Toyota Road Report: August 23-28

What a weekend it was in Downtown South Bend. Since Thursday evening, the South Bend Cubs have won five straight games and have opened up a five game lead on the Beloit Sky Carp in the Midwest League West Division thanks to the dominance over the Miami Marlins affiliate this week.

The Cubs are red hot, but the next series set on the schedule will be no easy task. Just as South Bend is on their big push to the postseason, so are the West Michigan Whitecaps. Arguably, they have been the best East Division team in the second half this season, but they have been challenged by the Lake County Captains, who now have a one game lead in the East.

Point being, West Michigan will have their sense of urgency on this upcoming week just as the Cubs will. This is set to be a battle of two heavyweights, and although the Cubs aren’t competing against the Whitecaps directly in division games, these W’s will be so valuable.

Beloit being back five games puts their elimination number at 14. The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers ended their weekend by dropping back-to-back games versus Cedar Rapids, and their elimination number stands at 12.

The race to win the West Division will award the second half champ the opportunity to play the Kernels in the first round of the playoffs. If South Bend wants that chance, they must take care of business this week in Grand Rapids. They have done the tough work of burying the Sky Carp further down in second place, and now the Cubs can put the nail in the coffin.

Everything seems to be going according to plan right now for Lance Rymel’s team. All parts of the order are hitting, the rotation has been excellent, the back end of the bullpen continues to lock down late, and the team chemistry is off the charts.

As you can probably tell by the amount of water and gatorade dumped on five straight postgame interviews this week, this team has fun, and they enjoy being around one another. Let’s see what happens up in Michigan!

Players to watch on West Michigan…

Jackson Jobe, RHP: It’s no secret that the Detroit Tigers have continuously stockpiled talent over the last few years in the MLB Draft because of what their current situation is in Major League Baseball. Give the Tigers credit though, they have been aggressive and have taken some absolute studs like Matt Manning, Casey Mize, Riley Greene, Spencer Torkelson, and others. Jackson Jobe is hoping to join that group of Tigers 1st round picks to achieve success. Just 20-years-old, Jobe was called up to West Michigan from Low-A Lakeland just about a week ago. He has yet to start a game in the Midwest League, and it is likely that he’ll make his High-A debut versus the South Bend Cubs. Jobe was the third overall selection in the 2021 MLB Draft, and he started his pro career in pretty solid fashion with Lakeland. For a guy that is just entering his 20s, he posted a 4.52 ERA in 18 starts at Low-A. Plus, he walked just 25 hitters in over 61 innings of work. That’s really solid control from a young guy. Mix that with 71 strikeouts, and this kid has already shown he can be a force in the future for Detroit. We talk a lot about the South Bend rotation depth, but West Michigan’s is pretty substantial.

Josh Crouch, C: First of all, what an incredible name for a catcher. Josh Crouch. That’s one that will absolutely stick in the Big Leagues. Secondly, what a run it has been for the former UCF Knight, who was drafted in the 11th round by the Tigers in 2021. Crouch started the season with Low-A Lakeland and hit .333 in 11 games, after which he was moved up to West Michigan. The same type of success has continued in Grand Rapids for him, as he is batting .301 in 74 games. Not only has he helped West Michigan achieve the second best team batting average in the league (number one spot belongs to South Bend), but he gets to work with a young pitching staff that is full of top prospects for Detroit. Crouch has only struck out 45 times in 276 at-bats as well. This is a guy with a really solid feel for the strike zone, and he brings that in each phase of the game.

Jake Holton, 1B: West Michigan may have the 12th overall selection from this year’s draft, Jace Jung, on their roster, but so far it has been Jake Holton stealing the show on the right side of the infield for West Michigan. Jung is hitting just .216 in two weeks with the Whitecaps, and his time will come, but Holton has been spectacular, especially in the month of August. The former Creighton BlueJay has crushed 13 home runs with West Michigan along with 63 RBI on the season. In the month of August, the late summer has also been kind to Holton with a .485 on-base percentage this month alone, plus 14 walks to only seven strikeouts in August too. The West Michigan lineup featured a whole lot of depth, experience, and power. Cubs pitchers will have to be ready.

