Young, Leal take home Cubs minor league honors for July

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (July 5, 2018) - Myrtle Beach Pelicans infielder Jared Young has earned the Chicago Cubs' Minor League Player of the Month for July and pitcher Erick Leal has been named the Chicago Cubs' Minor League Pitcher of the Month for July, the organization announced Sunday.
A native of Prince George, British Columbia, Canada, Young batted .350/.414/.510 (.924 OPS) in 27 games in July. He ripped four doubles and four home runs while posting 17 RBIs and reaching in all 27 contests. The 23-year-old began the month with Low-A South Bend, hitting .455 (10-for-22) in six games before his July 7 promotion to Myrtle Beach. With the Pelicans, he hit .321 (25-for-78) over 21 games. 

Young was named the Cubs' Minor League Player of the Month in June for South Bend as well, posting a .340/.393/.570 line with five homers and 27 RBIs in 27 games.
Playing in his first full professional season after being drafted out of Old Dominion in the 15th round of the 2017 draft, Young is slashing .303/.367/.499 through 95 games in 2018 between South Bend and Myrtle Beach. Young has improved from his first go-around in the minors after hitting just .257/.311/.336 for Short Season Low-A Eugene in 2017. 
A native of Valencia in Venezuela, Leal missed the entire 2017 season due to injury. In 2018, his dominance culminated in a brilliant July in which he did not allow an earned run over 22.2 innings. Through seven appearances, two starts, the righty went 1-0, only allowing two unearned runs on eight hits (.107 opponent batting average) while striking out 25 and walking one. Leal's 0.40 WHIP was the lowest in all of Minor League Baseball over the month. He was also just one of two minor league pitchers to own a 0.00 ERA over the month. 
The 23-year-old pitcher has accumulated a 1.10 ERA over 17 appearances, six starts, this season. Through his 49.0 innings, Leal has whiffed 46 while walking eight. Among pitchers who have thrown at least 40 innings in the Carolina League, Leal places first in ERA and WHIP (0.67) while ranking second in opponant batting average (.148). 
Originally signed by the Diamondbacks as an international free agent in 2011, Leal was traded to the Cubs in 2013 along with pitcher Jesus Castillo for outfielder Tony Campana. Over the course of his minor league career, Leal is 35-19 with a 3.05 ERA in 101 games, 79 starts, over 456.2 innings.
Young and Leal join current catcher Jhonny Pereda (May) and right-handed pitcher Matt Swarmer (April) as the only Pelicans to earn a monthly honor from the Cubs in 2018. Swarmer was promoted to Double-A Tennessee on June 5. 
The 2018 season is the 20th season for the Pelicans franchise and fourth as the Class A-Advanced affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. For tickets visit MyrtleBeachPelicans.com/tickets, call (843) 918-6000, or visit the Pelicans Box Office.
ABOUT THE PELICANS: The Myrtle Beach Pelicans are the Class A-Advanced affiliate of the Chicago Cubs and play their home games at TicketReturn.Com Field at Pelicans Ballpark in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Since being acquired by a group led by Chuck Greenberg during the 2006 season, the Pelicans have repeatedly set team attendance records and become known as one of Minor League Baseball's most innovative and creative franchises. The team and its employees have been dedicated to making a difference in the Myrtle Beach community, specifically giving back over $2 million in donations, fundraising proceeds, in-kind services and community service since launching the Pelicans Play It Forward Community Initiative in 2013. TicketReturn.Com Field at Pelicans Ballpark has ranked in the top eight in all of Minor League Baseball by Stadium Journey in six of the last seven seasons. The same publication also placed the Pelicans in the Top 100 Stadium Experiences and the best in the Carolina League for six of the past seven seasons. In June 2017, the Pelicans won the 2017 TripAdvisor.com Certificate of Excellence award. On the field, the team has won four Mills Cup Championships, including claims to back-to-back titles in 1999 and 2000, and again in 2015 and 2016. The Pelicans have made 11 postseason appearances behind 13 half-season Southern Division championships, including the first half of the 2015 season, second half of 2016 and first half of 2017. For more information on the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, please contact the Pelicans at (843) 918-6000 or email [email protected].