It might be the heart of winter, but baseball is closer than you think. It will be just a few months before pitchers and catchers report, kicking off the official beginning of the countdown to baseball.
For the Iowa Cubs, the Triple-A affiliate to the MLB’s Chicago Cubs, the 2023 schedule has been officially released. The International League as a whole will begin play on Friday, March 31.
The final day of the season will be on Sunday, September 24 with Iowa playing 150 games between. That includes 75 games at their home, Principal Park, wearing one of their classic uniforms.
The Wins, Losses, HomeRuns, Grand Slams, Walkoffs, and Mid-Season Outfield wall construction made for a great year at Principal Park! There will not be another year like 2022, maybe this video will help you commemorate forever as we head into 2023!🐻⚾️💙❤️ #happynewyear #gocubsgo pic.twitter.com/L8eUkPS9uK
— Iowa Cubs (@IowaCubs) December 31, 2022
Important Dates
Before we get into last year, this year’s expectations, and everything about the schedule, let’s take a closer look at the important dates for the schedule.
The Opener
It is always good to begin the season at home and that is precisely what Iowa will do. They will open with a three-game series against the Columbus Clippers, the affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians.
Though Iowa sat at the bottom of the International League West standings, Columbus was one of the better teams. With an 85-65 record, they finished third behind Toledo and Nashville in the race for the division.
Nashville is Back
One of the big updates to the Iowa schedule for 2023 will see the return of the Nashville sounds. Iowa and Nashville have not played one another in the last two seasons, but that will change for the upcoming season.
The two teams will meet for a six-game series in Nashville from May 23-28. The affiliates of the Milwaukee Brewers, Nashville won the International League West division in 2022 with a 91-58 record. They would meet the winner of the East division, the Durham Bulls, losing 13-0 to the Bulls along the way (Durham would go on to win the 2022 Triple-A National Championship, defeating the Reno Aces 10-6).
Nashville will be the only new opponent on the 2023 Iowa schedule, but that doesn’t mean that things aren’t going to heat up for Iowa in the coming season.
Run in Back
As far as the rest of the schedule, the same eight teams will return for 2023. Iowa will again play Buffalo (Toronto Blue Jays), Columbus (Cleveland), Indianapolis (Pittsburgh Pirates), Louisville (Cincinnati Reds), Memphis (St. Louis Cardinals), Omaha (Kansas City Royals), St. Paul (Minnesota Twins), and Toledo (Detroit Tigers).
The unique thing here is that each of the series will run from Tuesday to Sunday. There are two exceptions: the season-opening series and the very first series following the MLB All-Star break will have games on Monday. Aside from that, Monday will be a league-wide day off.
As this year comes to a close, stay tuned for our 2022 Season Recap!🐻⚾️ #gocubsgo pic.twitter.com/awF6KHtTv5
— Iowa Cubs (@IowaCubs) December 31, 2022
Break it Down
Iowa, also known as the I-Cubs, will play against Buffalo and Nashville in a single six-game series each.
They will see Memphis for 12 games while facing off against Columbus, Louisville, and Toledo a total of 18 times apiece. Finally, they will play Indianapolis, Omaha, and St. Paul a total of 24 times apiece.
Light Up the Sky
One of the more fun events, be it in the majors or minors, is fireworks night. There will be no shortage of fireworks nights for the I-Cubs, with a total of 14 nights spread across the near-seven-month season.
Each of the fireworks nights will be held on a Friday night. In most cases, that would be the fourth game of the series, though the difference is the opener against Columbus and a series against St. Paul in July.
The first firework night will come on the opener, March 31st against Columbus. On April 14th, when Omaha is in town for a six-game series, the skies will light up once again. The final fireworks night of April will take place in the fourth game of the Louisville series, Friday, April 28th.
May is a little light on the light shows. The only appearance of fireworks will be in the May 14th matchup against Toledo with nearly a month between shows.
June will have a trio of fireworks nights, including a back-to-back appearance thanks to an extended home stand. A second Columbus matchup will get a fireworks night, June 2nd this time. Indianapolis will be in town for the June 16th fireworks show with Memphis on the 23rd being the final fireworks show of June.
