Cubs Minor League New: Moreno dominates, Mathis rakes in Solar Sox loss |
Dustin Riese
· · 11 hours ago
MESA - For the second consecutive day, the Mesa Solar Sox had the pleasure of playing at Sloan Park as they continue to settle into their groove for the 2025 Arizona Fall League season. This time, it was the Peoria Javelinas coming to town as the Solar Sox were looking for their first win of the campaign.
Unlike Tuesday when the Solar Sox fell behind four runs early and were forced to battle back, this was a pitchers' duel most of the night as a first-inning run was the lone run through six innings, which saw the Solar Sox hold a slim 1-0 lead. Then came the seventh when the Javelinas broke through to tie things up, only to have Mesa respond with four runs in the bottom of the seventh to open up a commanding 5-1 lead. From that moment on, it was all Peoria as they pushed across a pair of runs in both the eighth and ninth innings to force extras, only to score three more runs in the extra frame. Those three runs proved to be the difference as the Javelinas pulled off the 8-6 victory in 10 innings. After watching three of the Cubs' prospects take the field on Tuesday, it was time to see different prospects get some game action for the first time on Wednesday, with two of the three hailing from the pitching department. That included starting pitcher Koen Moreno, who made quite a first impression in his first outing. Drafted in the fifth round of the 2020 MLB draft, Moreno was never seen as a front-line starter, but his makeup and ability to locate his pitches put him in a position to earn a back-of-the-rotation spot a few years. Then came the injuries as Moreno went from a top-30 prospect early in his career to being pushed off the radar altogether. In other words, he is the pitching version of Ed Howard, as the potential is there to make an impact, but the overall health hasn't been there. Even if his start does count for anything on Wednesday, Moreno certainly looked good in his first outing of the fall as the right-hander twirled four scoreless innings in his debut. He allowed now runs on two hits in those innings, walking two and striking out three in what was a great pitching performance overall. The Cubs also saw Matthew Peters make his season debut on the mound, but with only 1/3 inning under his belt, there isn't much to go off of. He did allow a hit, but managed to finish off his outing without allowing a run, and that is all you can ask from any of these guys. When examining the history of the Arizona Fall League, particularly from a hitting perspective, it has always been an offensively gifted league. The Cubs have benefited from that in the past, as Nelson Velázquez, Jonathon Long, Owen Caissie, and Moises Ballesteros have all gone on to put up big numbers. Long and Ballesteros were the most recent players to light up the league in 2024, but this season is all about Cole Mathis and the growth his game is expected to undergo. Checking in as one of the Cubs' best hitting prospects, Mathis is finally fully recovered from his season-ending torn ACL in late 2024 and has cemented himself as a top-10 prospect in the Cubs system. Given the injury, Mathis didn't have a ton of at-bats during the regular season, and although he was productive in the at-bats he did have, the Cubs do want to see what else he has in store for them this season. Talk about a great first impression, not only did Mathis go a perfect 3-3 at the plate, but he also worked a walk to reach base four times and drove in two runs. Mathis began his night with a walk in the second before his leadoff single in the fifth seemed to awaken the Solar Sox offense. The big hit of the game for Mathis came in the seventh inning when he came through for the Solar Sox's third consecutive single as his single brought home two runs to put the Solar Sox on top 3-1 before falling by that 8-6 score in extras.
