Every Monday we take a moment to check in on the Cubs’ Boys of Autumn playing for the Mesa Solar Sox in the Arizona Fall League.
In case you missed the earlier installments, the Solar Sox are a team in the Arizona Fall League, a minor league that plays every October and November in Spring Training stadiums. The Mesa Solar Sox play their home games at Sloan Park, the Cubs’ Spring Training home. This year, their roster is made up of minor leaguers from the Cubs, Athletics, Angels, Blue Jays and Red
Sox.
If you missed them or just want to relive them, you can check out the introduction, week one, week two and week three updates.
We’re fortunate enough to have another Solar Sox interview with catcher Miguel Useche coming up later today. I provided some questions to Sam Bradfield of Purple Row, our sister site for the Rockies. So be sure to thank her if you find yourself over there.
The Solar Sox played five games this past week with Friday’s schedule getting wiped out by rain. The Solar Sox won their first game of the week, then lost the next two and won the final two for a record of 3-2. That puts the Solar Sox at 9-11 on the year and in fifth place out of six teams. However, the top five teams are all pretty bunched up and first-place Peoria is only up three games on the Solar Sox at 13-9.
Here’s how those five games went. The home team is listed last.
Monday, October 26: SOLAR SOX 13, Glendale Desert Dogs 12
Tuesday, October 27: Scottsdale Scorpions 11, SOLAR SOX 6
Wednesday, October 28: Surprise Saguaros 13, SOLAR SOX 2
Thursday, October 29: SOLAR SOX 21, Salt River Rafters 5
Saturday, October 31: SOLAR SOX 5, Scorpions 4
Here’s how the individual Cubs on the Solar Sox did this past week, including some disturbing injury news.
Infielder Juan Cabada: As an 18-year-old playing in a league with prospects much older, Cabada continues to struggle at the plate. Cabada played second base for the Solar Sox on Monday and Wednesday and went a combined 9 for 7 with two walks. He did score two runs.
For the AFL season, Cabada’s averages have dropped down to .135/.273/.162 with one steal. He’s scored five runs and has three RBI.
Outfielder Harrison Feinberg: Feinberg did not play this past week. In fact, he hasn’t played since last Monday. In the five games he has played in this year, Feinberg is hitting 333/.455/.333 with two RBI and two runs scored. He also has two steals.
Outfielder Kade Snell: Snell played three times this past week and managed to cover all three outfield positions. Snell was the right fielder on Monday, the center fielder on Wednesday and the right fielder on Thursday.
Snell also had a good week at the plate. He was 1 for 4 with a walk and two steals on Monday. On Wednesday he was 2 for 4 with a solo home run, his first home run in the AFL. In Thursday’s blowout, Snell was 3 for 6 with a walk and four runs scored. He scored six times this week and had just the one RBI.
Over the 15 games Snell has played this year in the AFL, Snell has put up a line of .291/.443/.400 with five steals.
Here’s some great defense by Snell in center field [VIDEO].
Here’s Snell’s home run.
Catcher Miguel Useche: Useche had a monster week in the AFL this week, earning a place among the AFL performers of the week. He played three games this week, serving as the catcher on Tuesday and Thursday and playing first base on Wednesday. On Tuesday, Useche was 2 for 4 with a walk and a two-run home run, his first in the AFL. He had four total RBI in that game.
On Wednesday, Useche was 1 for 3 with a walk. But in Thursday’s 21-run explosion, Useche went 3 for 5 with three doubles and two walks. He had five runs batted in and two runs overall.
In 12 games in the AFL, which includes a couple of games on the Salt River Rafters, Useche is hitting .282/.408/.513 with four doubles, one triple and a home runs.
This isn’t our interview with Useche, but it’s a good interview anyways. [VIDEO]
A two-run single and a two-run home run for Useche [VIDEO].
Here are Useche’s three doubles on Thursday. [VIDEO]
Right-hander Juan Cabral: Cabral relieved Dominick Reid in the second inning of Tuesday’s game (more on that below) and allowed one inherited runner to score and one run of his own in an inning of work. Cabral’s final line was one run on one hit and two walks over one inning. He struck out two.
Right-hander Anhuar Garcia: Garcia had a better outing on Thursday, throwing 2.1 innings of relief without allowing any runs of his own, although Garcia did allow an inherited runner to score in the third inning. He did give up two hits and walked three while striking out three. He also hit one batter.
On the season, Garcia has pitched five times, totaling 12 innings. Garcia has a 6.75 ERA and has walked 11 and struck out eight.
Right-hander Yoendris Gonzalez: Gonzalez was having a terrible AFL campaign over the first half of the season, so it’s good to see that he had one good outing. But before we get to that, Gonzalez pitched an inning on Monday and gave up two runs on two hits and a walk. He struck out two.
But on Thursday, Gonzalez pitched two scoreless innings, closing out the 21-5 blowout in a non-save situation. He allowed just one hit. Gonzalez did not walk or strike anyone out.
Gonzalez’s line on the season is still pretty ugly, however. Over 4.2 innings and five appearances, Gonzalez sports a 19.29 ERA. But that’s way down from the 43.20 ERA he had this time last week.
Right-hander Dominick Reid: Reid had been one of the best pitchers in the AFL this year, but something went wrong on his start on Tuesday. After giving up a run in the first base, Reid walked the first batter of the inning and then left the game after uncorking a very wild pitch to the next batter. He left along side the trainer, so there was clearly some kind of injury there.
Cabral relieved Reid and Cabral ended up walking the batter that Reid was facing when he left. Both runners scored, so Reid’s final line was three runs on two hits and three walks over 1+ innings. He struck out three.
On the season, Reid is 2-1 with a 3.46 ERA over 13 innings. He’s struck out 17 batters and walked eight. It seems very possible that Reid’s wild pitch was the last pitch he’ll throw in the AFL this year.
Right-handers Luis Rujano: Rujano just pitched on Saturday, giving up a run in the seventh inning but getting the win after the Solar Sox scored three times in the top of the eighth. Rujano’s final line on Saturday was one run on three hits over one inning. He did not walk or strike anyone out.
For the season, Rujano is 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA over five relief appearances and six innings. He has struck out five and walked four.
