Chicago Cubs Around the Farm 42nd Edition: 9/24/22

Around the Chicago Cubs’ farm on Saturday, Sept. 24, the Iowa Cubs were the only team in action. They won, which technically means the entire farm system was undefeated Saturday. You can’t tell me I’m wrong.

The Tennessee Smokies are still playing, but they were off Saturday as they prepare to start their quest for a Southern League championship Sunday. So, without further delay, check out the best and worst in Iowa for the 42nd edition of Around the Farm.

Triple-A Iowa Cubs: 9-4 Victory Over Omaha Storm Chasers

Biggest Yes: Matt Mervis — 2/5, 2 RBI, 1 R

It had been nine whole games since Matt Mervis last received a Biggest Yes award. I know you were all worrying about it. Now, he picks up his system-leading 10th Biggest Yes with a relatively modest—for him—performance. This game did not feature a couple of Cubs' bats hitting long balls to rack up runs. Rather, Iowa had several steady performances on their way to nine runs.

Mervis was a key cog in the operation. The 24-year-old just continues to produce, and it’s actually nice to see him be effective when he isn’t just launching dingers. Iowa’s season is almost over, so the watch on Mervis now is two-fold:

1. Can he catch Moises Gomez and his 38 home runs? Mervis is at 35, tied with Alexander Canario.
2. Can he end his time in Triple-A batting over .300 as he did in High-A and Double-A?

Biggest Yikes: Anderson Espinoza — 5.0 IP, 6 H, 1 BB, 4 ER, 8 SO

Mostly because everyone had a relatively good game, Espinoza picks up his fourth Biggest Yikes award while collecting a win. Espinoza gave up two home runs and ended up with a 7.20 ERA, so he did struggle enough to justify the Biggest Yikes.

It was a typical performance in that way for him. Espinoza threw hard and struck out eight over the course of 5.0 innings. He went 1-2-3 with two strikeouts in the second and recorded three strikeouts in the third inning. Yet, he still surrendered four runs along the way.