Chicago Cubs Prospect Is Southern League Player of Month

Porter Hodge had a solid month for the Tennessee Smokies, the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs.

Chicago Cubs prospect Porter Hodge was named the Southern League Player of the Month after his performance for the Tennessee Smokies in May.

The Smokies are the Cubs’ Double-A affiliate. Hodge, 22, a right-hander, is the Cubs’ No. 20 prospect per MLB.com.

Hodge went 1-1 with a 1.64 ERA in five starts for the Smokes. In two of those five starts Hodge didn’t allow a run, and he didn’t give up more than three hits in any of those five starts. He gave up just 12 hits and struck out 32 in 22 innings.

The month was a bounce-back for Hodge, who has a 1-5 record with a 5.36 ERA in 10 starts this season. In April he went 0-3 with a 9.22 ERA in four starts.

Hodge is coming off his best season as a pro in 2022, during which he went 7-5 with a 2.63 ERA in 25 games (24 starts), as he struck out 141 and walked 55 in 109.1 innings with Class-A Myrtle Beach and High Class-A South Bend. That earned him the promotion to Tennessee.

In 2021 he went 2-3 with a 5.86 ERA in 14 games (10 starts) with two different affiliates, where he struck out 64 and walked 17 in 50.2 innings.

In 2019 he pitched in five games (four starts) with a 10.13 ERA for the Cubs’ Arizona Complex League rookie team.

Hodge was selected by Chicago in the 13th round of the 2019 MLB Draft out of Cottonwood High School in Salt Lake City, Utah.

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