History vs. Lake County Lake County Captains The Nuts are 66-64 vs. the Captains, Class A Affiliate, Cleveland Indians • 5-6, 6th 37-31 at home, 29-33 road. LHP Francisco Perez (0-0, 3.60) 1st Half Score 2nd Half Score 4/17 at LAN L, 7-2 6/25 at LAN at 4/18 at LAN W, 7-2 6/26 at LAN 4/19 at LAN 6/27 at LAN 5/29 at LC 9/1 at LC Lansing Lugnuts 5/30 at LC 9/2 at LC Class A Affiliate, Toronto Blue Jays • 7-4, 3rd 5/31 at LC 9/3 at LC 6/12 at LC RHP Yennsy Diaz (1-0, 0.77) 6/13 at LC 6/14 at LC COOLEY LAW SCHOOL STADIUM 1ST PITCH: 7:05 PM THURSDAY, APRIL 19TH, 2018 Today: The Lugnuts play the Lake County Captains in the finale of a three-game series, a Labatt Thirsty Thursday featuring a Salue to Super Troopers, $2 beer/ soda specials, half off craft beers and the rescheduled LugLife Bro-Tank giveaway for the first 1,000 fans through the gates! Last Night: Lugnuts 7, Captains 2. The Lugnuts scored four runs in the first inning, two more in the second, and rolled to victory through an on-and-off hailstorm at Cooley Law School Stadium. Kacy Clemens drew two walks and supplied a two-run single and an RBI triple in the win. On Deck: Lansing heads to South Bend, Indiana, and takes on the Eastern Division’s fifth-place Cubs for a three-game series. The Lugnuts are back in action at home for a four-game set against the Midwest League’s first-place Dayton Dragons starting next Monday, April 23rd. On the Air: Jesse Goldberg-Strassler and Dante De Caria have the call tonight on The Game 730 AM WVFN and via the Tune-In Radio app, streaming online at lansinglugnuts.com and thegame730am.com. Lugnuts Pregame begins at 6:45 p.m. PITCHING PROBABLES IN A NUTSHELL 7:35 p.m., Fri., April 20 LHP Zach Logue (4.22), Lugnuts at RHP Ricky Tyler Thomas (0.90), Cubs Overall: 7-4 7:05 p.m., Sat., April 21 RHP Graham Spraker (3.52), Lugnuts at RHP Javier Assad (2.00), Cubs 2:05 p.m., Sun., April 22 RHP Maverik Buffo (9.95), Lugnuts at LHP Brendon Little (13.50), Cubs Home: 3-3 Night: 7-1 7:05 p.m., Mon., April 23 RHP Hunter Greene (3.38), Dragons at RHP Donnie Sellers (2.45), Lugnuts Road: 4-1 Day: 0-3 vs. LHP: 5-1 vs. RHP: 2-3 Lug•Notes Meet the Lansing Staff: 3-game series: 0-0 Cesar Martín (Mar-TEEN) enters his second season as Lugnuts manager, his tenth season as manager overall. In his Lansing debut, Martín directed 4-game series: 1-0-1 the Nuts to a 37-29 first half and a 63-73 mark for the year. His career record as a manager is 369-298, with a .553 winning percentage. Martín was Series sweeps: 0-0 originally signed by the Blue Jays out of Santiago, D.R., as a 17-year-old infielder. On his way up the Blue Jays’ ladder, his current position coach, Dave Pano, was his hitting coach. Series openers: 3-1 Rubber games: 0-0 Antonio Cáceres (CAH-ser-es) returns as Lugnuts pitching coach after spending the past seven years with advanced-rookie Bluefield. Cáceres previously served as Nuts pitching coach in 2009 and 2010, sending 12 Lansing pitchers onward to MLB debuts. Scored 1st: 3-1 Matt Young enters his first season as Lugnuts hitting coach as well as his first year in the Blue Jays organization. Young played 20 games in 2011 Opponent scored 1st: 4-3 with the Atlanta Braves and then five games in 2012 with the Detroit Tigers, where he debuted as the No. 2 batter in the starting lineup, hitting in front of Miguel Cabrera, Prince Fielder and Dmitri Young. 1-run games: 1-0 Dave Pano (PAN-o) enters his first season as Lugnuts position coach after spending the last seven years with the Vancouver Canadians, where he won four Northwest League championships (2011-2013, 2017). Pano previously worked as a scout for the Yankees and Pirates. 4+ run games: 4-3 #LugLife by the numbers: More hits than opp.: 4-1 Fewer hits than opp.: 2-3 2 Victories for Lugnuts starting pitchers this year, achieved by Yennsy Diaz on Opening Day... and by Donnie Sellers last night, ten games and 13 days later. Equal hits: 1-0 League-leading saves for Ty Tice in as many chances. Tice led the 2017 Appalachian League with 12 3 saves in his professional debut after being drafted in the 16th round last year from Central Arkansas Comeback wins: 4 Final at-bat wins: 0 MLB Pipeline Top 30 Blue Jays prospects on the Lugnuts’ roster: 5 • Samad Taylor - No. 13 • Kevin Smith - No. 19 • Maximo Castillo - No. 24 • Ryan Noda - No. 18 • Kevin Vicuña - No. 23 Walk-offs: 0-0 Extra Innings: 0-0 15 League-leading walks for Kacy