May 3 Game Notes: Iowa @ St. Paul

IOWA CUBS (11-12) @ ST. PAUL SAINTS (12-10)

Tuesday, May 3, 2022 • 6:37 • CHS Field • Saint Paul, MN

RHP Caleb Kilian (0-0, 1.72) vs. LHP Devin Smeltzer (1-1, 1.42)

TONIGHT’S GAME: Entering tonight’s game, Iowa is on a three-game losing streak, their longest of the season so far. Trying to end that streak for the I-Cubs will be righty Caleb Kilian. Kilian is 0-0 with a 1.72 ERA this year, striking out 17 batters compared to six walks. The No. 4 overall prospect for the Chicago Cubs has allowed one run on three hits in each of his last three starts, striking out four batters in each of his last two. Opposite of Kilian will be lefty Devin Smeltzer taking the ball for St. Paul. Smeltzer is 1-1 with a 1.42 ERA in four starts for the Saints, entering tonight’s game with three consecutive starts of exactly five innings. The southpaw spun 11.0 scoreless innings in Spring Training for Minnesota, going 2-0 with nine strikeouts in his four games. Iowa is just 2-4 this year in games in which a left-handed pitcher gets the start for the opponent.

BRING IT BACK: In 10 games last season, Jared Young hit .278 (10-for-36) against St. Paul. Young collected four extra-base hits, with three doubles and a home run, driving in six runs for Iowa. He walked five times compared to nine strikeouts, bringing his on-base percentage to .357. The first baseman leads the I-Cubs in home runs (5) and RBI (14) this year, but has struggled lately with hits in just two of his last nine games, lowering his average to .197 through 18 games.

WATCH OUT ON THE ROAD: Iowa Cubs’ infielder Ildemaro Vargas enters this series against St. Paul with just one hit in his last five games. In his most recent series against Indianapolis, the switch-hitter hit .053, going 1-for-19 with three walks and two strikeouts. On the year at Principal Park, he is now hitting just .086 (3-for-35) with four runs scored, five walks and six strikeouts. It is a completely different story on the road, as Vargas is hitting .357 (15-for-42) with a double, four triples and a home run away from Principal Park. In his 10 road games this year, he has scored seven times and driven in five. His last road series against Louisville from April 19-24, Vargas his .464 (13-for-28) with an extra-base hit in all six games and two or more hits in five of the six games. As a team, Iowa is hitting .020 points better on the road (.226-.206) with 13 more extra-base hits (31-18).

INCONSISTENT ON OFFENSE: Iowa went 2-4 in their last homestand against Indianapolis, scoring zero or one run in three of the six games. In game one and six of the series, Iowa totaled one run on just four hits, getting one-hit in the first game between the two teams. The I-Cubs averaged 2.5 runs on five hits in the series, taking 29 walks compared to 59 strikeouts. They struck out at lead eight times in all six games, including highs of 11 and 13 in their last two, averaging 9.8 strikeouts per game. In all six games, the I-Cubs had traffic on the basepaths, but could never seem to get the big hit. They were 7-for-52 (.135) with runners in scoring position against Indy, leaving 44 total runners on base.

NUMBER 600: Manager Marty Pevey has been with Iowa for 10 seasons now, standing as the longest tenured manager in franchise history. On April 12, 2018, Pevey collected his 1,000th career managerial victory, while also becoming the winningest skipper in Iowa history with his 356th victory at the head of the club. Unfortunately for Pevey, Sunday’s defeat marked the 600th loss at the helm of the I-Cubs, entering tonight’s game with a 541-600 record with Iowa over the last 10 seasons. In his managerial career, Pevey sits at 1,185 wins compared to 1,217 losses, just 32 games below the .500 mark.

ROSTER ROTATION: In the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, it was stated that Major League rosters could be expanded for the first month of the season due to the lockout negotiations. The rosters could expand from 26 players to 28 players, and there was no restriction on the number of pitchers or position players that could be on the team. Now that the first month has ended, Major League rosters must go down to 26 players and they are limited to having 14 pitchers on their roster. With the Chicago Cubs having to make roster moves, left-hander Locke St. John was optioned back to Iowa and righty Ethan Roberts was placed on the 10-day injured list. With the additions of Mark Leiter Jr. and St. John, Iowa also had to make some moves on their end, releasing pitchers Kevin McCarthy and Eric Yardley.

STAY PERFECT: Brandon Hughes and Erich Uelmen pitched four scoreless innings on Sunday, keeping each of their ERA’s at 0.00 on the year. Hughes, in his second career game at Triple-A, allowed just one hit while striking out two batters, while Uelmen allowed two hits and struck out one. Uelmen has now made seven appearances this year for Iowa, not allowing a single earned run. He has thrown at least 1.1 innings in all seven outings, going 2.0 innings in five of the seven. The righty is 2-0 on the year with a save, allowing one unearned run on eight hits while walking five and striking out 13. Opponents are hitting just .191 against him this year over 42 at-bats, and Uelmen is throwing 59% of his pitches for strikes with a 62% ground ball rate.

AGAINST ST. PAUL: Iowa and St. Paul will meet for game one of a six-game series at CHS Field tonight. Last year, the I-Cubs struggled in games against the Saints, going 12-23 in the 35 games the two teams played. They were just 3-9 at home while going 9-14 here at CHS Field. Entering tonight, Iowa is on a four-game losing streak to St. Paul, being outscored those final four games last year by 15 runs, 25-10.

SHORT HOPS: Iowa is currently on a three-game losing streak, their longest of the year; the I-Cubs lost three or more games in a row eight times last year…the I-Cubs rank 29th in Triple-A in batting average (.217) above only the Syracuse Mets (.212); they rank second in all of Triple-A in team ERA (3.31) behind only the Nashville Sounds (2.61).