OFFICIAL GAME INFORMATION Lake County Captains (8-4) at Great Lakes Loons (5-7) Tuesday, May 18Th • 6:05 P.M
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High-A Affiliate OFFICIAL GAME INFORMATION Lake County Captains (8-4) at Great Lakes Loons (5-7) Tuesday, May 18th • 6:05 p.m. • Dow Diamond • Broadcast: WJCU.org Game #13 • Road Game #7 • Season Series: 0-0, 24 Games Remaining RHP Hunter Gaddis (1-1, 4.50 ERA) vs. LHP Alec Gamboa (0-1, 9.82 ERA) SUNDAY: The Captains played as the Picantes de Lake County, their Copa de la Diversión identity, and defeated the Fort Wayne TinCaps, 3-0. The game began as a pitcher’s duel between Captains starter Mason Hickman and TinCaps starter Ethan Elliott. Hickman pitched five hitless innings with High-A Central League seven strikeouts and two walks. Elliott struck out 13 Captains and allowed just one hit over six scoreless innings. The Captains broke the scoreless deadlock after Elliott’s day was over. Lake County scored three runs in the seventh inning against TinCaps reliever Sam Keating. Aaron Bracho knocked East Division W L GB in two runs with a double and Joe Naranjo added a third run on a ground out. Captains reliever Nathan Ocker pitched two scoreless innings for the win and Tim Herrin tossed two scoreless frames to earn the save. Keating took the loss for Fort Wayne. Dayton (Cincinnati) 8 4 -- LAST SERIES: The Captains went 5-1 against Fort Wayne in their first home series of 2021. Lake County won the first four games before losing on Saturday and winning again on Sunday. The Captains outscored the TinCaps 30-11 in the series. Lake County’s pitching staff posted a 1.83 ERA and held Fort Wayne batters to a .160 average. José Tena led the Lake County offense. Tena went 8-for-19 (.421) with three home runs, one double and six LAKE COUNTY (Cleveland) 8 4 -- RBI. Lansing (Oakland) 6 6 2.0 RED HOT WEEK: Over the course of last week (May 11-16), the Captains’ pitching staff had the lowest ERA (1.83) and the second-lowest opponent’s batting average (.160) in all of High-A. The Captains’ offense led the High-A Central League last week in batting average (.254) and slugging percentage Great Lakes (Los Angeles - NL) 5 7 3.0 (.422). SWING AWAY: The Captains’ offense has walked just 31 times this season. That is the fewest in the High-A Central League, the second-fewest in all of Fort Wayne (San Diego) 4 7 3.5 High-A and tied for the second-fewest in all of Minor League Baseball. Only one team has walked fewer times than the Captains – the Hillsboro Hops (High-A; Arizona). The Captains also have four of the 10 lowest BB% rates in the High-A Central League - José Tena (2.5% - 5th), Raynel Delgado (2.5% West Michigan (Detroit) 4 7 3.5 (6th), Joe Naranjo 92.6% - 7th) and Brayan Rocchio (4.4% - 10th). RUNNING WILD: The Captains are second in the High-A Central, third in High-A and fifth in all of Minor League Baseball with 28 stolen bases. Lake West Division W L GB County baserunners have only been caught four times for a success rate of 87.5%. According to FanGraphs, Raynel Delgado is fifth in the High-A Central League in Weighted Stolen Base Runs (wSB) at 1.0, meaning Delgado’s base stealing has contributed one more run for his team than the Quad Cities (Kansas City) 8 3 -- average league player. YOUNGSTERS: The Captains have five of the 10 youngest players in the High-A Central League – 1B Joe Naranjo (20), INF Aaron Bracho (20), INF Beloit (Miami) 6 6 2.5 José Tena (20), INF Brayan Rocchio (20) and OF George Valera (20). Naranjo, Bracho and Tena are the three youngest players in the league. Naranjo, who turned 20 on Tuesday, is the youngest player in all of High-A. Bracho (born 4/21/00) is the second youngest in all of High-A. The Captains have eight Cedar Rapids (Minnesota) 6 6 2.5 players who are age 21 or younger. Wisconsin (Milwaukee) 6 6 2.5 HIGH-A: The 2021 season marks the Captains’ first as the High-A Affiliate of the Cleveland Indians. Lake County had been Cleveland’s Low-A Affiliate for 17 seasons (2003-2019) and 18 years (2003-2020). Peoria (St. Louis) 5 7 3.5 NEW LEAGUE: The Captains begin 2021 playing in a brand new league. As part of the restructuring of the minor leagues, the Captains are now members of the High-A Central League (HA-C). This marks the third different league in the Captains’ 19-year history. Lake County was a member of the South Bend (Chicago - NL) 4 7 4.0 South Atlantic League (SAL) from 2003-2009 (11 seasons) and the Midwest League from 2010-2020 (10 seasons; 11 years). NEW SKIPPER: Greg DiCenzo was named the Captains’ manager before the eventually-canceled 