Cashner AAA Recap

Andrew Cashner pitched six strong innings last night in his AAA debut. He allowed one earned run, struck out six, and only walked one batter. Most importantly, he got the win. Ace!

Let's take a look at the batters he faced, inning by inning, via Gameday.

FIRST INNING

1) Cashner goes 2-0 on every Cub fan's wet dream (a Hoffpauir that plays middle infield) before getting the infield pop up.
2) First pitch infield pop up.
3) Cashner misses with his first two, then runs the count full before getting Brett Wallace to ground out. Inning over.

SECOND INNING

1) Flyball out on a 2-0 pitch.
2) Single.
3) Infield pop out, 2-2 pitch.
4) Cashner starts Chris Aguila 2-0, gets two foul balls up in the zone, then strikes him out swinging on a pitch in the dirt.

THIRD INNING

1) Three pitch strikeout (looking).
2) "Soft ground ball" single on an 0-2 pitch.
3) Little Hoffpauir walks on 5 pitches. Might have been squeezed a little.
4) Cashner gets the inning-ending double play on two pitches.

FOURTH INNING

1) Brett Wallace fouls off a couple of 0-2 pitches before lining a single to left.
2) Fly out to left on a 2-0 pitch.
3) Castro strikes out Brian Dopirak swinging on seven pitches, the longest at bat thus far.
4) Cashner starts another hitter 2-0 before giving up a base hit.
5) On a 1-1 pitch, Chris Aguila lines a run-scoring double to right.
6) Groundout, inning over. Las Vegas strands two in scoring position.

FIFTH INNING

1) Groundout, two pitches.
2) Cashner strikes out Hoffpauir swinging on seven pitches.
3) Jeremy Reed flies out on a 2-2 pitch. 1-2-3 for Cashner, his first since the first inning.

SIXTH INNING

1) Strikeout looking
2) One pitch groundout
3) Swinging strikeout. 1-2-3 inning on 10 pitches.

Cashner's night was done after the sixth after throwing 89 pitches, 56 for strikes. He stayed strong throughout the game, retiring the last seven batters he faced in a pretty efficient fashion. He probably could have gone another inning. I obviously don't have any data on his speed or movement, but the results speak for themselves.

Really the only criticism one could find with Cashner last night was a failure to regularly get ahead of hitters. He threw first pitch strikes to less than half of the hitters he faced (11 of 23) and started seven at bats with a 2-0 count. Las Vegas didn't capitalize on some hitter's counts, and Cashner didn't let these minor control problems hurt him. Considering the overall strength of his outing, whining about the lack of first pitch strikes would be like complaining after a great sex session that your partner took too long to undress.

Cashner certainly has set the bar pretty high for himself by throwing some absolute gems in AA this season. Cub fans have to be encouraged that he's started his AAA career with more of the same.