MiLB Pitcher of the Day: Jacob Odle
Cardinal Chronicle
Minor League Pitcher of the Day
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur
Jacob Odle Sharp Again, in Peoria's loss
Jacob Odle gave Peoria every chance Sunday afternoon.
The Chiefs just could not give him a run.
Odle turned in the best pitching performance in the St. Louis Cardinals’ full-season system Sunday, working 4.1 scoreless innings in Peoria’s 4-0 loss to the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers at Dozer Park. The left-hander allowed just two hits, walked three and struck out seven.
That is a strong outing, even if the final score did not reward it.
Odle had to work through traffic, but he kept Wisconsin off the board and gave the Chiefs exactly what they needed from the start. He threw 81 pitches, 50 for strikes, and continued to show the swing-and-miss ability that has made him one of the more intriguing arms in the Cardinals’ system this season.
Seven strikeouts in 4.1 innings will get attention.
The problem was not on the mound early. Peoria’s offense managed only three hits all afternoon and struck out 11 times. Cade McGee and Luis Pino each doubled, and Josh Kross added a single, but the Chiefs never found the big swing or the timely hit needed to support Odle’s work.
Through six innings, the game was still scoreless. Odle did his part, and Bobby Olsen followed with 1.2 scoreless innings to keep Wisconsin quiet. But the Timber Rattlers finally broke through in the seventh, then added three more runs in the eighth to pull away.
By then, Peoria’s bats had already gone cold.
That is the frustrating part of baseball. A pitcher can hand his club zero after zero, leave the game with everything still in reach, and still watch the final line turn into a loss.
But Odle’s outing stands on its own.
He missed bats. He limited hits. He kept Wisconsin scoreless. He competed through the kind of game where one mistake could have changed everything.
For a young pitcher, those are the outings that matter in development. Not every strong performance ends with a win attached. Sometimes the value is in showing the organization that the stuff plays, the mound presence is there, and the pitcher can keep his club alive even when the offense is stuck in neutral.
Odle did that Sunday.
The Chiefs did not get the result, but Odle gave them the start they needed. On a quiet day across the system, his 4.1 scoreless innings and seven strikeouts stood out.
That is why Jacob Odle is the Cardinal Chronicle Minor League Pitcher of the Day.
Old School Take: A pitcher cannot swing the bats for his club. Jacob Odle gave Peoria 4.1 scoreless innings, struck out seven and allowed only two hits. That should be enough to get a team moving. Sunday, it just went unrewarded.
The Cardinal Chronicle, in association with Gateway Sports & MiLB Today
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Photo Credit: Jacob Odle, Peoria Chiefs | MiLB