Ruoff Mortgage Homestand Preview: April 23-28

You don’t see too many all-important series in the Midwest League during the month of April, but we’ve got a big battle on our hands this week in a series that we will see a whole lot of this season. It’s the South Bend Cubs and Quad Cities River Bandits at Four Winds Field starting Tuesday night at 7:05 PM.

In the first two months of the year, South Bend and Quad Cities will have seen each other 15 separate times. It started in the first series of the season on Opening Day earlier this month, where QC took two of three games away from the Cubs in what was a windy and cold first few days. The series started off with favorable temperatures, and South Bend won on Opening Day. That included Jefferson Rojas’ first Midwest League at-bat, which resulted in a solo homer over the right field wall at Modern Woodmen Park.

Since that point, the two teams have gone in opposite directions. Quad Cites is a league best 11-4, and 9-1 in their last 10 games. South Bend is 4-11, but is coming off the Sunday finale win over the Sky Carp this past weekend.

If the Cubs can take the energy from Sunday and apply it to this week, they’ll have a great opportunity to take down Quad Cities and go for their first series victory of the year. South Bend is seven games back of Quad Cities in the division, so a strong week means they’re right back in the division, pending any other notable final scores across the circuit. The Cubs held leads in four of the five games they lost in Beloit, and the Sky Carp also mashed 13 home runs in the series; An abnormal power week for this time of year.

Some things didn’t go the Cubs way, but the ingredients for success are there. In order to achieve it though, they’re going to have to skip ahead of a talented starting rotation for the River Bandits.

Former Vanderbilt man and 2023 fourth-round pick Hunter Owen will get the start in game one on Tuesday. Owen made his pro debut against the Cubs on opening weekend, but only pitched one inning. Since, he tossed six innings of two run baseball on April 10 at West Michigan. And in his last start, he got the win over the Peoria Chiefs, pitching five innings and allowing two runs.

Right-hander Steven Zobac is the reigning Midwest League Pitcher of the Week, righty Ben Kudrna pitched versus South Bend on Opening Day, and former first-round pick, lefty, Frank Mozzicato will see South Bend for the first time this season. Last year, Mozzicato pitched against South Bend twice, surrendering five runs in each start. Luis Verdugo homered against him in both outings.

2024 has been different for Mozzicato though, as he has looked like the first-round pick profile in both of his starts this year. Through two games, batters are hitting only .074, and he’s gone nine straight scoreless innings with 12 strikeouts.

At the plate, Carter Jensen is the only River Bandit batting above .300, at .309 on the season. Jensen has two home runs, 11 RBI, and has taken nine walks. Carson Roccaforte also impressed on opening weekend, and has taken nine walks from the lead-off spot. The lineup for Quad Cities has struggled though, they’ve only scored 57 runs on the season. South Bend has plated 63 runs. However, Quad Cities has the best team ERA in the Midwest League at 2.41, and that has been the difference.

South Bend is just looking for a little more consistency this week. They can certainly get it, with some strong pitching on the mound in Beloit last week.

Players to Watch…

Luis Devers, RHP: The 2022 Chicago Cubs Minor League Pitcher of the Year was back to the form we have become accustomed to seeing on Saturday afternoon in Beloit. Devers pitched in 38 degree wind chill, with all kinds of gusts around the park, and he did it in short sleeves. Respect to him. Of course, what made Devers so good in 2022 was his ability to keep hitters uncomfortable, mix his stuff, and obviously the vanishing changeup. He showed all of this things in Beloit. He tossed four shutout innings, he also walked four, but that’s not as much a concern. Tough day to pitch, relatively tight zone, and everything he brought to the table looked sharp. What’s encouraging about where Devers is now is the fact that he says he feels 100 percent healthy. That’s not something we have heard in a while. Last year, he arrived to the Cubs late because of injury, and never looked like he fully felt his best. This year, he’s getting an opportunity to take the ball every fifth day almost right away, and we don’t know how long we’ll have him, but we’re glad he’s here. Devers brings an enormous amount of consistency in every game he throws, and that’s what the Cubs need as they begin this important series with Quad Cities.

Jefferson Rojas, SS: How about the longest active hitting streak in the Midwest League for the 18-year-old Cubs star shortstop? Jefferson Rojas has been incredible, has hits in nine-in-a-row, and is batting .328. He hammered his first High-A homer in his first swing as a Cub in Quad Cities, and now has two home runs to his credit. Rojas also possesses a team high 10 RBI, and has stolen three bases. Of course, the month of April is usually unkind to young shortstops in this league. Rojas does have eight errors, but there has only been one shortstop here that has never struggled defensively, and that’s Ed Howard in early 2022. Everybody else, Gleyber Torres, Aramis Ademan, Zack Short, Andy Weber, and others all took some time to get going at short. It’s just the nature of the game. Rojas will get better as it gets warmer and he feels more comfortable. That’s a fact. What’s increasingly rare is teenage prospects hitting the ball so well early in the season. Rojas has done that without question. He’s also in a vulnerable spot, batting third everyday, and consistently facing pitching way older than him. He singled off of 26-year-old Beloit righty Anderson Pilar the other day, and rarely sees someone even two years older. It’s usually a four to five year gap. He’s a special player.

Brody McCullough, RHP: Welcome back to South Bend in a big way for one of the newest Chicago Cubs top-30 prospects. McCullough, who jumped to number-25 on the list, has returned and made his 2024 debut with 2.2 scoreless innings on the road in Beloit last week. It was in piggyback fashion, so McCullough, the usual starter, found himself working out of the bullpen. Still, being back on the mound in any way is a step in the right direction, after McCullough’s 2023 season was cut just short from being full following an injury in Fort Wayne last year. It was a freak thing, and now the former 10th-round pick of Chicago is healthy and ready to help the South Bend staff once more. McCullough won’t turn 24 until late June, and is one of the most intriguing pieces on this pitching staff. He was practically unhittable at Myrtle Beach last year, where opposing batters hit only .166. When he was called up to South Bend, he showed further flashes of brilliance, especially last July 19, when he spun together 4.1 shutout innings with seven strikeouts. Whether it’s in the rotation or out of the bullpen, McCullough is going to record some important outs in 2024.

Schedule and Probables…

Tuesday, April 23 - 7:05 PM ET: LHP Hunter Owen vs RHP Nick Hull

Wednesday, April 24 - 7:05 PM ET: RHP Ben Kudrna vs RHP Will Sanders

Thursday, April 25 - 7:05 PM ET: RHP Steven Zobac vs. TBD

Friday, April 26 - 7:05 PM ET: LHP Frank Mozzicato vs. LHP Drew Gray

Saturday, April 27 - 4:05 PM ET: RHP Henry Williams vs. RHP Luis Devers

Sunday, April 28 - 2:05 PM ET: RHP Shane Panzini vs. RHP Tyler Schlaffer