Baseball fans: what do y’all do in the off-season?
Iowa Cubs: We lay down Grow Mats! pic.twitter.com/M94l2SgRrn
— Iowa Cubs (@IowaCubs) December 1, 2022
July-August
July is an interesting month for I-Cubs firework’s shows. Indianapolis is back in town again, getting another firework’s show on July 21st. The standout is going to be the St. Paul series beginning on July 4th. There will be fireworks on that night and then again on Friday, July 7th for a rare double shot while the Saints are in town.
Hitting the home stretch of the season will be August. Toledo gets a firework’s night on August 4th with Louisville getting the third-to-last firework’s night of the season on July 18th. The final two appearances of fireworks will come on back-to-back Fridays in September. Omaha on September 8th will give way to the final firework’s night of the season, a matchup with St. Paul on September 15th.
Promotional Dates
Some of the hottest tickets in town are the promotional nights at Principal Park. Though the 2023 slate of promotional dates has not been released yet, we can look to 2022 for a good idea of what will come.
Family Carnival Night is a great time for the whole family, as is Christmas in July. The team has Clark the Cub giveaways, Pop It giveaways, and even a magnetic schedule giveaway.
The cool thing worth noting is that Iowa has paired with Marvel to wear Avengers-themed jerseys. They ran the promotion last season and heroes Thor and Spider-man made appearances at the park.
The 2023 promotional schedule will be a highly anticipated one.
There is nothing like a night at the ballpark, but the best ones include a giveaway or an event as well. Those are the most fun nights for the entire family.
A Peak Ahead to 2023
With the schedule in place and the promotional schedule to come, fans will be looking toward the start of the season. With the 2023 season looming off in the not-so-distant future, the question will be about where the Cubs stand heading into the campaign.
Records can be a bit difficult to predict for Triple-A teams because of the changes that happen throughout the minor league season. Hot players come up from Double-A or go off to the Majors for an extended look throughout the season.
For every minor league affiliate, one of the major focal points is determining what the lineup will look like and who the standouts will be. Given the current rebuild situation of the Chicago Cubs, the I-Cubs may have a few guys that will be moved up at some point.
The Infield
The million-dollar question about the I-Cubs, in general, is whether or not some of the infielders will be ready for Major League action at any point in 2023.
The answer that Cubs fans want to hear is “yes,” but that might not be a clear-cut answer. The safest bet is to wait and see what is going to happen. But let’s take a look at the infield and see what their prospects are for 2023.
Who’s in the infield?
The Iowa Cubs will likely have a group of prospects that include Andy Weber, Bryce Ball, Levi Jordan, Chase Strumpf, Luis Vazquez, and possibly Jake Slaughter.
With the exception of Jordan, each of them played a major role in Tennessee not only reaching the playoffs but advancing to the Southern League Championship Series. Jordan and Vazquez are the only two from this group that spent significant time in Iowa in 2022.
One thing of note is that each of these prospects has won at every single level they have been in over the last couple of seasons. Being able to provide depth to the I-Cubs would be a major boon in the coming year.
Matt Mervis
The expectation is that Mervis will be part of the I-Cubs opening day roster. That said, the overwhelming expectation is that he will end up in Chicago.
They have eyes on finishing his development as a first baseman or designated hitter with the big club.
Chase Strumpf
Perhaps the most MLB-ready option in the infield is Strumpf. He entered Triple-A as a great power hitter capable of hitting for average, power and doing all the necessary things required of him.
Since then, his power game has been all but abandoned, though he has shown he can play both second and third. Hitting for average and limiting strikeouts will be crucial for his development.
Andy Weber
The last of our feature preview players is Weber, who can play any of the four infield positions at a major league level. If anything, Weber needs to show he can stay healthy, otherwise, he will stay in Chicago.
He played 100 games at South Bend in 2019 but has barely played since 2021. He has the composition to be a solid player he just needs to stay on the field.
Credits on Featured Image: David Wilson from Oak Park, Illinois, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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