Captains Back On Track

On Tuesday night the Captains made their very first trip to Iowa as they began a three game series against the Clinton Lumber Kings.

They hit the road for that long drive to the Hawkeye state after their most successful homestand of the year where they played six games against the Beloit Snappers and Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. They won all 3 games with the Snappers and two out of three against the Timber Rattlers to go 5-1 for the homestand.

After a slight dip in late May, the Captains got back on track. They left home with a 38-19 record (a .667 winning percentage), good for first place in the Eastern Division of the Midwest League. In fact, Lake County has the best record in the league. In all of professional baseball, only the Lake Elsinore Storm - the Padres affiliate in the Advanced A California League - has a better record at 39-19.

The first half of the season ends on Sunday, June 20. In the Midwest League, at the end of each half season the first and second place teams in each division make the playoffs. With a 3 game lead over second place and nemesis Great Lakes as well as a 6.5 game lead over third place Lansing, Lake County is in great shape to make at least the wildcard and make the playoffs for the second time in the last three seasons.

During their slump in late May the Captains offense cooled off, but the bats came alive once the calendar turned to June as they scored 35 runs in the first 5 games of the month, all victories. The offense actually started to come alive on May 31 in Great Lakes as the Captains had a 9-0 lead in the third, but the effort got wiped out when the rains came and the game got cancelled. (Normally, minor league games are suspended and picked up at the next meeting. But, the Loons and Captains don’t play each other before the end of the first half, so the game got cancelled.)

Bo Greenwell, the engine that drove the Captains offense in the first six weeks or so, went into something of a funk in late May and it continued in early June. He went 5 for 21 on the homestand good for a .238 average with 2 doubles and 2 RBI. For the season, Greenwell is now batting .316 with a .859 OPS, and while the numbers have dropped since his monster start he is still having an outstanding season.

Baseball has become an international game in the last few decades as its appeal has expanded beyond North and Latin America. Two of the Captains' offensive stars prove the games appeal. The offensive star so far in June has been Chun Chen. The catcher/designated hitter with the name fans love to cheer (CHUN! CHEN! CHUN! CHEN!) continues to exceed expectations. The native of Taiwan batted .500 for the homestand, going 11 for 22 with 4 doubles, a homer, 8 RBI, with three walks and very impressively only one strikeout. In the June 3 game against Beloit, Chen went 5 for 5 with a double and 2 RBI in the 12-6 win. Chen has been a very pleasant surprise in Lake County as few expected this type of offensive output. While Roberto Perez is the more accomplished defensive catcher, Chen’s offensive output has forced manager Ted Kubiak to get him into the line up just about every day. For the season Chun raised his batting average to a team leading .349 (good for 4th place in the Midwest League) with 18 doubles, 3 triples, 4 home runs, 30 RBI, 26 strikeouts and 14 walks and an OPS of .994.

Jason Smit, the outfielder/first baseman from Australia, is the other international star in the Captains offense. The 20 year old played in four of the six games on the homestand going 6 for 16, including a double and home run with 6 RBI. Smit had a career day in the 12-6 win over Beloit on June 3 going 4 for 5 with a double, home run and 6 RBI. He raised his batting average to .253 with a .662 OPS, 4 doubles, 3 home runs and 17 RBI. Interestingly enough, so far this season Smit does much better on the road batting .333 with a .880 OPS against only .192 with a .496 OPS at home. Since he’s so far from home, maybe Smit just feels more comfortable on the road. With the Captains now on a nine game voyage through Iowa, Illinois and Michigan, if he continues this trend, Smit should have a very good trip.

Centerfielder Delvi Cid is another example of the Captains international flavor, although from the more traditional Dominican Republic. The Indians ended, at least temporarily, the attempt to make Cid a switch hitter and he now bats exclusively from the right side of the plate. The change has done him good as after a terrible April and May, Cid got hot in the first part of June batting .320 with a .753 OPS going 8 for 25, with a double, 2 RBI, 2 stolen bases and scored 6 runs. In the first six games of June, Cid raised his batting average from .188 to .205, and perhaps the best news about Cid is that he only struck out twice in those six games whereas in the previous 44 games he struck out a total of 48 times. Right now, that gives him 50 strikeouts in 50 games, a pretty high ratio for a slap hitter. In comparison, Jeremie Tice - the team leader in home runs with five - has 41 strikeouts in 48 games. Cid also leads the team with 25 stolen bases which is second in the Midwest League and has only been caught twice. As the regular lead-off batter, Cid “sets the table” for the Lake County offense. With his speed and base running skills, if he can raise the batting average and develop and cut down on the strikeouts, the table could become a full buffet.

New closer Preston Guilmet, a 21 year old right hander out of the University of Arizona, saved three of the five victories so far in June. Guilmet continues to impress since joining the Captains on May 10, as he has pitched 12 2/3 innings in 9 games, all in relief, with 0.00 ERA and 5 saves, giving up zero runs, 7 hits, 18 strikeouts and zero walks. Quite an impressive debut! If you haven’t seen Guilmet in person, he has a high over the shoulder delivery. It looks like something you would see in films of pitchers in the 1920s.

Nick Sarianides, a right handed reliever out of Chattahoochee Valley Community College, won both games he appeared in. The 20 year old Sarianides, the Tribe’s 28th round pick in 2009, had a difficult May but so far in June he’s 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA pitching 5 innings in 2 games, giving up one earned run, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts and the league is batted .125 against him. Thus far this season, Sarianides is 5-1 with a 3.77 ERA (31 IP, 32 H, 13 R, 13 ER , 11 BB, 20 SO) and the league is batting .278 against him in 14 games. The 5 victories may be somewhat misleading as relievers at this level tend to rack up more wins than starters. Even in Class A, a starter needs to go 5 innings to earn a victory, but with pitch counts around 70-85 that can be difficult. A reliever like Sarianides can come in the fourth inning with the lead, hold the lead and get the victory. Somewhat of a concern would have to be the gopher ball as he’s given up 4 home runs this season, but all of them were in May, so maybe like Delvi Cid, June will be better for him.

So far in June the Captains' biggest pitching woe - the home run ball - has continued. So far this year Lake County pitchers have given 44 home runs, including 5 during the recent homestand. They lead the Midwest League in a category you don’t want to lead, and lead it by a lot as the Burlington Bees are ranked #2 and have given up 39.

Even though they’ve lead the league since Opening Day, the Captains are in the middle of the pack in both pitching (4th with a team ERA of 3.52) and batting (11th with team BA of .249). But, by working together they’ve produced a terrific team that’s fun to watch and is well on its way to a playoff spot.

Posted in: