Chicago Cubs Around the Farm 26th Edition: 9/6/22

On Tuesday, Sept. 6, the Chicago Cubs’ minor league affiliates went 3-1 on the day. High-A South Bend came up just a couple of runs shy during an almost-miracle comeback to prevent the farm from going undefeated.

Several super fun performances took place Tuesday, including Jake Slaughter hitting two home runs for Double-A Tennessee and Kevin Alcantara going back-to-back nights with long balls. Let’s dive in.

Triple-A Iowa Cubs: 6-2 Victory Over Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp

Biggest Yes: Levi Jordan — 2/4, HR (6), RBI, 2 R

Levi Jordan makes his first appearance in the Around the Farm series by putting together another solid game. Basically, Jordan switches off every month either tearing it up at the plate or struggling to produce. The Cubs sent him down to Tennessee in late April after he struggled initially in Iowa.

With Tennessee, Jordan got his groove back to the tune of a .353/.446/.671 slash line, which is absolutely absurd. Now, my 47th-best Cubs prospect has his Triple-A slash line up to .271/.318/.429. It’s obviously not the insanity that Jordan put together in Double-A, but it is certainly respectable, and it helped his team win on Tuesday. We’ll take it.

Biggest Yikes: Trent Giambrone — 1/4, 2 SO, 3 LOB, CS

Outside of some flashes of power in Tennessee in 2018 and Iowa in 2019, Giambrone has never been great with the bat. The 28-year-old was the DH in this one, and he did manage a single, but he found a way to get out in every other at-bat. Still, 1-for-4 isn’t terrible, so why the Biggest Yikes here?

Glad you asked. Giambrone’s single time on base ended with him getting caught attempting to steal second in the fourth inning. In his defense, Giambrone is normally a very talented base swiper. He was 11-for-12 in his previous attempts with Iowa. Still, Tuesday wasn’t a successful game for Giambrone, so he picks up his first Biggest Yikes.

Double-A Tennessee Smokies: 14-4 Victory Over Pensacola Blue Wahoos

Biggest Yes: Jake Slaughter — 2/4, BB, 2 HR (19), 6 RBI, 4 R

It must be fall because Jake Slaughter was out there raking on Tuesday. As the Smokies routed the Blue Wahoos (possibly the best team name in sports), Slaughter set the tone for Tennessee in the first inning with a two-run shot. Then, after helping his team to score 10 runs, Slaughter smacked a grand slam in the eighth.

Slaughter is a guy it is easy to root for, and it’s always fun to watch those guys do well. He’s at No. 41 on my top prospects list, and it will be interesting to see what the Chicago Cubs try to do with him after this season.

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Biggest Yikes: Ben Hecht — 1.0 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 2 ER

It's hard to find a player to award the Biggest Yikes when the team wins 14-4. That being said, even though Hecht allowed his two earned runs in the eighth inning as the Smokies were winning 10-1, you still don’t like to see a pitcher give up multiple runs in their one inning of work.

It continues a pattern for Hecht, who—in a small sample size of 11.2 innings pitched—has given up 13 earned runs and surrendered 12 walks against 12 strikeouts.

High-A South Bend Cubs: 6-8 Loss to Cedar Rapids Kernels

Biggest Yes: Jordan Nwogu — 2/5, 2B, 2 RBI, SB

Jordan Nwogu is picking up his fourth Biggest Yes award in series history, placing him solely in third place behind just Matt Mervis and Pete Crow-Armstrong. It feels like he’s doing it as no one is talking about him — except me, of course.

Nwogu, my 32nd top prospect in the Chicago Cubs' system, has raw tools that could make him incredibly dangerous as an MLB prospect if he can harness it all. His contact skills have continued to improve as of late, and he already has the potential to be a 20/20 type of player.

Biggest Yikes: Bailey Reed — 1.0 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, 6 ER, 3 SO

The good news: Reed posted a 27.0 SO/9. Sick. The bad news: everything else.

Reid took the mound in the eighth inning with the Kernels leading 2-1. He proceeded to get demolished by Cedar Rapids hitters. Walks, doubles, home runs—you name it, Reed gave it up. If the 24-year-old righty reigns almost any of this in, the Cubs’ almost-miracle comeback (five runs in the ninth capped off by Nwogu’s two-RBI double) could have succeeded.

Low-A Myrtle Beach Pelicans: 5-4 Victory Over Carolina Mudcats

Biggest Yes: Kevin Alcantara — 2/5, HR (15), 2 RBI

Alcantara, my No. 3 Chicago Cubs' prospect, has been on a tear as of late. This is his second Biggest Yes award in a row after he also had two hits and a home run Sunday. Then, he hit a popup into orbit which fell for an error and won the game for the Pelicans in the ninth.

The 20-year-old slugger had a bit of a down July, but he has certainly picked it up over August and September. In fact, Alcantara has already matched his July home run total (2) in just five September games. Hopefully, Alcantara continues to show this level of consistency as he builds up his profile moving forward.

Biggest Yikes: Josue Huma — 0/4, 3 SO, 1 LOB

Koen Moreno has now twice made an appearance without getting the Biggest Yikes award. He still could have. Moreno pitched 3.0 innings and gave up three hits, one walk, and two earned runs, but he did strike out four. However, Josue Huma didn’t want that for him.

Not only did he put up nothing at the plate, but Huma also struck out 75% of the time. This isn’t just some random player thrown out there to field a team, either. The 22-year-old has two Biggest Yes awards, which places him in a (rather crowded) tie for 10th-most in the Chicago Cubs’ farm system. The shortstop is off to a 3-for-19 start in September, and Tuesday looked rough for him.