Series Preview: Lake County Captains vs Fort Wayne TinCaps
Credit: Midwest League
The Fort Wayne TinCaps will continue their homestand as they welcome the Lake County Captains to Parkview Field for a six-game series. The Captains are the High-A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians. This is already the 2nd series these teams will play this season. In the previous series, the TinCaps were only able to win one of the six games played at Lake County.
The Captains will be coming off a series where they hosted the Dayton Dragons. The Captains go into Sunday’s contest looking to win the series against the Dragons before traveling to Fort Wayne.
Fort Wayne will have just finished up a series with the Cedar Rapids Kernels. Like the Captains, the TinCaps go into Sunday’s contest looking to win the series.
Here are players to watch for each team as they will be key contributors for their clubs to be successful. This is a big series for both clubs who are close in standings in the Eastern Division. (Statistics as of 6/4/21)
Who to Watch: Lake County Captains
Logan Allen: SP- Allen is tied for the league lead in wins and is currently 3-0 in five starts. He has a WHIP of 0.90, and opponents are batting only .202. Allen was the 56th overall pick in the 2020 draft out of Florida International.
Will Brennan– CF- Currently leads the High-A Central with a .330 batting average.
George Valera: OF- Valera is an MLB Top-ranked 100 prospect. However, he is currently on the seven-day injured list, and it is unclear if he will see action against Fort Wayne.
Who to Watch: Fort Wayne TinCaps
Ethan Elliott: Earned pitcher of the month award for May in the High-A Central League. Elliott then started June off with another great outing. He has started six games so far and is 2-1 with a 1.76 ERA. Opponents have yet to be able to string hits off of Elliott. He has given up six runs the entire year, and they all came off solo home runs. Opponents are batting .143, and his WHIP is 0.72, which are both league-best numbers.
Matt Waldron– Was acquired from the Cleveland Indians in the 2020 trade that sent Mike Clevinger to the Padres. Waldron is settling in as the TinCaps number two starter, but the case could be made he is the #1 starter. Waldron is 2-1 with a 2.93 ERA. In his last start against Cedar Rapids, his fastball reached 94 MPH. A knuckleball is a new pitch this year he has put into his arsenal.
Jonny Homza– The 5th round pick out of Anchorage, Alaska, has found his grove when batting second in the Tincaps lineup. When in the 2-hole, Homza is batting .345 with four doubles and two triples.
Keys to a Successful Series
TinCaps Relief Pitching- The relief pitching needs to improve. The TinCaps bullpen has not been good. Cody Taylor and Sam Keating have given up the most earned runs in the league out of the bullpen. The two players combined have more walks allowed than strikeouts. The good news is that the TinCaps bullpen can’t get much worse. Expect those numbers to level out and eventually improve.
Series Information: 6 games, Tuesday, June 8th through Sunday, June 13th.
Location: Parkview Field, Fort Wayne, Indiana.
[wpedon id=”49075″ align=”right”]
How to listen/watch: ESPN 1380 Fort Wayne, or milb.tv.com
- Tuesday- 7:05 PM EDT
- Wednesday- 7:05 PM EDT
- Thursday- 7:05 PM EDT
- Friday- 7:05 PM EDT
- Saturday- 6:35 PM EDT
- Sunday- 1:05 PM EDT
Notes:
- Last week marked the fifth anniversary of the Padres acquiring Fernando Tatis Jr.
- Notable Lake County Captains in the MLB: Gio Urshela, Francisco Lindor, Jose Ramirez, & Josh Tomlin.
I was born, raised, and still reside in the Hoosier state. I am a 2008 graduate of Ivy Tech Community College. I am married to my beautiful wife Kristen, father to Garrett, with another child on the way. A baseball enthusiast covering the Fort Wayne TinCaps, High A affiliate of the San Diego Padres.