Cubs Minor League Update: Unfortunate Injury To First-Round Pick, Another Suspension

You know what, let's start off with some goods news. The next Ben Zobrist, David Bote, is still smashing baseballs down with the Iowa Cubs, hitting his 13th home run in Triple-A. Bote went 3-for-5, drove in three and scored twice, but he didn't even have the best game for the Iowa Cubs. Ryan Court helped the Iowa Cubs erase an 8-2 deficit Friday night, by hitting for the cycle!

Not only did the triple complete the cycle for Court, but it put the Iowa Cubs ahead 9-8, overcoming their six-run deficit. It was the first cycle since 1997 for the Iowa Cubs. Court drove in two runs to go along with his four hits and also scored four times in the 10-8 victory. Now to the not so good news. To begin with, Cubs first-round pick Nico Hoerner is most likely done for the year after straining a ligament in his left elbow, sustained on a diving play Sunday with the South Bend Cubs. Hoerner hit .327/.450/.571 in 14 games in the Arizona League and with Class A Eugene and South Bend. https://www.sportsmockery.com/2018/07/cubs-first-round-pick-nico-hoerner-almost-too-good-to-be-true/ The 21-year-old shortstop out of Stanford got out to an outstanding start to his minor-league career at the plate and was already making highlight reel plays too.

Hoerner will be re-evaluated in 4-6 weeks and is hopeful to play some Fall Ball to make up for the missed time. A crappy and erupt end to his season, but it doesn't sound like a serious injury. Moving on to other news. On Friday, another Cubs prospect got suspended, as Saul Vazquez, who is currently on the Dominican Summer League roster, tested positive for PED use.

Vazquez, 18, started four games in the Dominican Summer League, going 1-1, with a 2.25 ERA in 20 innings. The Cubs signed the lefty in July 2017. Earlier this season, Oscar De La Cruz was suspended 80 games after testing positive for Furosemide, a diuretic and masking agent. De La Cruz was third in MLB Pipeline's prospect rankings for the Cubs.