Sveum impressed by early results on farm

For the first time in a long time, there looks to be reason for excitement for the Cubs at the Class AAA level.

The Iowa Cubs have three top position-player prospects, and all are off to good starts.

First baseman Anthony Rizzo hit a pair of home runs Monday night in a 10-6 victory over Albuquerque. Third baseman Josh Vitters was 2-for-4 with 2 RBI and 2 runs scored. In Tuesday’s 6-5 loss, Vitters was 2-for-3 to improve to 7-for-17 on the season. Center fielder Brett Jackson was 0-for-4 Tuesday, but he’s off to a .320 (8-for-25) start.

The parent club is watching, literally.

“With the new video system we have, we can watch their at-bats and everything like that, so it’s been fun to come in every morning and watch all their at-bats and the guys throwing in the game,” said manager Dale Sveum. “You can just watch it on video like you were there. It’s been impressive. Obviously, last night there were some nice swings on some balls.

“Pretty much everybody, (Adrian) Cardenas and Jackson and (Tony) Campana are swinging the bats really well. It’s nice some depth at your beck and call. Hopefully they stay hot all year long.”

Starting anew:

Shortstop Starlin Castro doubled in the first inning Tuesday night. He went 0-for-5 Monday, ending an on-base streak that had reached 43 games dating to last Aug. 15.

It was the second longest on-base streak by the Cubs in the last 94 years of record keeping. Riggs Stephenson had a 44-game streak in 1928.

“It’s amazing,” Castro said. “Keep going.”

Praising Sori’s defense:

Left fielder Alfonso Soriano, often criticized for his defense, went to the wall in the second inning to catch a drive off the bat of Aramis Ramirez.

Dale Sveum said he has been pleased with Soriano’s work in the outfield since spring training.

“I’ve been impressed with his effort about everything,” Sveum said. “He’s worked extremely hard. I think he’d admit that he had a little hiccup last night (Monday) on the flyball. But other than that, he’s played really good out in the outfield.

“That (mistake) was just more of a miscommunication or thought more than his defensive ability. He knew that he should have caught the ball, and he had it. But other than that, his work ethic and really trying to make himself a better player every day has been tremendous for an older, veteran-type player.”