Toyota Road Report: April 30 - May 5

It has been a while to say the least! For the first time since 2021, in the first season out of the COVID-19 stoppage, the South Bend Cubs are traveling north to take on the Lansing Lugnuts. Jackson Field is a terrific place to play in the Midwest League, and it will be great to see Jesse Goldberg-Strassler and the rest of the great crew in Michigan’s capitol. South Bend is moving north in a big series, and the Cubs are also in search of their first series victory.

The Cubs dropped four of six games at home this past week to the Quad Cities River Bandits, and take a 6-15 record up to Lansing. However, things are looking better for South Bend as we go. The lineup has multiple guys that are red hot, which we’ll talk about below, and the starting pitching has been a huge bright spot. It’s a matter of getting late game outs, which will come.

Lansing is managed by one of the coolest opposing managers in the league, Craig Conklin. Guy is ‘California Cool’.

The Lugnuts are 10-11 on the campaign, and just got done splitting a six-game set with the Dayton Dragons at home. It’s a full-on 12-game homestand for Lansing, as the Cubs will replace the Dragons in the visiting clubhouse. Lansing won a 10-inning affair in the finale that went by a final score of 10-9, and although the Oakland Athletics are struggling at the Big League level, their prospects are really, really good.

First baseman Will Simpson has been the story so far for Lansing, and what value the A’s are getting out of this guy. He’s a 15th round pick of the A’s out of the University of Washington, and in 19 games is hitting a sizzling .375. For a big, slugging first baseman, he also walks at a terrific rate, taking 19 free passes to 21 strikeouts. Plus, it’s a season OPS at 1.106. With his big body, MLB.com compares him to former Cubs first baseman Garrett Cooper as towards potential. Simpson is ranked as Lansing’s number-28 prospect.

Former A's second-rounder Henry Bolte is also off to a strong start in 2024 with a .256 average and three homers in 19 games. And one of the best names in the Midwest League, Euribiel Angeles is hitting .274 with two home runs and nine RBI. He also has more walks than strikeouts.

On the mound, Lansing has gotten some nice consistent work in both the bullpen and rotation from right-hander Jake Garland. He’s got a 1.29 ERA, with only three walks in 14 innings and 13 K’s. He pitched against South Bend in 2023, and on June 8 took a loss in 5.2 innings, although he only gave up two earned runs. Still, last year was a struggle for Garland with a 6.40 ERA. Another run through the Midwest League is benefitting him.

The bullpen for Lansing has also been jolted by Colton Johnson. The 25-year-old lefty pitched in college at Illinois State, and was a 16th-rounder of Oakland in 2021. In seven outings and eight innings worth of action, Johnson has given up just two runs, with three walks and 10 strikeouts. 2024 is also his first season on the mound since 2021, we’ll have to ask JGS for his story, as missing all of 2022 and 2023 might signify some major injury that he came back from.

South Bend Players to Watch…

Pedro Ramirez, INF: What a week it was and what a stretch it has been for Pedro Ramirez. We talk so much about Jefferson Rojas, and rightfully so, as the 19-year-old is on a High-A best 14-game hitting streak. But with the consistent and terrific play of Rojas, Ramirez has been just as good sort of in a shadow role. This can definitely cause some teams to get punished for maybe not putting as much time and studying into what Ramirez can do. Whatever it is, Pedro is making them pay for mistakes. Ramirez is only 20, but he looks beyond his years at the plate with his supreme contact ability from both sides of the plate, being a switch-hitter. He’s got a .310 average in 17 games, and he is 12 for his last 28 at the plate. That’s good for a .428 average in that time span. He can also help out South Bend from a durability standpoint. On any given day, he can play three different infield positions, and has the arm to play at third base, even though he’s five-foot-eight. With Rojas and Ramirez up the middle, they’re just going to continue getting more comfortable, which will lead to more wins.

Tyler Schlaffer, RHP: Start calling Tyler Schlaffer outings Sunday Service because he has been the Sunday man in South Bend's six-man rotation. Schlaffer has pitched on a Sunday in each appearance this year, and over his last two starts has gone a season high on innings pitched. In both of them, it was the longest he had pitched in a game since undergoing Tommy John Surgery in 2022. Schlaffer’s story is an interesting one. He started one game for South Bend in 2022, and pitched against the team that South Bend eventually beat in the Midwest League Championship, the Lake County Captains. When we got Schlaffer, the feeling was the rotation got even more stacked when you looked at guys like Kohl Franklin, Luis Devers, Porter Hodge, and others still being on that team. Unfortunately, Schlaffer got shut down due to injury, and missed the next year-and-a-half. Now, he’s back, and he’s healthy. Schlaffer looked commanding on Sunday afternoon against Quad Cities, and in four innings gave up only a run, with just a walk and two strikeouts. He trusted his defense behind him, and hopefully now this means that Schlaffer can continue to extend and strengthen that arm and elbow to wear he can pitching deep enough into games to earn wins.

Yohendrick Pinango, OF: In his third season with the South Bend Cubs, Yohendrick Pinango is not your average third-year High-A player. He’s only 21-years-old, and is playing the best baseball we have ever seen from him. And that’s saying something, because he was a big part of the 2022 Midwest League Title. The difference? Pinango has developed into a very patient and composed hitter. He took three walks on Sunday against QC, and hit a monstrous home run on a changeup down in the zone. Pinango is hitting .315, but he has taken 16 walks to nine strikeouts. The 16 free passes puts him halfway to the total amount of walks he looked at in 2022. That’s halfway in 17 games, to the total he had in 115 2022 games. Last year, Pinango surpassed his 2022 walk number, but wound up with 40 in 104 2023 games. Again, he’s got 16 in 17. The keen eye at the plate has allowed Pinango to really get a leg up on the pitchers he faces, because he gets thrown to as tough as anybody on the roster and in the league. He is not swinging at the bad stuff, and when he gets something to drive, he’s not going to miss it. Pair the patience of Pinango, with all the power that we have come to love over the last number of years. Pinango is playing like he really wants that Double-A call-up, and if this pace keeps up, he’s going to get there.

Schedule and Probables…

Tuesday, April 30 - 6:05 PM ET: LHP James Gonzalez vs RHP Nick Hull

Wednesday, May 1 - 11:05 AM ET: RHP Jose Dicochea vs RHP Will Sanders

Thursday, May 2 - 7:05 PM ET: RHP Jacob Watters vs. RHP Brody McCullough

Friday, May 3 - 7:05 PM ET: LHP Eduardo Rivera vs. LHP Drew Gray

Saturday, May 4 - 7:05 PM ET: RHP Grant Judkins vs. RHP Luis Devers

Sunday, May 5 - 1:05 PM ET: RHP Mitch Myers vs. RHP Tyler Schlaffer