Cubs Minor League News: ACL Cubs take center stage |
By now, everyone knows how the Minor League season works. Monday is used as a travel day for the full-season leagues before embarking on their next six-game series. However, that doesn't mean no baseball will be played on Monday, as it will be known as Rookie League Monday.
This is the only day the Rookie Leagues can take center stage, as they deserve more love than what they are currently getting. For the next month, the ACL Cubs will be the only Rookie League team in action, as the DSL doesn't kick off until Monday, June 3. Once that happens, there will be three Rookie League teams to keep track of, but until then, it's time to focus on the ACL Cubs, who are looking for better results than 2023. So far, so good on that front, as the Cubs opened the season on a three-game winning streak before dropping their first two games to end the week. Well, make that three losses in a row as the Cubs took on the ACL Brewers on Monday, only to fall 5-3 to drop their record to 3-3 for the Summer. For those who don't follow the Rookie Leagues as much as the full-season leagues, this year will look drastically different. The League is starting roughly two months earlier than it has in the past. This means that their season will conclude right before the MLB draft starts, making it interesting to see where some of those draft picks will end up, knowing they won't have this League to play in. This is also a league where players rehab to get back into form before they report to their respective sites for the next step in the process. With the Cubs looking to get back on track, Freilyn Silverio got the ball. The 19-year-old was making his second start of the season. Silverio got through 3 1/3 innings for the Cubs, allowing two runs and striking out four, leaving the game with the lead. He turned things over to Zhiorman Imbriano, who threw 1 2/3 scoreless frames before Scarlyn Lebron got roughed up in his two innings. Opposing Silverio on the mound was 18-year-old right-hander Bryan Rivera, who struck out four in his 3 2/3. Rivera allowed three runs, with all of them coming in one inning, as things didn't get off to a great start for him. Not only did all those runs come in one inning, but they came in the first inning as the Cubs' aggressive, offensive approach put the Brewers in an early hole they would need to climb out of. Last year's top International signing, Derniche Valdez, looked great on his first trip to the States. He continued his hot start with an RBI double to put the Cubs in front 1-0. Valdez would later come home to score on Adan Sanchez's single, as his two-run single put the Cubs in front 3-0. Sanchez was one of the better hitters for the ACL last season, and with this being his second Summer in the League, it's only a matter of time before he reaches Myrtle Beach. Despite holding an early 3-0 lead, the Cubs offense went quiet the rest of the way as these were the only runs they would score off the Brewers pitching. It was a lead the Cubs held for a while, with the Brewers breaking through in the third for their first two runs. Fillipo Di Turi opened the scoring for the Brewers with a single before racing home on the Gery Holguin triple to pull within 3-2. That score would hold until the final inning when the Brewers offense came to life off Lebron. Already with traffic on the bases, Luiyin Alastre came through with an RBI knock, and just like that, this was a 3-3 game. With one RBI hit under his belt, Di Turi came through once more as his RBI double not only put the Brewers in front 4-3, but proved to be the winning run. They would add another run off a Lebron throwing error as three runs came home in the seventh to put the Brewers in front 5-3. Down to their final three outs, the Cubs went down quietly as Anfernny Reyes struck out the side to end the game and lifted the Brewers to the 5-3 win. The Cubs were held to four hits in the game as Angel Cepeda and Geuri Lubo joined Valdez and Sanchez with those hits.
