Toyota Road Report: April 12-17

After posting a 1-2 record in their first series of 2022 against the defending champion Quad Cities River Bandits, the South Bend Cubs will pack the bus for the first time this season as they head to Fort Wayne to take on the TinCaps in a six-game series beginning on Tuesday night at 6:35 PM.

The lone South Bend win in the first three games was a 2-1 final over Quad Cities on Saturday evening. The Cubs kept it close on Opening Night, losing 4-3 in 10 innings. The River Bandits cruised to an 8-2 victory on Sunday afternoon.

South Bend’s big arms were on display at Four Winds Field this past week. As Chris Clarke, DJ Herz, Max Bain, and Kohl Franklin all took the hill against Quad Cities. The Cubs rotation will round out with both Daniel Palencia and Jordan Wicks set to make their 2022 debuts.

The level of talent on South Bend’s roster continues to shine, and plenty of star power will be on display from both sides at Parkview Field this week. Fort Wayne, the High-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres, has historically welcomed some of the most dangerous bats and arms that the Padres system has to offer such as Trea Turner, Fernando Tatis Jr., Ryan Weathers, and CJ Abrams.

Players to watch on Fort Wayne…

Robert Hassell III, OF: Hassell’s arrival in Fort Wayne continues the long lineage of Padres first round picks to call the 260 home. The Franklin, Tennessee native was the eighth overall selection in the 2020 draft, and he was taken just eight picks ahead of South Bend Cubs shortstop Ed Howard. Pete Crow-Armstrong, who was acquired by the Cubs for Javy Baez last season, was also a first round pick in that draft. Through the first series of the season in Dayton, Hassell has shown his power ability with a .455 batting average, one home run, and four RBI. In total, he has been on base seven times in three games.

Robert Gasser, LHP: South Bend has already faced a talented southpaw this season in Quad Cities’ Tyson Guerrero, but midway through the series in Fort Wayne, they’ll see Gasser for the first time. A comp-pick of the Padres in 2021, Gasser was selected out of the University of Houston program with quite the track record. In 2021 for the Cougars, Gasser struck out 105 batters in just over 85 innings. With the TinCaps, he only pitched 2.1 innings on Opening Night versus Dayton and surrendered two runs. However, last year in low-A ball, he posted a 1.29 ERA in five starts with just two walks in 14 innings pitched.

Ripken Reyes, INF: Reyes is a familiar name to those who followed the Midwest League when it was a low-A affiliate system. A 30th round pick of the Padres in 2019, Reyes has carved out a solid start to his career for himself. The Bremerton, Washington native hit .364 and .280, respectively last season between Low-A Lake Elsinore and High-A Fort Wayne. He’s back again at Parkview Field to start the season and went three for his first six at the plate versus the Dragons. Reyes’ glove is also super reliable in the field, usually at shortstop. If you’re going to have a first name dedicated to the most consistently hard-working baseball player ever, you’ll have to back that up. So far, Reyes has done exactly that.

Players to watch on South Bend…

Jordan Wicks, LHP: Along with Palencia in the series opener, Wicks’ debut is quite the anticipated one. Making his professional debut last season with the South Bend Cubs after being drafted in the first round out of Kansas State, Wicks now begins his first full season in the Chicago Cubs farm system. His first pro start came on September 5, 2021 against Lake County. In a scoreless inning thrown, Wicks struck out the first batter he ever faced. The southpaw went on to pitch three more games for South Bend last season and finished with a 5.14 ERA in the four total starts. He will take the rubber against the TinCaps on Wednesday night at 6:45 PM.

Ed Howard, INF: First round picks continue to be a monstrous theme of this upcoming series. With his family on hand in South Bend on Sunday afternoon, Howard picked up his first RBI base hit as a South Bend Cub against the River Bandits. In the series versus Quad Cities, Howard had two total RBI and just missed his first High-A home run on Opening Night. Defensively, Howard has flashed the leather as well at shortstop, starting each of the Cubs three games there to begin the season.

Jeremiah Estrada, RHP: The rotation of the South Bend bullpen will take some time to get down, but it was former Chicago Cubs sixth round pick Jeremiah Estrada picking up the only save of the series for South Bend against Quad Cities. In a perfect 9th inning on Saturday, Estrada struck out the side all swinging and displayed a nasty breaking ball. Estrada dominated through hitters and Low-A Myrtle Beach last season when healthy, as he posted a 1.57 ERA in 11 games with the Pelicans. Manager Lance Rymel has plenty of options for the Cubs late in games between Estrada, Nicholas Padilla, and Bailey Reid.

Schedule…

Tuesday, April 12 - 6:35 ET: RHP Daniel Palencia vs. LHP Noel Vela

Wednesday, April 13 - 6:35 ET: LHP Jordan Wicks vs. RHP Adam Smith

Thursday, April 14 - 7:05 ET: RHP Chris Clarke vs. LHP Robert Gasser

Friday, April 15- 7:05 ET: LHP DJ Herz vs. RHP Ryan Bergert

Saturday, April 16 - 1:05 ET: RHP Kohl Franklin vs. LHP Jackson Wolf

Sunday, April 17 - 1:05 ET: RHP Daniel Palencia vs LHP Noel Vela

Catch the entire six-game series in Fort Wayne on Sports Radio 960 AM WSBT, online at wsbtradio.com, or at MiLB.com with Brendan King on the call.