2020 season. DiCenzo spent the previous 12 seasons as the head baseball coach at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA. During his time at the helm, DiCenzo was twice named Patriot League Coach of the Year (2008 and 2013). Prior to his time at Holy Cross, DiCenzo was the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator at Northeastern University for five seasons. He also served as a coach for the Falmouth Commodores in the Cape Cod Baseball League and at his alma mater, St. Lawrence University. DiCenzo enters his second year and first season as a coach in Cleveland’s organization. Top Prospects The Cleveland farm system enters 2021 as the 13th best farm system in CAPTAINS AGAIN: 15 players on the Captains’ Opening Day roster played for Lake County previously: RHP Nick Gallagher (2018-19), LHP Tim Herrin baseball according to MLB.com. Below are current Captains and their (2019), RHP Thomas Ponticelli (2018-19), LHP Kellen Rholl (2019), RHP Alex Royalty (2019), LHP Matt Turner (2019), RHP Raymond Burgos ranking in Cleveland’s system, according to various publications. (2019), C Gianpaul Gonzalez (2018-19), C Bryan Lavastida (2019), INF Raynel Delgado (2019), INF Daniel Schneemann (2018-19), OF/1B Jonathan Engelmann (2019), OF Quentin Holmes (2019), OF George Valera (2019) and OF Austen Wade (2018) FanGraphs Baseball America MLB.com NOW IN THE DUGOUT: Grant Fink returns to Lake County in his first year as Captains Hitting Coach. Fink was a Captains infielder in 2014 and 2015, #3 George Valera #6 George Valera #4 George Valera and was the team’s starting third baseman in 2014 when the Captains reached the Midwest League Championship Series. The 2021 season is Fink’s fifth #4 Brayan Rocchio #8 Brayan Rocchio #7 Brayan Rocchio season coaching in the Cleveland organization. Former Captains outfielder Jordan Smith also returns to Lake County in his second season as Bench #8 Aaron Bracho #11 Aaron Bracho #8 Aaron Bracho Coach. Smith led the Captains with a .316 batting average in 2012 and led the Captains to a playoff berth. Smith was the Captains Bench Coach in 2019 and is entering his third season coaching in Cleveland’s organization. #20 Tanner Burns #16 Tanner Burns #15 Tanner Burns #21 Logan Allen #21 Logan Allen #23 Logan Allen 2020 DRAFT: The Captains have three players on their Opening Day roster who were selected by Cleveland in last year’s draft. RHP Tanner Burns #29 Hunter Gaddis #24 Jose Tena (Competitive Balance Round A), LHP Logan Allen (2nd Round), and RHP Mason Hickman (5th Round). #30 Bryan Lavastida #27 Bryan Lavastida #32 Jose Tena 2017 INTERNATIONAL CLASS: There were four Captains acquired by Cleveland in the 2017 International free agent class, led by OF George Valera. According to Baseball America, Valera was the sixth overall international prospect that year. Also now on the Captains from that class are INF Aaron Bracho, INF Brayan Rocchio and INF Jose Tena. Brach received the highest signing bonus of Cleveland’s 2017 international signees at $1.5 million. SWITCH IT UP: Only 1/3 of Captains’ position players are true right-handed hitters. The Captains have three (3) switch-hitters, seven (7) left-handed CURRENT SERIES SCHEDULE,hitters and RESULTS five (5) right-handed & PROBABLEhitters. PITCHING MATCHUPS Date Opp. Time/Result Captains StarterCAPTAINS FAMILY TIES: Captains 1B Joe Naranjo hasOpponent a close connection Starter with former Captains SS Tyler Freeman. Naranjo, who is fromBroadcast Whittier, CA, 5/18 at GL 6:05 p.m. Hunter Gaddis,grew RHP up as (1 close-1, friends4.50) with Tyler’s younger brother Cody,Alec an infielderGamboa who, wasLHP drafted (0-1, in 9the.82 4th) round by Texas in 2019. Naranjo remainsWJCU.org close with 5/19 at GL 6:05 p.m. Logan Allen, Tyler,LHP Cody(2-0, and 0.00) the Freeman family. Bobby Miller, RHP (0-0, 0.00) WJCU.org 5/20 at GL 6:05 p.m. Raymond Burgos, LHP (0-0, 0.00) Jose Martinez, RHP (0-0, 0.00) WJCU.org 5/21 at GL 6:05 p.m. Tanner Burns, RHP (0-0, 2.25) Logan Boyer, RHP (0-0, 2.25) WJCU.org 5/22 at GL 6:05 p.m. Matt Turner, LHP (0-1, 2.16) Robinson Ortiz, LHP (0-0, 6.75) WJCU.org 5/ 23 at GL 1:05 p.m. Mason Hickman, RHP (0-1, 3.12) Clayton Beeter, RHP (0-0, 0.00) WJCU.org Classic Park 35300 Vine St. Eastlake, OH 44095 | 440-975-8085 | CaptainsBaseball.com | @LCCaptains | Media Contact: Andrew Luftglass; [email protected] LAKE COUNTY CAPTAINS GAME NOTES PAGE 2 TODAY’S CAPTAINS STARTING PITCHER 2021 Game -By-Game #44 HUNTER GADDIS RHP Date Opp Dec IP H R ER HR SO BB Result Born (Age): April 9, 1998 (23) 05/4 at LAN L 3+ 7 7 4 1 0 2 L, 8-1 5/11 vs.