Chicago Cubs Around the Farm 4/22/23: Brennen Davis Bounces Back

It is awesome to see Brennen Davis earn a Biggest Yes here. Especially after he picked up his third Biggest Yikes award on Friday.

Davis did it all in this game. He hit a double, smacked his second home run of the season 423 feet to left-center, and even stole a base for good measure. While this performance didn't push Davis's average to above .200 on the year, it can hopefully give him some confidence to return to form.

Biggest Yikes: Vinny Nittoli — 1.2 IP, 1 H, 2 BB, 5 R, 1 ER, E

Nittoli's stat line is a little misleading. Yes, he only gave up one "earned" run in his 1.2 innings. However, the error that led to the other runs not being "earned" was Nittoli's own throwing error. And yes, some of Nittoli's runs crossed the plate with Manny Rodríguez on the mound. Still, Nittoli put up a stinker out there, so he's still getting Biggest Yikes.

Double-A Tennessee: 0-11 Loss to Chattanooga Lookouts

Biggest Yes: Porter Hodge — 4.0 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 0 R, 3 SO

It can be hard to swallow giving the Biggest Yes to Hodge here for producing a 1.5 WHIP and barely escaping his start unscathed. Still, he did escape without giving up a run, and he worked around all of the Lookouts players he put on base. Throw in the fact that the rest of the Smokies' pitching staff surrendered 11 runs and the offense produced zero, and Porter Hodge earning his fourth-career Biggest Yes makes even more sense for my 14th-best Cubs prospect.

Biggest Yikes: Michael McAvene — 0.2 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 4 ER, 2 SO

Yeesh. McAvene takes the cake on a night where there were a lot of tough outings for the Smokies. McAvene, my 82nd-ranked prospect, entered the game in the sixth inning with Tennessee only losing 2-0. After McAvene left the mound, the Lookouts were up 8-0.

If you're doing the math, McAvene inherited a couple of runners. He immediately got them across the plate to go along with his four earned runs. The command was just gone. It was walks, wild pitches, and hitting people with pitches to go along with several singles and one double. Not great!

High-A South Bend: 4-2 Victory Over Great Lakes Loons

Biggest Yes: Bradlee Beesley — 1/3, 2 RBI, SB

This game was not the most exciting one all things considered. No performances stood out as dominant. It was a High-A baseball game where one team mostly just did less badly than the other.

Beesley, though, at least came in clutch with his two RBIs in the fifth inning. It was a single with two outs, but it was enough to score Juan Mora and Scott McKeon. In a two-run game, that was all the Cubs needed to come out on top. It earns Beesley, who is hitting a solid .271 on the season, his first-career Biggest Yes award.

Biggest Yikes: Jacob Wetzel — 0/4, SO, 2 LOB

Wetzel didn't do anything atrocious in this game. Rather, as mentioned above, this was just kind of an average game with average performances across the board. Wetzel had the least average performance in a bad way while Beesley had the least average performance in a good way. Wetzel couldn't get it done at the plate, striking out and leaving runners on base while coming up empty in each plate appearance.