Players to watch on South Bend…

Pete Crow-Armstrong, CF: PCA has been one of the best players in the Midwest League over the last two months and his impact on the South Bend Cubs continues to show in all three phases each and every game. Let’s start at the plate. Pete is hitting .310 in the month of August, and just got done tormenting Beloit Sky Carp pitching over the last week. Earlier in the series against Beloit, PCA manufactured a run all by himself on two occasions. The first took place when he singled off of M.D. Johnson, stole second, went to third and tagged on a ball hit to deep left field, then scored on a wild pitch after getting in Johnson’s head by dancing and running off the third base bag. Incredible. Of course what followed later in the week was remarkable. A ‘little league’ home run on a triple laced down the left field line, PCA then scored and took home on a ball thrown away from the bag at third. Lastly, the defense. The glove of PCA is as good as ever, and he makes playing center field in pro baseball quite frankly look easy. He electrifies Four Winds Field, and is a big reason of why the Cubs are on this type of run.

Sheldon Reed, RHP: We mentioned earlier just how dynamic the back-end of the South Bend Cubs bullpen has been of late. A big reason of why the Cubs played so well against Beloit this past week had a lot to do with South Bend not allowing much of anything in the 7th, 8th, or 9th innings. One guy that has been a huge part of that lately is Sheldon Reed. After he was called up from the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, Reed came to South Bend with a 0.00 ERA. There is always a learning curve when you jump up a level, and now that Reed has been through it, he is excelling. When South Bend and Beloit were in a late rain delay on Saturday night on Marquee Sports Network, Reed was responsible for pitching the top of the 9th inning just out of the delay. That’s after Joe Nahas struck out Zach Zubia to end the 8th inning just before the tarp went on the field. Reed hung a zero and worked a quick 9th, giving the Cubs a chance to walk it off, which they did thanks to Luis Verdugo. For the former Clemson man Reed, he has not allowed a run in five consecutive innings that have spanned over four straight outings. South Bend pitchers have struck out 1135 batters on the season.

Casey Opitz, C: You know The Sandberg Game, you remember The Baker Game, now we introduce you to The Opitz Game. Casey Opitz was a defining reason why the South Bend Cubs were victorious yesterday over Beloit. A two home run day, a terrific job at first base, and a key 3-2 double play turned in the top of the 5th inning that kept a key run off the board for the Sky Carp. Keep in mind that Opitz is a catcher by trade, and he played his first few pro games at first base this week. All of that combined into his spectacular play made his weekend even more special. Opitz is a key part of the clubhouse and provides an excellent trade of being a great teammate. This South Bend Cubs team is close knit, and all of the Cubs rallying around Opitz was a really nice symbol of Sunday’s win. Opitz continues to show off the power, with both home runs hit in the finale against Beloit coming from the right side of the plate. The switch-hitting catcher provides a really nice yin-yang factor with Pablo Aliendo behind the plate too.

Schedule…

Tuesday, August 23 - 6:35 PM ET: LHP Luke Little vs. LHP Matt Walker

Wednesday, August 24 - 6:35 PM ET: RHP Porter Hodge vs. RHP Jackson Jobe

Thursday, August 25 - 6:35 PM ET: RHP Luis Devers vs. RHP Garrett Burhenn

Friday, August 26 - 6:35 PM ET: RHP Kohl Franklin vs. RHP Keider Montero

Saturday, August 27- 6:35 PM ET: RHP Richard Gallardo vs. RHP Dylan Smith

Sunday, August 28 - 2:00 PM ET: RHP Daniel Palencia vs LHP Matt Walker

Catch the entire six-game series in Grand Rapids on Sports Radio 960 AM WSBT, online at wsbtradio.com, or on MiLB.com with Max Thoma on the call.