Ruoff Mortgage Homestand Preview: August 20-25

Tuesday marks the beginning of your last opportunity to catch the South Bend Cubs at Four Winds Field in 2024. The final homestand of the season is upon us, with 12 games in 13 games set in Downtown South Bend to finish off the home calendar slate. First up, it’s the Beloit Sky Carp, Midwest League affiliate of the Miami Marlins, in for six games this Tuesday through Sunday.

This week marks the only trip in 2024 for the Sky Carp at Four Winds Field. Way back in April, the two clubs played a six-game series in Beloit in frigid cold weather at ABC Supply Stadium. Now getting together again in the middle of the summer, beautiful weather conditions are expected all week.

As mentioned, it’s a 12-game homestand, which means two separate six-game series will be played. After Beloit heads home, the Great Lakes Loons will flock into town on Tuesday, August 27, through Sunday September 1.

Of course, the focus this week is on Beloit. Led by veteran manager Billy Gardner Jr, the Sky Carp are in a similar position as the Cubs, just north of South Bend in the West Division standings. This series is the final opportunity for Beloit to get back in the race, and for the Cubs too. The Sky Carp are four games back of Quad Cities postseason spot lead, while the Cubs trail that pace by a seven game mark.

Earlier in the season, the Sky Carp had some success versus South Bend, taking five of six games away up in Wisconsin. But now two totally different teams are getting together; With one major exception. One of Beloit’s biggest power threats is still with the team, and that’s Josh Zamora.

Zamora played in five of the six games up in Beloit back in April against South Bend, and was on base in each of them, picking up multi-hit games in four of the five contests. However, he also showed off the long ball. Zamora had three home runs combined between back-to-back days, and now on the season has a total of 17 round trippers. That’s to go with three separate multi-home run games. The 25-year-old out of Nevada is having an exceptional year. He did get a stint with Double-A Pensacola late last season, but as of now remains in Beloit. We’ll see if the Marlins choose to move him in the final weeks of the season.

Also a bit of a surprise over the last little bit for the Sky Carp has been 2023 20th-round pick Ryan Ignoffo. The former Eastern Illinois man has just hit and hit and hit some more since being selected by Miami. Starting this year with Low-A Jupiter, Ignoffo batted .330 in 79 games with five home runs and 45 RBI. Again, for a guy drafted in the final round of 2023, that’s insane value. Ignoffo has kept up much of the same with Beloit, hitting .341 in 10 games with seven RBI.

On the mound, the consistency from the Sky Carp bullpen between three main guys all year has been sensational. Together, Josh Ekness, Edgar Sanchez, Evan Taylor, and Xavier Meachem have been the four-round gauntlet that has given Beloit chances to win late, because those three have been so lockdown good in the late innings.

Together, here’s how they all look. Ekness, 30 games, 1.98 ERA. Sanchez, 31 games, 2.03 ERA. Taylor, 31 games, 2.84 ERA, six holds, three saves. And Meachem, 26 games, 1.77 ERA, eight saves.

Beloit’s starting rotation also features some high end arms, with the first four starters of the series all being selected in the third round or above. Karson Milbrandt has seen the Cubs multiple times, but South Bend will see 2023 10th overall pick Noble Meyer for the first time ever on Wednesday, with the same true for comp-pick Thomas White, and fourth-rounder Emmett Olson on Thursday/Friday.

Players to Watch on South Bend…

Jacob Wetzel, OF: A big welcome back to South Bend for the one and only Jacob Wetzel. A fan favorite of 2023, and last season’s Corporal Paul Deguch Community Service Award winner, Wetzel is back in town after beginning the year with Low-A Myrtle Beach, and setting multiple franchise records with the Pelicans before getting the call back to the ‘574’. The all-time Pelicans franchise leader in walks and RBI, Wetzel is oozing with confidence. Last season, it was probably tough to find some consistency as South Bend’s primary fourth outfielder, but to cap off this season, Wetz is going to get plenty of opportunity and time to play. That was on display in Cedar Rapids on the last road trip. In his first six games back with the South Bend Cubs, Wetzel was 7/22 with four RBI, a matched walk to strikeout ratio, and two stolen bases. Sounds about right. What’s also encouraging and fun is with the promotion of both Brett Bateman and Parker Chavers, Wetzel will get a chance to play center field everyday. With Kevin Alcántara in town last season, Wetzel was limited to primarily corner outfield work. But now the ball of energy that is Wetzel can be let loose and show what he’s got in center at Four Winds Field. Good to have him back in town.

Chase Watkins, LHP: Whatever has been done to get the major MOJO flowing for Chase Watkins through his season has certainly clicked, and that may be an understatement. Watkins is showing consistent control, solid stuff, and an ability to hang in the strike zone. He’s walked only 15 men in 44 innings. Last year, he walked 15 in about half the time spent in South Bend compared to this year. The big lefty has given up only three runs since the middle of June, one since the middle of July, and none in the month of August. May was a bit of a struggle, but besides that Watkins has been lights out. And he does it in a classic way of pitching. The fastball won’t overpower you, but the shape and complexion of it is so hard to hit. And it is fooling Midwest League hitters at such a high rate. Watkins hung multiple zeroes again in a series, this time at Cedar Rapids, combining for 4.1 innings of shutout relief to help the Cubs split that series. There will be a watchful eye on Watkins in these final three weeks, because he is setting himself up for a dominant 2025 at this rate.

Jordan Nwogu, OF: Speaking of setting themselves up for a huge 2025 if they stay on the same clip, Jordan Nwogu is revitalizing himself in South Bend, where he was a key cog on that 2022 Midwest League Championship team. After some time at Double-A Tennessee, Nwogu was sent back to South Bend to get back on track. And that he certainly has. It’s sort of what happened to Luis Verdugo last season; Wasn’t playing a lot at Double-A, leading to some struggle, but then coming back to South Bend and playing everyday, he was back to the Luis Verdugo we all knew and loved. It’s the same with Nwogu. When he reported back to South Bend, hitting coach Nate Spears got the swing back to what we knew, and Nwogu has taken off like a rocket ship since that point. The average is at .243, along with six homers and 38 RBI. However, he’s batting .358 in August and will enter this Beloit series with a four-game hitting streak, and hits in seven of his last eight. Getting to see Nwogu play in the outfield along with Wetzel and Andy Garriola is going to be fun. All guys with tons of power. This might be the most power packed South Bend outfield since at least 2022. Going to be exciting.

Schedule and Probables…

Tuesday, August 20 - 7:05 PM ET: RHP Karson Milbrandt vs RHP Grant Kipp

Wednesday, August 21- 7:05 PM ET: RHP Noble Meyer vs LHP Drew Gray

Thursday, August 22 - 7:05 PM ET: LHP Thomas White vs. RHP Will Sanders

Friday, August 23 - 7:05 PM ET: LHP Emmett Olson vs. RHP Nick Dean

Saturday, August 24 - 7:05 PM ET: RHP Will Schomberg vs. RHP Jaxon Wiggins

Sunday, August 25 - 2:05 PM ET: RHP Ike Buxton vs. TBD