History vs. Dayton Dayton Dragons The Nuts are 3-0 this year and 157-134 all-time Class A Affiliate, Cincinnati Reds • 9-8, 4th vs. the Dragons, 84-66 at home, 73-68 road. RHP Tyler Mondile (5.79 ERA) 1st Half Score 2nd Half Score 4/23 at LAN W, 10-7 7/28 at DAY at 4/24 at LAN W, 7-0 7/29 at DAY 4/25 at LAN W, 13-2 7/30 at DAY 4/26 at LAN 7/31 at DAY Lansing Lugnuts 5/14 at LAN 8/8 at LAN 5/15 at LAN 8/9 at LAN Class A Affiliate, Toronto Blue Jays • 12-6, 1st 5/16 at LAN 8/10 at LAN RHP Graham Spraker (2.53 ERA) 5/17 at LAN 8/24 at DAY 6/1 at DAY 8/25 at DAY 6/2 at DAY 8/26 at DAY COOLEY LAW SCHOOL STADIUM 1ST PITCH: 7:05 PM THURSDAY, APRIL 26TH, 2018 6/3 at DAY 8/27 at DAY This Evening: It’s Team Sprakins Night, as the first-place Lugnuts send the piggybacking duo of right-handers Graham Spraker and Turner Larkins against the Dayton Dragons in search of a four-game sweep and a fifth consecutive victory overall. The Dragons counter with right-hander Tyler Mondile, a 20-year-old right- hander out of New Jersey. Tonight is also a Labatt Thirsty Thursday, with $2 beers, $2 wine and $2 pop, plus half off craft beers. Last Night: Lugnuts 13, Dragons 2. Southpaw Zach Logue held Dayton to one run in six innings, and the Lugnuts received three doubles from Kevin Smith and three runs scored from Kevin Vicuña en route to the Wednesday night romp. Every member of the Nuts’ starting lineup hit safely and scored at least one run. On Deck: The Lugnuts play five games in three days at West Michigan, with doubleheaders tomorrow and Sunday at Fifth Third Ballpark. On the Air: Jesse Goldberg-Strassler and Dante De Caria have the call today 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 6:00 p.m., Fri., April 27, Gm. 1 RHP Maverik Buffo (7.15), Lugnuts at RH Jesus Rodriguez (3.86), Whitecaps Fri., April 27, Gm. 2 RHP Donnie Sellers (3.95), Lugnuts at RHP Burris Warner (1.98), Whitecaps Overall: 12-6 4:00 p.m., Sat., April 28 RHP Maximo Castillo (4.80), Lugnuts at RHP Brad Bass (0.90), Whitecaps 2:00 p.m., Sun., April 29, Gm. 1 RHP Yennsy Diaz (0.40), Lugnuts at LHP Eudis Idrogo (0.53), Whitecaps Home: 6-4 Night: 11-3 Fri., April 27, Gm. 2 TBA, Lansing Lugnuts at TBA, West Michigan Whitecaps Road: 6-2 Day: 1-3 vs. LHP: 8-2 vs. RHP: 4-4 Lug•Notes Meet the Lansing Staff: 3-game series: 1-1 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: 2-0-1 the Nuts to a 37-29 first half and a 63-73 mark for the year. His career record as a manager is 375-301, with a .555 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: 5-1 Rubber games: 1-1 Antonio “Tony” 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: 8-1 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: 4-5 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. Shutouts: 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. 1-run games: 1-2 4+ run games: 7-3 #LugLife by the numbers: More hits than opp.: 7-3 2 The maximum amount of runs allowed by the Lugnuts in five of their last six games, with the lone excep tion being Monday’s series-opening 10-7 victory. Fewer hits than opp.: 4-3 Equal hits: 1-0 MLB Pipeline Top 30 Blue Jays prospects on the Lugnuts’ roster: 5 • Samad Taylor - No. 13 • Kevin Smith - No. 19 • Maximo Castillo - No. 24 Comeback wins: 5 • Ryan Noda - No. 18 • Kevin Vicuña - No. 23 Final at-bat wins: 0 MWL-leading RBIs for Kevin Smith, thanks to seven runs batted in combined during the last two games. 19 Smith has five hits the last two nights: four doubles and a home run. Walk-offs: 0-0 Extra Innings: 0-0 Walks drawn by in 15 games, most in Minor League Baseball. Despite a .195 batting aver- 23 Ryan Noda age, Noda currently boasts a .500 on-base percentage, ranking in the Top 3 in the Midwest League. 