Got a call from Illini baseball fan Sue who I haven’t seen since the last home series. We chatted a bit on some of the summer goings-on of the Illini. She clued me into some big news about Joe Bonadonna
Bonadonna (left), who was grabbed by the Rangers in the 43rd round has been doing everything right since they placed him with their team in the Arizona League. As a matter of fact, he hasn’t gone a game without getting at least one hit. With the AZL Rangers, he’s gone 11 for 29 scoring 8 runs.
That hasn’t gone unnoticed by the organization. Bonadonna has been promoted to the Class A short-season Northwest League and is now playing for the Spokane Indians. He’s already played one game for them and wouldn’t you know it, he extended his hit streak. Nice going, Joe!
Former Illini catcher Chris Robinson is definitely getting some attention these days too. Playing for the Triple A Iowa Cubs, Robbie has been named to the Pacific Coast League All-Star Roster. He’s hitting .319 with 30 rbis and if I know Robbie, he’s playing excellent defense in the 54 games for the I-Cubs.
The PCL will be taking on the International League All-Stars on July 15.
Sue wanted me to let everyone know that the Iowa Cubs will be playing at Wrigley Field on August 9. They’ll be taking on the Las Vegas 51s in a special game at the Friendly Confines.
Unless Robinson gets called up before then, it would be a good chance to see a preview of what Robbie will look like playing in a major league stadium.