Fabian Pertuz (photo by Stephanie Lynn) AAA Iowa 5, Toledo 4 Game Recap Iowa trailed 4-1 in the bottom of the 7th when Levi Jordan hit a two-run homer to close the gap to one. An error by Toledo on a Narciso Crook grounder scored Alfonso Rivas from 3rd to tie it the next inning. Zach Davis came in as a pinch runner for Crook and went 1st to 3rd on a single by Matt Mervis, then came home on another single by Darius Hill to put the Cubs in the lead. Brendon Little closed it out in the 9th to secure Iowa's third consecutive come from behind victory. Darius Hill is your @EMCInsurance Player of th ..read more

Jacob Wetzel (Photo by Stephanie Lynn) MLB The selloff has begun. First out the door is reliever Chris Martin. A solid middle reliever with playoff experience, Martin has been a bit homer prone this year, but otherwise been reliable. He'll join former Cubs closer Craig Kimbrel in the Dodgers bullpen. The return for Martin was never going to be outstanding, but I think the Cubs did pretty good here all things considered. Utility man Zach McKinstry has fairly ugly numbers in his limited at bats with the Dodgers the last couple of years, but his playing time has been sporadic at best, and he's al ..read more

Luis Devers (Photo by Stephanie Lynn) MLB Draft Signing Update The Cubs appear to have concluded their MLB draft signings yesterday. Two more deals were finalized to bring their total up to 19 signings. The deal for 2nd rounder Jackson Ferris used up all but $5 of the Cubs $10,603,005 bonus pool. They were also able to sign 16th rounder J.P. Wheat. The only unsigned draftee is 19th rounder Brock Blatter, who was always considered a longshot, as he has a strong commitment to University of Alabama with an NLI deal in place there. With no remaining bonus money Blatter will definitely be out of re ..read more

Alexander Canario (photo by Todd Johnson) AAA Iowa 7, Omaha 0 Game Recap A day after Caleb Kilian and Sean Newcomb combined to shutout the Storm Chasers, Matt Dermody and Anderson Espinoza followed suit. The 32-year old Iowa native Dermody has been a nice run of late. He's gone at least four innings in each of his last seven appearances, and not allowed more than two runs in any of them. It's been a great rebound (4-0, 1.35 ERA, 33.1 IP, 26 H, 5 R, 9 BB, 32 K) from after he was rocked during a six-start stretch from mid-May to Mid-June. May be time to start talking about @IowaCubs LHP Matt De ..read more

Jacob Wetzel (Photo by Stephanie Lynn) It is difficult to know where to start. Cubs with the system sweep from Chicago to Arizona tonight. Scores: 6-2 10-0 12-6 6-2 14-4 5-1 Have to go all the way to the DSL to find a Cubs loss. The two DSL teams were 1-1 today. — Brad (@ballskwok) July 24, 2022 Simply put, the Cubs farm system dominated yesterday. There were so many impressive performances by top prospects (and lesser prospects) that I simply can't do them all justice or provide highlights and breakdowns of all of them in the time I have to complete this recap. I am both looking forward t ..read more

Alexander Canario (photo by Todd Johnson) MLB The first MLB Draft signing news is beginning to roll in. The Cubs have secured deals from 1st rounder Cade Horton, 7th rounder Nick Hull, and 15th rounder Hadyn McGeary with bonus amounts being reported. The #Cubs have signed 1st round pick Cade Horton for a little more than 1.5 under slot, and 7th rounder Nick Hull for about 225K under. Here is an updated look at their draft with the three reported signings, ~6.1M in pool money remaining: pic.twitter.com/FPdkeYFQgm — Michael Ernst (@mj_ernst) July 23, 2022 Other signings have occurred, including ..read more

Round 3 (86): IF Christopher Paciolla - 6'2" 185, Age 18 - Temecula Valley (CA) BONUS SLOT VALUE: $735,200& MLB Pipeline: 166th, BA: 128th Round 4 (113): RHP Nazier Mule - 6'3" 210, Age 17 - Passaic Tech (NJ) BONUS SLOT VALUE: $538,400 MLB Pipeline: 96th, BA: 94th One of the biggest arms in the prep ranks this season, Nazier Mule is known for hitting triple digits on the gun since he was 16. He reportedly sits more in the mid-90s currently, but at just 17 years old right now, the thinking is he'll grow into regular registering in the upper-90s. Already possessing an impressive 6'3" pound f ..read more

Round 1 (7): RHP Cade Horton - 6'1 211, Age 20 - Oklahoma BONUS SLOT VALUE: $5,708,000 A redshirt sophomore, Cade Horton shot up draft boards in the 2nd half of the 2022 collegiate season, finishing the year with a terrific postseason run for the Sooners beginning with the Conference title game and continuing through the College World Series. Per Cubs: Cade Horton went 3-0 with a 2.61 ERA and 49 strikeouts (6 walks) in five postseason starts this year for the Sooners. — Tim Stebbins (@tim_stebbins) July 18, 2022 Cade Horton set a MCWS Finals record with 13 K's against Ole Miss. (via ..read more

Tyler Schlaffer (photo by Stephanie Lynn) MLB Injuries, Updates, and Trends Daniel Norris was DFA to make room on the roster for reliever Erich Uelmen. Norris had developed into a good reliever a couple of years ago before struggling in 2021. The Cubs hoped they could help him bounce back, but it just wasn't happening, and they've now moved on. With veteran lefty Steven Brault finally healthy and rookie Brandon Hughes pitching well, they apparently feel better about their depth from that side. Sean Newcomb is also showing signs of turnaround in Iowa. At this point it seemed unlikely Norris cou ..read more

Matt Mervis (photo by Rikk Carlson) AAA Iowa 3, Buffalo 1 Game Recap Matt Dermody has been on quite a run recently. He was coming off his best start of the season, and though he didn't miss as many bats in this outing he didn't walk anyone and kept the Bisons in check through five innings. He was relieved by Sean Newcomb, who also kept his recent run of good games going. He breezed through two innings, before losing some control in his third, but a nice play by Jared Young with the bases loaded got him off the hook. After two strong innings, Sean Newcomb had worked himself into a bases loaded ..read more