May 12 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs vs. Toledo Mud Hens

IOWA CUBS (21-12) vs. TOLEDO MUD HENS (18-17)

Friday, May 12, 2023 • 7:08 PM • Principal Park • Des Moines, IA

RHP Nick Neidert (2-2, 4.32) vs. RHP Brenan Hanifee (0-1, 4.66)

TONIGHT’S GAME: Iowa will look for the series victory tonight after taking each of the first three games between the two teams. Nick Neidert will take the ball for the I-Cubs, set to make his seventh start of the year. Through his first six starts, the righty is 2-2 with a 4.32 ERA, allowing 12 earned runs on 36 hits and 10 walks while striking out 21 in 25.0 innings pitched. He leads Iowa in both starts and innings pitched, while holding the third-most strikeouts on the active roster. Opposite of Neidert will be Brenan Hanifee, still looking for his first win on the year seven starts in. Hanifee enters tonight’s game with an 0-1 record and a 4.66 ERA, allowing 15 earned runs on 36 hits and 11 walks over 29.0 innings pitched. In those 29.0 innings, he has struck out 27 batters. 2023 is the first season in Triple-A for the 24-year-old after climbing through three levels last season.

BULLISH ON THE BULLPEN: The I-Cubs’ bullpen has had its stuff working against Toledo through the first three games of the series. In total, Iowa’s relievers have racked up 12 innings of work versus the Mud Hens and have allowed just seven hits, three earned runs, and six walks while also combining for 12 strikeouts. The bullpen combination of Cam Sanders, Bailey Horn, Rowan Wick and Nick Burdi proved to be pivotal in yesterdays close 5-4 win as the four relievers completely shut down the Toledo offense as they allowed just one hit, no runs, and no walks.

SERGIO IS SURGING: It’s a great feeling when a team can get production from the bottom of the lineup and Sergio Alcántara has done that for Iowa this season. Mainly hitting out of the eight-hole, Alcántara leads the I-Cubs in hitting with a clip of .314 to go along with four home runs and 20 RBI, which both rank second out of players on the current I-Cubs roster, respectively. Through the first three games in the series against Toledo, despite hitting just 2-for-9 (.222), the production has still been there with Alcántara hitting a home run, knocking in two RBI, and scoring three runs.

¡HOLA, AMAYA!: After signing with the Cubs organization nearly eight years ago on July 17, 2015, Miguel Amaya is slated to make his I-Cubs and Triple-A debut tonight versus the Mud Hens. The catcher has worked his way up the ranks in the Cubs organization, being named a MiLB.com organization All-Star twice in 2018 and 2019 and started the 2023 season with Double-A Tennessee. Amaya played in 13 games for the Smokies hitting at a clip of .273 with four home runs and eight RBI. The 24-year-old then got the call from Chicago and made his major league debut on May 4 on the road against the Washington Nationals. Despite going 0-for-3 in his debut, he did record an RBI off a sacrifice fly. Amaya stayed with Chicago for another five games and hit .231 with two RBI over that span. With Yan Gomes coming off the injured list, Amya was ultimately optioned to Iowa on May 10.

CAN’T STOP SLAUGHTER: Infielder Jake Slaughter has been on an absolute tear for the I-Cubs as of late and continued his strong play in yesterday’s win over Toledo. Slaughter went 2-for-4 at the dish with a double, a home run, two RBI, and was the only I-Cub in the lineup to record a multi-hit game. With his two-hit performance yesterday, it was the ninth time this season that Slaughter recorded multiple hits in a game, which leads Iowa’s current roster. During his recent stretch of play the 26-year-old has also vaulted himself to the top multiple hitting categories for Iowa. Out of the current players on the I-Cubs roster, Slaughter ranks first in hits (28), doubles (8), and home runs (7). He ranks second on the roster in batting average with a clip of .308 as well. The Louisiana native isn’t just a top performer for Iowa either. Among the rankings in the International League, Slaughter is second in RBI (33), seventh in slugging (.626), and eighth in OPS (1.013).

SAVING THE DAY: Having a reliable pitcher come in and close out a game is vital to a team’s success, and it seems that Iowa has two options at that position. Manuel Rodriguez and Nick Burdi have combined for nine of the 10 saves the I-Cubs have recorded this season with Rodríguez tallying five and Burdi tallying four, respectively. Both Burdi and Rodríguez have picked up a save in the series versus Toledo as well with Rodríguez closing the door on Wednesday and Burdi getting the job done yesterday. The duo of Burdi and Rodríguez also rank at the top of the International League in saves as Rodríguez is tied for first and Burdi is tied for third.

AGAINST TOLEDO: Iowa and Toledo will play game four of their six-game series today, with Iowa currently up 3-0 looking for their fifth series victory of the year and second all-time against the Mud Hens. Their three consecutive wins over Toledo puts their all-time record at 15-21, going an even 12-12 at Principal Park over the last three years. Through the first three games between the two teams, Iowa has two one-run wins and is outscoring Toledo by seven runs, at 14-7. This is the first of two six-game series between the two teams at Principal Park and the first of three series overall this year, three games into their scheduled 18.

SHORT HOPS: Iowa moved to 8-1 in day games at home this year with their 5-4 victory yesterday…Iowa’s crowd of 6,744 marked the biggest home crowd of the year, surpassing the 6,257 in attendance on April 14 – yesterday was Iowa’s largest home crowd since 8,289 on Sept. 16, 2022, against Memphis…yesterday’s win moved Iowa to 7-0 in Thursday games this year, their best record of any day of the year; they go from their best day to their worst, as they are 2-4 in Friday games this year…a win tonight would tie Iowa’s longest winning streak of the year, a mark they set when they opened the season with four straight wins from March 31 to April 6.