Guardians Baseball Insider

Photo credit: TCP Photography/Courtesy Lake County Captains

The schedule for the Captains was a bit strange this past week, thanks to Friday’s game being postponed, resulting in a Saturday doubleheader, and a rare Monday game on July 4. Lake County was up and down all week, unable to string together any sort of consistency. It started with giving up 10 runs in back-to-back games, a 14-10 win Wednesday and a 10-3 loss Thursday. They responded with one of their most dominant games of the season to start Saturday’s doubleheader, then one of their more disappointing, dropping the second leg 4-2. Lake County was doubled up for the second straight game, losing 8-4 to close out the series against Lansing. However, the Captains recovered by opening their series against Fort Wayne Monday with a 6-0 win. It was a tough week for the Captains starting pitching, an area which has often been a strength this year, but that is no surprise, given that their two best starters, Gavin Williams and Tanner Bibee, have both departed for Akron in recent weeks. However, the two pitchers who replaced them both had excellent starts this week, so there is some hope for the rotation.

Week in Review

6/29/22: W, 14-10 vs. Lansing
6/30/22: L, 10-3 vs. Lansing
7/2/22: W, 8-0 vs. Lansing
7/2/22: L, 4-2 vs. Lansing
7/3/22: L, 8-4 vs. Lansing
7/4/22: W, 6-0 at Fort Wayne

Prospect of the Week

LHP Rodney Boone (1G): 7.0 IP, 3H, 0ER, 2BB, 7K)

Boone kicked off Saturday’s doubleheader with one of the best starts the Captains have seen this season. It was the team’s first complete game of the season, and it was a shutout in what became a dominant 8-0 win. Of the three hits he gave up, two of them didn’t leave the infield and one was a bunt single. The Lugnuts simply couldn’t figure out Boone, and struggled to make any sort of solid contact. It was a big boost for a pitcher making just his fourth High-A start, having given up at least four earned runs in two of the previous three.

Who’s Hot

OF Alexfri Planez: 7-22, 4 2B, 4 R, 3 RBI, 1 K – .318/.318/.500

Planez extended his hit streak to 17 games Monday, and has extended his red hot June into the beginning of July. He also had a pair of two-hit games.

RHP Jack Leftwich (1G): 6.1IP, 1H, 0ER, 2BB, 4K

Leftwich dazzled in his High-A debut, giving the Captains exactly the type of start they needed after the struggles of the rotation against Lansing.

OF Petey Halpin: 8-17, 4 2B, 6 R, 6 RBI, 4 BB, 2 K – .471/.591/.706

Halpin had a fantastic week, doing much of his damage from the cleanup spot after spending much of this season leading off. The Captains have been looking for someone to take over the cleanup spot since the departure of Jhonkensy Noel, and with seven of his eight hits coming from that spot this week, it could be Halpin.

RHP Alaska Abney (2G): 3.1IP, 0H, 0ER, 3BB, 3K

It was a tough week for the Captains pitching staff, but Abney was excellent coming out of the bullpen, appearing in two of their three wins, and even picking up the win on June 29.

Who’s Not

SS Gabriel Rodriguez: 3-17, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 3 K

Rodriguez has been one of the Captains stronger performers this season, but he had a really tough week. On the bright side, two of his three hits went for extra bases.

RHP Aaron Davenport (1G): 4IP, 8H, 8ER, 4BB, 4K

Even though the Captains ended up winning Davenport’s start, he struggled tremendously, continuing his disappointing performance in June, in which he had a 6.65 ERA.

Transactions

6/29 – LHP Matt Turner assigned to Lake County Captains from ACL Guardians.
7/2 – RHP Tanner Bibee assigned to Akron RubberDucks from Lake County Captains.
7/3 – LHP Jaime Arias assigned to Columbus Clippers from Lake County Captains.
7/3 – RHP Jack Leftwich assigned to Lake County Captains from Lynchburg Hillcats.
7/4 – RHP Zach Hart assigned to Akron RubberDucks from Lake County Captains.

On Deck

7/7 – AT Fort Wayne, 7:05
7/8 – AT Fort Wayne, 7:05
7/9 – AT Fort Wayne, 5:35
7/9 – AT Fort Wayne
7/10 – AT Fort Wayne, 1:05
7/12 – HOME vs. Dayton, 11:00 a.m.