Cubs name farm boss; Fall Leaguers assigned

The busy days at Wrigley start earlier and earlier these days. We’ve got a few news items to get out of the way already and some interesting Cubs-Brewers discussion. We’ll also have the minor-league report below. The Cubs took another step in their front-office restructuring today when they named Brandon Hyde director of player development. He essentially replaces the recently fired Oneri Fleita. Hyde, 38, was the organization’s field coordinator. He joined the Cubs last off-season after nine years in the Marlins organization. Left-handed reliever Scott Maine was claimed by the Cleveland Indians. Maine was designated for assignment Monday. The Cubs DFA’d two lefty relievers this week: Maine and Alex Hinshaw. Arizona Fall League rosters also have been announced. The Cubs will be sending these players to the Mesa Solar Sox: infielder Javier Baez, outfielder Matt Szczur, infielder Rubi Silva, right-handers Dae-Eun Rhee, Nick Struck, Tony Zych and Kevin Rhoderick and lefty Zach Rosscup. On to stuff today for Cubs-Brewers. After the game last night, I was talking with cubs.com colleague Carrie Muskat, and she mentioned that Brewers pitchers have 10 double-digit strikeout games against the Cubs this season. Checked that out myself and it shakes out this way: April 11: 11 strikeouts April 12: 10 May 11: 13 June 5: 14 June 6: 15 Aug. 20: 12 Aug. 21: 12 Aug. 22: 13 Aug. 27: 15 Aug. 28: 11 The Cubs’ postgame notes point out that the Brewers have a streak of eight consecutive games with 10-plus strikeouts, and that’s the longest single-season streak for any team since 1900. Jeff Samardzija goes for the Cubs tonight. He’s 8-11 with a 4.09 ERA and a WHIP of 1.27. He has logged a career-high 151.2 innings. Jeff said after his last start that he still feels strong. Here is a look at his pre-all-star-break and post-all-star-break numbers: Pre-break: 6-8 with a 4.71 ERA and a .261 opposition BA Post-break: 2-3 with a 2.86 ERA and a .210 opposition BA Tonight’s lineup DeJesus, RF Valbuena, 3B Castro, SS Soriano, LF LaHair, 1B Castillo, C Jackson, CF Barney, 2B Samardzija, P Anthony Rizzo is out of the lineup, and Josh Vitters sits for a second straight game. In August, Rizzo has a line of .240/.294/.290 with 1 homer, 8 RBI, 8 walks and 25 strikeouts. Darwin Barney last night tied the NL single-season record for consecutive errorless games at second base, with 113. Barney’s streak spans 910.1 innings, and his last error at second was April 17 at Miami. The Cubs’ franchise record of 123 was set over two seasons, 1989 and 1990, by Ryne Sandberg. Maybe an update or two this evening. MINOR-LEAGUE ROUNDUP Class AAA Iowa fell 7-3 to Nashville. Starter Horacio Ramirez worked 4.2 innings, giving up 9 hits and 7 runs. Alfredo Amezaga hit his sixth homer. Tony Campana was 2-for-4 with a stolen base. Tennessee (AA) got a walk-off homer from Logan Watkins in the 10th to beat Mobile 6-5. Watkins was 2-for-4, including a double. Lefty Austin Kirk got no decision, working 7 innings and giving up 7 hits and 3 runs, 2 earned. Daytona (A) once again was rained out of a doubleheader. They’ll try it again today. Peoria (A) lost 4-1 to Wisconsin. Ben Wells got no decision, pitching 2 innings and giving up 2 hits and no runs. Jorge Soler had a pair of walks. Boise (A) got 5 in the second on the way to beating Everett 7-3. Pierce Johnson pitched 2 innings, giving up 3 hits and 1 unearned run. Gioskar Amaya hit his eighth homer, and Jeimer Candelario hit his sixth. Stephen Bruno extended a hit streak to 18 games, going 3-for-5. He’s 31-for-73 (.425) during the streak. The Hawks begin their Northwest League playoffs next Monday against Yakima. Mesa (Rookie) fell out of first place with a 6-4 loss to the Diamondbacks. Dillon Maples worked 1 inning, giving up 1 hit and 2 unearned runs. Garrett Schlecht went 4-for-4 with a double, a triple, a stolen base and 3 runs.