Chicago Cubs Around the Farm 5/4/23: Tennessee Smokies Run Wild

Oh, okay, Ben Brown. I guess you can just waltz up to Triple-A and shove immediately in your first start. Brown just continued his dominance to start 2023 even though he was facing tougher competition. He gave up two singles to start the game before settling in. After that, he only surrendered one more hit, a double in the sixth inning to score Columbus's lone run of the day.

Brown went 1-2-3 in the third, fourth, and fifth innings as he continuously made batters look silly. The fastball was up to 97 MPH on the day, and opposing hitters just couldn't catch up to it.

Biggest Yikes: Christopher Morel — 0/4, 2 SO, 2 LOB

Morel is still cruising along as the best hitter in the Cubs' system. However, he was not able to make an impact in this game on the offensive side of things. Luckily, the Cubs didn't need him to produce the numbers he typically does because the pitching and defense were good. Still, you want to see Morel getting on base and forcing the issue for Chicago to bring him back up to the majors.

Double-A Tennessee: 19-2 Victory Over Rocket City Trash Pandas

Biggest Yes: Luis Vazquez — 5/7, HR (5), 3 RBI, 3 R

This game was fun. Any time you see a score this lopsided, there are likely going to be a ton of players to choose from when it comes to awarding Biggest Yes. This time, I went with Vazquez. His solo home run in the fourth inning helped the Smokies really break the game open. Still, he scored twice more outside of that and knocked in two more runs to boot.

Pete Crow-Armstrong was a contender for this award. The Cubs' top prospect had a home run and a double, going 3-for-6 with a RBI and three runs. Still, Vazquez got on base more and produced more with the bat, giving him his third-career Biggest Yes award.

Biggest Yikes: Haydn McGeary — 2/4, BB, 2B, 2 RBI, 1 R, 1 LOB, 2 E

This is probably the most productive stat line we have ever seen earn a Biggest Yikes award. McGeary batted .500, hit a double, knocked in two runs, and still gets rated as the worst performer? For me, it's the two errors.

Again, everyone did really well in this game. It's hard to have a team score 19, only give up two, and not have a bunch of great performances. McGeary continued to do his thing offensively, but he's going to need to shore up the defense if the 58th-best Cubs prospect wants to continue to climb through the minors.

High-A South Bend: 1-8 Loss to Cedar Rapids Kernels

Biggest Yes: Ezequiel Pagan — 2/4, E

Yes, Pagan committed an error and still gets Biggest Yes in this game. The South Bend Cubs were that bad overall. This is a great example of why Biggest Yes/Yikes are not perfect representations of the best/worst prospects in the Cubs' farm system, but instead are summations of the day-to-day grind. Pagan hit two singles, and — because every other Cubs player did worse — earns Biggest Yes.

Biggest Yikes: Sam Thoresen — 2.1 IP, 5 H, 3 BB, 5 R, 4 ER, 1 SO

When Thoresen entered this game, South Bend was down but not out. The Cubs were trailing 3-1 as Thoresen took the mound in the sixth. By the time he just finished the inning, South Bend was losing 7-1. A walk, a single, two doubles, a triple, and an error by Casey Opitz all contributed to Cedar Rapids taking this game and moving it out of reach.

Somehow, South Bend kept Thoresen in the game for another 1.1 innings, during which time he was only responsible for one more runner crossing the plate, but the damage was done.

Low-A Myrtle Beach: 0-6 Loss to Columbia Fireflies

Biggest Yes: Moises Ballesteros — 1/2, 2 BB

Yep. Myrtle Beach had a similar game to South Bend on Thursday, but the Pelicans couldn't even muster a run scored. For Ballesteros, he was at least on base all the time. Despite a lack of any type of power, Ballesteros was on base after 75 percent of his plate appearances. No one knocked him in to score, but in terms of getting to first base, Ballesteros crushed it. In a bad game all around, that's enough for Biggest Yes.

Biggest Yikes: Marino Santy — 3.0 IP, 2 H, 5 BB, 3 ER, 6 SO

In some ways, it feels weird giving a guy who had an 18 K/9 the Biggest Yikes award. On the other hand, Santy also had a 15 BB/9 and gave up three earned runs, so we're still good giving it to him. Throw in the wild pitches, and you get a 21-year-old with command issues, well, showcasing that he has command issues.