Clemens after the first baseman drew two more free passes last night. Clemens ranks 3rd in Minor League Baseball in drawing walks and 5th in MiLB with a .556 OBP. 9-INNING GAMES ONLY Stolen bases for the Lugnuts this season in 17 attempts, including 6-for-6 in this series following five Leading Trailing Tied 15 swipes yesterday. Samad Taylor has three steals in two games against his former organization. After 6: 3-1 3-1 1-0 League-leading runs scored by the Lugnuts offense in 11 games, averaging 6.5 runs per game. The After 7: 7-0 0-2 0-0 Nuts’ +21 in runs scored/allowed also tops the circuit. Lansing has scored 13 runs, 12 runs and 10 runs 72 After 8: 7-0 0-2 0-0 in victories this season. 505 E. Michigan Ave., Lansing, MI 48912 • (517) 485-4500 • lansinglugnuts.com • @lansinglugnuts THE MAN ON THE MOUND #30 RHP Yennsy Diaz 6-1, 193 age 21 Profile Full Name .........Yennsy Manuel Diaz Santana School ................................................................... n/a Born ................................. November 15, 1996 Signed ........................International Free Agent, 2014 Resides..................Azua, Dominican Republic Bats / Throws ......................................... Right / Right One of a Kind: Yennsy, pronounced “JEN-see,” is the only Yennsy to ever play professional baseball. Prospect Radar: Diaz enters the 2018 season unranked. He entered the 2017 season rated the Blue Jays’ No. 25 prospect by MLB Pipeline and the No. 28 prospect by Baseball America. In 2016, MLB Pipeline ranked him the No. 19 prospect in the organization. 2018 Season Spotlight: Named the Opening Day starter, Diaz more than exceeded expectations in a gem at Great Lakes, April 5th, holding the Great Lakes Loons without a hit until Ramon Rodriguez’s leadoff double in the sixth and finishing with 10 strikeouts in 5 2/3 scoreless innings in a 12-1 Lugnuts victory... followed up with six dominant innings against the Fort Wayne TinCaps, allowing only one hit - Jack Suwinski’s one-out solo HR in the 5th... enters today’s game ranked 1st in lowest batting average allowed by a starter (.053), 3rd in WHIP (0.51) and 7th in the MWL in ERA (0.77). Fastball (94-98), Change (91), Curve (81) 2017 in Lansing: Yennsy made his MWL debut on June 10 at Fort Wayne, flying in from Extended Spring to replace Patrick Murphy, working two scoreless innings before departing due to pitch count (54 pitches)... followed up with eight strikeouts at South Bend, June 15... he struck out eight batters again vs. Bowling Green, June 27... MiLB Firsts MiLB Highs tied career high with 9 K’s on August 5 at Dayton, and then again on August 26 vs. Fort Wayne... set a career high MiLB Debut .........6/3/15 Innings Pitched ...... 7.0, 8/26/17 with 7.0 IP, August 26 vs. Fort Wayne... held right-handers to .216 avg. (24-for-111). Start ..................6/26/15 Hits Allowed .............. 9, 8/13/15 2016 in Bluefield:Yennsy started the fifth game of the Appy League season, working in a tandem with Jose Nova Win ...................6/15/15 Home Runs .............. 3, 8/31/16 for his first four appearances before breaking away. In his finest start, August 2 at Burlington, he allowed two hits Save .................8/20/15 Runs Allowed ............. 6, 8/8/16 and one walk in six shutout innings, striking out eight. Baseball America ranked Diaz the No. 17 prospect in the CG ................................ Walks ........................ 5, 8/20/16 league, one of only two Bluefield Blue Jays on the list. The other was No. 1 prospect Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. Shutout ......................... Strikeouts ................. 10, 4/5/18 2015 Pro Debut: 18-year-old Yennsy’s first professional game came on June 3, 2015, in the Dominican Summer League; he suffered the loss, allowing two unearned runs in 2 1/3 innings in relief. After three more outings out of 2018 - Lansing Lugnuts the bullpen, he made six starts and caught fire. On July 13th, he struck out nine DSL Padres in five one-hit innings. One July 20th, he tossed six shutout innings against the DSL White Sox. On July 30, 2015, Diaz arrived in the Game Dec. IP H R BB K HR ERA Final U.S., pitching 1 2/3 innings in relief for the GCL Blue Jays. It was the first of five appearances in the GCL, capped 4/5 at GL W, 1-0 5.2 1 0 0 10 0 0.00 W, 12-1 by five shutout innings in a victory against the GCL Yankees to end the year on August 26.