April 2 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs vs. Toledo Mud Hens
TONIGHT’S GAME: The Iowa Cubs host the Toledo Mud Hens tonight in their first home game of the season...right-hander Walker Powell is slated to make his first career Triple-A start opposed Toledo’s left-handed pitcher Bryan Sammons. WELCOME HOME: The I-Cubs are just 20-34 (.370) on home openers in franchise history
TONIGHT’S GAME: The Iowa Cubs host the Toledo Mud Hens tonight in their first home game of the season...right-hander Walker Powell is slated to make his first career Triple-A start opposed Toledo’s left-handed pitcher
WELCOME HOME: The I-Cubs are just 20-34 (.370) on home openers in franchise history (since 1969) but have won their last two opening home games, including an 8-5 win over Toledo in 2022...Iowa is 2-3 in their last five home openers, but split a doubleheader in 2018, falling to Oklahoma City 2-1 in Game 1 and defeating OKC 3-2 in Game 2.
SUNDAY’S NEWS: Iowa defeated Omaha in the series finale on Sunday, 2-0, giving the club their first win of the season...
THE BIG O: Cubs No. 3 prospect and No. 46 prospect (MiLB.com) in all of baseball
AT THE HELM: Iowa Cubs Manager Marty Pevey returns as Iowa’s manager for the 12th consecutive season in 2024, extending his records of longest tenured and winningest manager in Iowa history...his 82 wins in 2023 were the second most by any team Pevey has managed, trailing the 2000 Advanced-A Dunedin Blue Jays, who went 84-54 (.609)... Pevey has 681 career wins with Iowa, just 19 short of the 700-mark and holds a career managerial record of 1,325-1,356.
VS. THE MUD HENS: The I-Cubs are opposing the Toledo Mud Hens (Detroit) for the first time this season...the Mud Hens went 2-1 in their opening series vs. Nashville...Iowa and Toledo played 18 times last season with Toledo taking the season series 11-7, outscoring Iowa 112-93 (-19)...the I-Cubs and the Mud Hens will play three six-game series against each other this year, including tonight-April 7, June 4-9 at Iowa and Aug. 20-25 at Toledo.
START ME UP: Through the first three games of the season, Iowa’s starting pitching staff is yet to surrender a run with
ROSTER RUNDOWN: In conjunction with the Chicago Cubs, the Iowa Cubs announced their Opening Day roster on Friday...the roster features 14 players with major league service time and 18 players who have past suited up for Iowa...additionally, the roster featured seven players on the Cubs’ Top 30 Prospects List according to MLB.com, including OF Pete Crow-Armstrong (No. 1), OF Owen Caissie (No. 3), RHP
APRIL SHOWERS: The I-Cubs got off to a strong start last season as they posted a 16-8 record through April...Iowa won seven of their first 10 games, including each of their first four, outscoring their opponents 81-69 (+12) during that span...in 23 April games, the I-Cubs hit .292 (226-for-773) with 49 doubles, 6 triples, 39 home runs and 29 stolen bases while pitching to a 5.37 ERA (117 ER in 196.0 IP) with 218 strikeouts.
EXTRAS ON OPENING DAY: Friday night’s extra innings game marked the first time the I-Cubs have gone to extra innings on Opening Day since April 3, 1997, in which they defeated Omaha 6-5 in 11 innings on the road...Iowa has gone to extras on Opening Day five times in franchise history, including 2024, 1997, 1995, 1988 and 1973.