Ruoff Mortgage Homestand Preview: May 6-11

For their first home series of May, the South Bend Cubs will host the Fort Wayne TinCaps for six games at Four Winds Field this week. The TinCaps are the High-A, Midwest League affiliate of the San Diego Padres and will face the Cubs a total of 18 times this year.

One month down: With the season’s first month having gone by, the Cubs check in at 7-20 overall and 6-6 at home. They just returned from a road trip to Cedar Rapids in which the Kernels took five of the six games in the series. In South Bend’s lone victory, an 8-4 win on Friday, the Cubs never trailed after scoring a pair of runs in each of the game’s first two innings.

During the second half of the Cedar Rapids series, the Cubs introduced a new leadoff hitter, Ivan Brethowr. The towering outfielder ranks fourth in the Midwest League with a .465 on-base percentage and has been on base 22 times in the last 11 games. Brethowr providing a runner for Cristian Hernandez and Jefferson Rojas, the two top-11 Cubs prospects hitting behind him, adds a lot to South Bend’s offense. He also knows how to get runners in, ranking second in the league with his .421 runners in scoring position average.

In both of their home series (April 8-13 vs. Peoria and April 22-27 vs. Beloit), the Cubs have started fast. Against the Chiefs, they swiftly claimed the series by winning four in a row right out of the gate. Two weeks later, they jumped out to a 2-0 advantage against the Sky Carp before Beloit won four straight games to steal the series win.

Homestand highlights: If you’re coming out to the ballpark early in the series, make note of Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s non-traditional starting times. Tuesday’s series opener will get going at 6:05 PM ahead of Wednesday’s 11:05 AM Education Day game. The rest of the week will play out on a normal schedule, with Strike Out Stroke set for Friday and Beneficiary Day coming up on Saturday. For Sunday’s Mother’s Day and Sunday FUNday celebration, you can arrive early for player autographs, catch on the field, and our crossbody bag giveaway.

For a full look at the homestand’s promotions and ticket options, click here.

Tracking the TinCaps: Situated only 90 miles southeast of South Bend, the TinCaps are off to a good start under first-year manager Lukas Ray. At 15-12, they’re only two games back of the West Michigan Whitecaps for the Midwest League East division lead. Fort Wayne also comes in hot after going 5-1 in last week’s home series against the Dayton Dragons.

If there’s any one thing you should know about the TinCaps, it’s their shortstop. Leo De Vries, the top prospect in the Padres organization and the 16th-ranked prospect in Major League Baseball, has been as good as advertised. At just 18 years old out of the Dominican Republic, De Vries leads the Midwest League with an OPS just south of 1.000 and finished April as the Midwest League Player of the Month. On April 22 in Lansing, he put together a five-hit, eight-RBI cycle, completing the feat with a go-ahead, two-run triple in the top of the ninth inning.

Offensively, the Cubs should have an advantage on the basepaths. South Bend has stolen 51 bases to rank third in the Midwest League, while the TinCaps have ripped off just 17 bags. Fort Wayne also doesn’t take many walks, bottoming out the league with 97 this year. However, the TinCaps know how to play long ball, ranking second to Lake County with 21 home runs this season.

Last year, Fort Wayne claimed 11 of 18 games played against the Cubs. South Bend, however, won six of the last eight contests, winning a series at Parkview Field during the regular season’s final week.

South Bend’s players to watch…

Reginald Preciado, INF/OF: The 21-year-old Panamanian will have a chance to oppose the organization with which he started his professional baseball journey this week. The Padres signed Preciado to a $1.3 million international free agent deal in July 2019 but dealt him, Zach Davies, and Cubs No. 3 prospect Owen Caissie to Chicago in exchange for Yu Darvish and Victor Caratini in December 2020. Preciado hopes to show the TinCaps what they could have had as he faces Fort Wayne for the first time in his career. He rides into the series on a 10-game on-base streak after going 6-for-16 with five runs batted in at Cedar Rapids.

Jefferson Rojas, INF: Though his season didn’t start on schedule, Major League Baseball’s 93rd-ranked prospect is in a groove now. Rojas was South Bend’s best hitter in the Cedar Rapids series, going 9-for-24 with a double, two home runs, eight runs batted in, three stolen bases, and five runs scored. He drove in a South Bend Cubs career-high four runs on Thursday and enters the Fort Wayne set on a six-game hit streak. Spending the second half of last week’s road trip hitting behind team on-base percentage leader Ivan Brethowr, Rojas was given RBI chance after RBI chance and continues to deliver, as his season-long average with runners in scoring position now stands at .429.

Carlo Reyes, RHP: You’ll see a couple of new faces coming out of the South Bend bullpen this week at Four Winds Field. There’s lefty Evan Taylor, a former Arkansas teammate of South Bend Cub starter and Chicago Cubs No. 10 prospect Jaxon Wiggins, and then there’s Carlo Reyes. The 26-year-old right-hander wears No. 27 and was one of the best relievers in the organization last year. A former Phillies and Dodgers farmhand, Reyes was brilliant after the Cubs picked him up around this time last year, pitching to a 1.36 ERA with 56 strikeouts in 39.2 innings. He didn’t allow a single earned run during his six weeks in South Bend before getting the call to Double-A Knoxville in the middle of June. Returning to the Midwest League for 2025, Reyes debuted last Tuesday in Cedar Rapids with 1.2 scoreless innings.

Top prospects in the series…

South Bend: Jefferson Rojas (Cubs No. 7, MLB No. 93), Jaxon Wiggins (Cubs No. 10), Cristian Hernandez (Cubs No. 11)

Fort Wayne: Leo De Vries (Padres No. 1, MLB No. 16), Isaiah Lowe (Padres No. 10), Tyson Neighbors (Padres No. 15), Rosman Verdugo (Padres No. 24), Clark Candiotti (Padres No. 26)

Schedule and probables…

Tuesday, May 6 - 6:05 PM ET: RHP Tyler Schlaffer vs. RHP Ian Koenig

Wednesday, May 7 - 11:05 AM ET: RHP Kohl Franklin vs. RHP Clark Candiotti

Thursday, May 8 - 7:05 PM ET: RHP Jaxon Wiggins vs. RHP Jose Reyes

Friday, May 9 - 7:05 PM ET: RHP Nick Dean vs. TBA

Saturday, May 10 - 4:05 PM ET: RHP Ryan Gallagher vs. RHP Isaiah Lowe

Sunday, May 11 - 2:05 PM ET: RHP Kenten Egbert vs. RHP Eric Yost