Ruoff Mortgage Homestand Preview: July 23-28

After a weekend matching-up with Quad Cities, it’s a new opponent in town to continue this South Bend Cubs homestand following the All-Star Break. It’s a battle set between the Cubs and Peoria Chiefs, which means it’s once again time for some Cubs versus Cardinals, Midwest League style.

This new series features two ball club’s who have seen a lot of each other as of late. The last series played at Four Winds Field before the Midsummer Classic was against the Chiefs, and then the Cubs went to Peoria for three games right after as well. So far, the Chiefs have had the upper hand in the year-long series, going 10-2 against South Bend to date.

With about a month-and-a-half to go, the West Division in the Midwest League is still very much up for grabs. South Bend dropped the weekend series to Quad Cities after winning the opener on Friday, but still remain just seven games back of a playoff spot. It’s going to take some hard work, but everyone in the circuit is still very much in it. Entering the series, Peoria has lost four straight games and is now 12-12 in the second half, trailing the postseason position lead of the Cedar Rapids Kernels by two games.

Peoria was swept in their weekend set against Beloit, so this week’s series feels pretty big. If one of the two teams are able to win a series, that could be a major difference maker going forward. South Bend will go on the road to Wisconsin after this one, and after that point, there’s only 18 games to go at Four Winds Field in the regular season.

Over the last number of games against Peoria, we have witnessed masterful starting pitching performances by multiple Chiefs. Back on July 2, Darlin Saladin got the win at Four Winds Field and tossed 6.2 shutout innings, with no walks and eight strikeouts. He has started four Midwest League games, striking out exactly eight in all of them. He did struggle in his last outing at Quad Cities on July 14, giving up five runs. Still, if you’re surrendering five, and still striking out eight, your stuff is pretty gnarly.

Also, right-hander Inohan Paniagua has consistently thrown well against South Bend in his career, but in particular, here in 2024. He has won both of his starts versus the Cubs this season, and has combined for 11 shutout innings. Left-hander Pete Hansen will start twice for the Chiefs this week, that was the same case back in the early July home-and-home six games between the two.

Out of their bullpen, at last right-hander Osvaldo Berrios was called up to Double-A Springfield. The guy dominated the Midwest League in his second tour, after pitching with the Lansing Lugnuts last season. He walked two batters in 17.1 innings, with 23 strikeouts and four saves. Dominant.

At the plate, Won-Bin Cho is batting .333 in the month of July with a homer and six RBI. Also William Sullivan earlier this month had a multi-homer game at Four Winds Field, and is batting .304 in July after struggling for much of the season. Lastly, Alex Iadisernia is batting .316 over his last five games with three doubles and two RBI.

Players to Watch on South Bend…

Jaxon Wiggins, RHP: Coming off a Midwest League debut where the stuff of Jaxon Wiggins looked absolutely electrifying, the sequel on Saturday night is going to be very well anticipated for the Chicago Cubs number-19 overall prospect. In four innings back in the game on Saturday against Quad Cities, any damage Wiggins surrendered came in the 3rd inning, and there was nothing worse than a single or walk given up. The rest of the frames were pure domination, all 1-2-3 style. Of his four strikeouts, three of them came in a row early, and the Four Winds Field speed gun was a must track that night. Fastball’s that clocked in at triple digits, hanging consistently in the upper 90’s. A great mix displayed as well of his slider, curve, and changeup. Jaxon Wiggins is a huge addition to South Bend’s rotation, and you can sense that every time he takes the ball, the Cubs are going to have a chance to win. Now it’s a matter of how he can consistently keep the good stuff going, and when he’ll need to make adjustments at this level, how that is done. He’s got a former Big Leaguer as his pitching coach in Bruce Billings, and there’s a ton to build on from that first outing.

Reivaj Garcia, INF: What a last two weeks it has been for Reivaj Garcia. Not only did he pick up his first career five-hit game against the Peoria Chiefs back on July 3, and not only is he batting .400 in the month of July, but he also got a chance to fill-in a Triple-A Iowa while Moises Ballesteros and Owen Caissie went to the MLB Futures Game in Arlington. During his lone game with the I-Cubs, Garcia picked up a base-hit down in Nashville, the cool ballpark with that guitar shaped scoreboard. Garcia said he was impressed by the sheer size of Music City, and that playing at the stadium was a big moment in his career. No matter where he hits in the order, Garcia is going to give you a solid at-bat. He loves attacking early in the count, and he enjoys playing against the Chiefs, batting .407 in seven games, including his five-hit game. What’s impressive about Garcia is he takes the same approach from both sides of the plate as a switch-hitter, and on an everyday basis he can alternate from second base or third base and play the position skillfully. He’ll hope for another strong series versus Peoria, as the Cubs could use a series win to help them get back in the race.

Mitchell Tyranski, LHP: The South Bend Cubs bullpen has steadily and consistently improved by month-to-month this season. A welcome addition to the bullpen crew has been the former Los Angeles Dodgers draftee, Mitchell Tyranski. The southpaw was put in a challenging spot back in the spring, after he was released by LA, and then scooped up by the Cubs following Spring Training. Tyranski didn’t have much time to think, only time to go to work. New teammates, new environments, new coaching, new everything. And he has handled that extremely well. Tyranski brings a solid complexion of stuff, throwing in the mid 90s, and dropping in consistent nasty breaking stuff. The 26-year-old has a very respectable ERA at 3.00 in 18 games and batters are only hitting .174 against him on the campaign in total. Over his last seven outings, Tyranski has given up just one earned run, that days back to the middle of June. It’s all hands on deck at this point for the Cubs. Rotation, bullpen lineup, everybody has gotta play their part to get back in this thing. As mentioned, it’s only a seven game hurdle. One good week gets the Cubs into striking range. Let's see if it can be this series against Peoria. It’s a big one.

Schedule and Probables…

Tuesday, July 23 - 7:05 PM ET: LHP Pete Hansen vs RHP Nick Dean

Wednesday, July 24 - 12:05 PM ET: RHP Darlin Saladin vs LHP Drew Gray

Thursday, July 25 - 7:05 PM ET: LHP Brycen Mautz vs. RHP Will Sanders

Friday, July 26 - 7:05 PM ET: RHP Inohan Paniagua vs RHP Ty Johnson

Saturday, July 27 - 7:05 PM ET: RHP Hancel Rincon vs RHP Jaxon Wiggins

Sunday, July 28 - 2:05 PM ET: LHP Pete Hansen vs. RHP Erian Rodriguez