116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
These Cedar Rapids Kernels get the bag
C.R. loses to South Bend, 4-1, but led by Midwest League leader Kyle DeBarge, they already have more stolen bases in 70 games than last season’s Kernels had in 132
Jun. 25, 2025 5:39 pm, Updated: Jun. 25, 2025 6:08 pm
The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
CEDAR RAPIDS - This is a story about the Cedar Rapids Kernels and stolen bases.
But, first, a reminder that you’ve actually got to get on base in order to steal one. Which the Kernels did not do enough Wednesday afternoon in a 4-1 loss to the South Bend Cubs at steamy Veterans Memorial Stadium.
Cedar Rapids didn’t get a hit against South Bend starting pitcher Tyler Schlaffer until there was one out in the bottom of the seventh inning. Andy Lugo hit a hard grounder down the line that Cubs third baseman Drew Bowser went down and tried to backhand but didn’t get a glove on.
Schlaffer (3-1) struck out 10 in seven full innings. Danny DeAndrade tripled with one out in the ninth and scored on Billy Amick’s sacrifice fly to end the shutout.
“He was doing a good job of mixing his fastball and his breaking ball for a strike,” said Kernels Manager Brian Meyer. “He mixed really well, attacked the zone, and his pace was good. He got us today ... That hasn’t happened very often to our guys. It was one of those things where he made an adjustment, they made an adjustment from the last time we (faced) him, and we really didn’t make the adjustment today.”
Now back to the stolen base thing.
Kyle DeBarge did get one, his Midwest League-leading 40th, in 41 attempts. A marvelous season that way for him.
It increased the Kernels’ team total to 118, which is a baker’s dozen more than the 2024 Kernels had all season. Even more impressively, these Kernels have been thrown out trying to steal only 16 times for an 88-percent success rate.
That ranks second in the entire minor leagues. Meyer was asked if pushing the envelope on the bases is a product of having guys who can do so, or if it’s coming from the parent Minnesota Twins.
“It’s a combination of both,” he said. “We look at a couple of different things, just in terms of when our opportunities are, depending upon the pitcher, the catcher, who is at first base. Using the basic math of time to put guys in good positions to make it a low-risk, high-reward thing.”
It’s not just DeBarge who have been accomplished thieves this season.
Brandon Winokur has 18 bags and been thrown out just twice. Danny DeAndrade has 13 steals, Caden Kendle is seven for eight, and Kaelen Culpepper went 15 for 17 before his promotion last week to Double-A.
Lugo had four steals this season in high-A in the Boston Red Sox system in 44 games and already has that many (without being caught) in 10 games with C.R., after being acquired by the Twins in a recent trade for big league relief pitcher Jorge Alcala.
“We want it to be a low-risk play. When the opportunity presents itself, even for guys outside of DeBarge, we want them to be aggressive,” Meyer said. “I think if you look at some of the good teams out there, at any level, you have variety throughout the lineup. Not just at the plate, but (stealing) is a different way to put pressure on the defense, on the pitcher. You force them to make plays.
“Sometimes it’s not about the stolen base, it’s about the threat of a stolen base. The pitcher gets distracted, and the hitter gets a better pitch to hit. There are those kinds of things that go into it as well.”
South Bend broke a scoreless tie with two runs in the seventh against hard-luck Cedar Rapids starting pitcher Chase Chaney (5-2), adding two more in the eighth. The Kernels (41-30 overall), won the first-half championship in the MWL’s Western Division last week but are off to a 1-4 start here in the second half.
The teams play each other Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, and Sunday afternoon.
Comments: (319)-398-8258, jeff.johnson@thegazette.com
Daily Newsletters