Minor League Monday: Week 1 of MiLB

Minor League Baseball is back baby! This week was the opening day for MILB action, after a cancelled 2020 season. Here's a brief look around the league as the Cubs farm system gets back into action.

But first: did you know you can stream ALL FOUR AFFILIATES on MILB.TV for $40 per year. Plus you can find a discount code to save $10 (I used Pelicans). Caleb and I have been watching a ton of minor league baseball. At basically $10 per month, it's well worth it.

Onto the tidbits:

Iowa Cubs

The AAA Iowa Cubs are off to a 3-2 start. Most exciting, they had a combined team no hitter on Sunday May 8th. Shelby Miller, Tommy Nance, Brad Wieck and Ryan Meisinger. Last no hitter was in 2014 on the road. Last home no hitter was 1984. As for individual players of note:

-Kohl Stewart had a nice start: 5 innings of 1 run ball while striking out 9 to just 1 walk.

-Cory Abbott had a 6 inning start: 3 ER, 3 BB and 8 Ks.

-Rafael Ortega had 3 home runs and an OPS over 1.000.

Tennessee Smokies

The AA Smokies began their season 3-2. For individual players:

-Miguel Amaya is hot enough, OPS of .932.

-Cam Sanders had a nice 5 shutout inning start. Allowing just 1 walk and striking out 7.

-Brennen Davis is on the 7 day injury list, and did not play.

Myrtle Beach Pelicans

The low A Pelicans began the season 2-4, dropping their first 3 games.

-Ryan Reynolds (not the actor) hit for the cycle (in his first four games).

-Ed Howard had 3 hits in his first 18 at bats, including 10 strikeouts. He did have some flashy defense though.

-Manuel Espinoza started two games, gave up 3 runs in 9 innings.

South Bend Cubs

The South Bend Cubs A+ opened to 2-3, and got rained out on Mother's Day.

-Chase Strumpf had a nice first week, with a 1.169 OPS and a batting average over .400.

-Burl Carraway pitched two games and got his first save of the season. No runners allowed.

Play of the week:

Ed Howard made a nice stab on opening night: