How two Cardinals prospects helped the Peoria Chiefs to an overdue home opening win

PEORIA — Inohan Paniagua and Alex Iadisernia understand the value of a fast start to a season.

Together they helped the Peoria Chiefs get a fast start to the 2024 slate at Dozer Park with a 5-3 victory over Beloit in their home opener Tuesday before 1,825.

It was the first time since 2017 the Chiefs won their home opener, and they did it on a pleasant April night where the temperature was 64 degrees at first pitch. Paniagua's arm and Iadisernia's bat were even warmer.

Iadisernia delivered a double, scored a run, and added a sacrifice fly for an RBI out of the cleanup spot to raise his batting average to .333 after four games in the season's first full week.

BOX SCORE: Chiefs 5, Beloit 3

Paniagua, meanwhile earned his first victory in two years, spinning a one-hit shutout gem over five innings, with two walks and five strikeouts. His 73-pitch effort put him in the win column for the first time since Aug. 26, 2022 — also against Beloit — a six-inning, five-hit, one-run outing.

That gave both players and the team the quick break from the gate they were looking for:

• Paniagua's progress has been slowed by injuries. He is trying to regroup from a shoulder injury that kept him out last season until July, when he started with Peoria 11 times and came away with an 0-3 season with a 4.47 ERA.

• Iadisernia wants to continue building on a return season in Peoria that projects him to reach Double-A at some point in 2024.

And the Chiefs? How about building toward a return to the Midwest League playoffs for a second straight season? It's a valuable piece of the primary mission in the minors — player development. On April 9, potential is all ahead of them.

Inohan Paniagua threw a curve at age 7

The 6-foot-1, 150-pound Paniagua grew up in Bonao, Dominican Republic. The right-handed pitcher started playing baseball early.

"I was 5, started playing because my neighbors were playing," said Paniagua, through interpreter Elvis Rodriguez, the Chiefs hitting coach. "I started out as a second baseman. And I can hit."

The kid with an easy smile was signed by the parent St. Louis Cardinals as an international free agent for $160,000 three days before Christmas in 2017.

What they got was a pitcher whose fastball touched 96 mph. But his eye-opener is a curve with a massive drop devastating to hitters. That pitch was on display Tuesday as he faced 18 batters and allowed only four baserunners.

"My father (Juan) taught me that pitch," Paniagua said. "I was 7."

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Paniagua is 17-18 with a 3.87 ERA in a five-year journey in the Cardinals system that started at the Dominican Summer League in 2018. He threw 92-95 mph Tuesday in his first start of the season.

"My shoulder feels good," he said. "I need to stay healthy and keep performing well."

Alex Iadisernia has left-handed power

Iadisernia is a 5-foot-11, 201-pound left-handed hitting thumper who hit out of the Chiefs cleanup spot on opening day and played left field. He split 111 games between low-A Palm Beach and high-A Peoria last season and hit 18 home runs — nine at each level. He produced a combined 22 doubles, 61 RBIs and 25 stolen bases.

The Cardinals grabbed him in the seventh round of the 2022 MLB Draft and signed him for $212,000.

"During the draft, I got a call from my agent, telling me when the Cardinals were going to take me," Iadisernia said. "At first I didn't think it was real. It's so exciting, such a big moment. Then the Cardinals called and I celebrated pretty low-key with my family, my girlfriend, my friends. I left for Florida quickly after that to get to work in the St. Louis organization."

The outfield prospect doubled to open the fourth inning, moved up on a balk, and then scored on an infield single for a 2-0 lead. He added a sac fly in the seventh that plated Won-Bin Cho with Peoria's final run.

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Iadisernia grew up in Jackson, N.J., a Yankees fan who loved Derek Jeter.

"What I liked about him is he led the team," Iadisernia said. "He led, and he'd go about his business every day."

Iadisernia and the Chiefs took care of business Tuesday.

"We played those guys (Beloit) in spring training," Iadisernia said. "It's mostly the same guys. I liked the whole thing tonight, great weather, nice atmosphere in the ballpark.

"We want to build off what we did last season, get to the playoffs again."

Chiefly Speaking

The Chiefs snapped a five-game home opener losing streak by beating Beloit on Tuesday. Peoria had last won a home opener on April 8, 2017 with a 3-1 decision over Burlington. … The Chiefs are planning to construct a full bar in the Dozer Park concourse, behind the home plate area, in time for their April 22 six-game homestand against Wisconsin. One of the bar specialties is going to be alcohol-based slushies, with margaritas, pina colada and mudslides among the options being considered. Maybe they should call the bar Sloshies. … The team menu also has a plastic baseball bat filled with 26 ounces of beer. … Chiefs outfielder and Cardinals No. 9 prospect Won-Bin Cho made a stunning throw in the eighth inning Tuesday, tracking down a double off the wall in right-center and turning what should have been an easy RBI double into a much closer play at the plate with a howitzer throw. … Chiefs general manager Jason Mott said the 40-foot poles needed for the project that will support the extension of protective netting down to the outfield corners in Dozer Park are ready. Next step is to ship in the netting, but the team still has to figure out a way to get large construction equipment into the ballpark for the project. … Next up on the MLB-mandated ballpark renovations to-do list is open-air batting cages that will serve both teams. The Chiefs plan to build these after the 2024 season in the concourse area behind the center field batters' eye. Mott says they'll be open to fans during the Chiefs games, and available for rent by area teams while the Chiefs are on the road. … The infield surface appeared a richer, darker brown color Tuesday. It's top-dressing soil from DuraEdge — which supplies the dirt for 26 MLB teams and 100 of 120 minor-league teams. The soil comes only from a mine in Slippery Rock, Penn. ... Beloit is the high-A farm club of the Miami Marlins, and they'll be at Dozer Park against the Chiefs the rest of the week. The Beloit roster includes Marlins No. 6 prospect Karson Millbrandt (scheduled to pitch Friday) and No. 7 infielder Yidde Cappe. ... The Chiefs ace and Cardinals No. 6 prospect, LHP Cooper Hjerpe, is scheduled to pitch Thursday.

Dave Eminian is the Journal Star sports columnist, and covers Bradley men's basketball, the Rivermen and Chiefs. He writes the Cleve In The Eve sports column for pjstar.com. He can be reached at 686-3206 or deminian@pjstar.com. Follow him on X.com @icetimecleve.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Peoria Chiefs home opener: Cardinals prospects deliver a win at Dozer Park