4 with a double, a single, four RBI and a run scored. That raised his batting average to .258 on the season which is good to see because he had been selling out for power. However, over the last few games, he’s been able to get to that power without sacrificing as much on the average.

Owen Caissie (OF) was the star of this one. E went 1-3 with a home run, two walks, an RBI, and three runs scored.

Pablo Aliendo (C) went 0-1 but he walked three times and made the umpire earn his keep because, in his only other at-bat, he struck out.

Kohl Franklin (RHP) was great again after being named AA pitcher of the week (by Cubbies Crib) as he went five scoreless innings and only gave up a hit and two walks while striking out five.

Blake Whitney (RHP) was good as well. He only went 0.2 innings but he didn’t allow a run or hit and only gave up one walk.

Luke Little (LHP) struggled but had the strikeouts working. He went 1.1 innings and gave up a run on three hits and a walk but struck out three. In order to continue to make the case for him to get to AAA (and eventually the majors) we have to limit games like this where he was staying in the zone a little too much for comfort.

Chicago Cubs Minor League Recap: Owen Caissie goes deep again