9-INNING GAMES ONLY Runs scored by the Lugnuts in the first three games of this series, outscoring the Dragons, 30-9.The Leading Trailing Tied 30 Lugnuts have led at the end of every inning in the series, thanks to a combined 12 runs in the 1st inning. After 6: 8-1 3-2 1-1 League-leading runs scored by the Lugnuts’ offense, averaging over six runs per game. Lansing also After 7: 12-0 0-4 0-0 117 leads the Midwest League in run differential (+48) and stolen bases (35). The Nuts’ offense has scored After 8: 12-0 0-4 0-0 at least six runs in a game 11 times this year. 505 E. Michigan Ave., Lansing, MI 48912 • (517) 485-4500 • lansinglugnuts.com • @lansinglugnuts THE MAN ON THE MOUND #26 RHP Graham Spraker 6-3, 195 age 23 Profile Full Name ................... Graham Fuller Spraker School ............................................ Quincy University Born ........................................ March 19, 1995 Drafted ......................939th overall, 31st round, 2017 Resides.................................. Tucson, Arizona Bats / Throws ......................................... Right / Right Big Picture: One of 13 2017 draftees on the Lugnuts roster... one of 19 collegians on the roster... one of 11 right- handed pitchers on the team... only player on the team from Arizona. Personally Speaking: Favorite TV show is Seinfeld... favorite trip taken was Vancouver... favorite way to spend time is playing Ping Pong and Fishing... shares March 19th birthday with Clayton Kershaw and David Ross... was a team- mate of 2016 draftee David Jacob at Quincy University... Jacob is currently on the Lugnuts DL. 2017 Appy League: Drafted by the Blue Jays in the 31st eound, made professional debut on June 24th for the Bluefield Jays, getting the start vs. Greeneville: tossed 1.1 IP out of the bullpen, allowing 2 BB & 2 K... finished the season with 1-1 record and a 1.62 ERA over 19 relief apperances. Reliever Turned Starter: Went straight to Bluefield straight from the draft, pitching in 19 games and tossing 33.1 innings... worked two or more innings in an outing 10 times in 2017... pitched three games of three innings or more... allowed more than one ER in just two games. Fastball (94), Change-Up (89), Slider (83) 2017 Splits: Right-handers batted .099 against him, whereas left-hander hit for a .271 avg. ... only walked six batters all year, allowing 20 hits, notching seven saves and 39 strikeouts. MiLB Firsts MiLB Highs MiLB Debut .......6/24/17 Innings Pitched ...... 5.0, 4/13/18 Hometown: Born in Green Bay, Wisconsin... raised in Tucson, Arizona... nicknamed “Sprake”... notable active players Start ....................4/8/18 Hits Allowed .............. 6, 8/28/17 from Tucson: Ian Kinsler, J.J. Hardy and Alex Verdugo... one of 17 active minor league players from Tucson. Win ...................7/24/17 Home Runs .............................. Save ............................. Runs Allowed ........... 4, 6/26/17 Knows How to Win: Pitched in playoff baseball two times in 2017: with his college team at Quincy University which won their conference championship and went to the NCAA Division II World Series, and then with the Bluefield Blue CG ................................ Walks ........................ 2, 7/24/17 Jays in the Appalachian League playoffs. Shutout ......................... Strikeouts ................. 5, 4/21/18 On the Radar: Scouted by the Blue Jays (area scout Jeff Johnson), with the Mets, the White Sox, the Rangers and the Pirates also in on him... throwing consistently 91-92 mph and topping out at 96 mph which was reported in his 2018 - Lansing Lugnuts opening game against Colorado Mesa in the DII World Series... called it a “relief” when his name was called in the 31st round by the Blue Jays... took a $1,000 bonus to sign. Game Dec. IP H R BB K HR ERA Final 4/8 vs. GL - 2.2 3 2 1 3 0 6.75 L, 11-6 College Days: Over a three year NCAA D2 career, posted a 3.20 ERA over 43 GS/52 games, pitching in 280 innings 4/13 vs.