On-Deck with the Captains: Week 10

Record: 27-39 (10.5 games back)

Game Results:

June 10th - Lake County @ Beloit (Loss: Bryson)
June 11th - Lake County @ Beloit (Loss: Cook)
June 12th - Lake County @ Beloit (Loss: Goodnight)
June 13th - Off
June 14th - Great Lakes @ Lake County (Loss: Blair)
June 15th - Great Lakes @ Lake County (Loss: Encarnacion)
June 16th - Great Lakes @ Lake County (Loss: Rayl)

Transactions:

June 10th - Steven Wright promoted to Akron
June 11th - Anthony Gallas promoted to Kinston
June 11th - J.D. Reichenbach promoted to Kinston
June 11th - Rob Bryson promoted to Kinston
June 11th - Kyle Smith retires from baseball
June 11th - Bryce Stowell assigned to Lake County from Extended Spring Training
June 11th - Jordan Casas assigned to Lake County from Mahoning Valley
June 11th - Aaron Fields assigned to Lake County from Mahoning Valley
June 12th - Dwight Childs activated from the disabled list
June 16th - Alex Lavisky assigned to Mahoning Valley from Lake County
June 16th - J.D. Reichenbach assigned to Lake County from Kinston
June 16th - Joey Mahalic assigned to Lake County from Kinston

Notes on Offense:

The Captains have lost eight straight games. They have been outscored 33 - 14 during the slide. The offense has batted a measly .173 this week and struckout 42 times (compared to 15 walks). This lineup needs to cut down on the strikeouts and get focus on getting on base.

Giovanny Urshela had an absolutely horrible week at the plate. The Captains third baseman did not record a hit in 16 official at bats. He struck
out three times and walked once. Urshela is batting .216 on the season with six homeruns and 23 RBI.

Ronny Rodriguez continues to improve. This week, the shortstop may have only hit .222, but he has cut down on his strikeouts and has been a surprising power source in the struggling line-up. Rodriguez blasted his 5th homerun of the season Wednesday night. He also tripled and drove in four runs in six games this week.

Hitter of the Week:

Jesus Aguilar - 6/15 (.400), HR, 2B, 3 RBI, 2 R, 2 BB

Notes on Pitching:

All-Star closer Clayton Ehlert has been the only bright spot in the Captains bullpen this week. Ehlert pitched two scoreless innings and gave up two hits. He did not strikeout or walk a batter.

Top prospect Bryce Stowell is back in Lake County. Stowell went two innings versus the Great Lakes Loons and did not give up any runs and walked two batters. I do not expect him to be in a Captains uniform for very long.

With the offensive struggles, it did not help matters that the starting pitchers struggled. The starters this week gave up 19 runs (two runs were unearned) in 26.2 innings (or a 5.84 ERA!). Usually, it is one or the other with the offense struggling, the pitching is good (or vise versa). But to have both going bad at the same time is detremental to the team.

Pitcher of the Week:

Mike Rayl - 3.2 innings pitched, 8 strike outs, one earned run, picked up loss on the 16th (was on a pitch count due to being skipped his last start)

Upcoming Games:

June 17th - Lake County @ West Michigan
June 18th - Lake County @ West Michigan
June 19th - Lake County @ West Michigan
June 20th - Off
June 21st - All-Star Game @ Davenport, IA (Quad City River Bandits)
June 22nd - Off
June 23rd - Off

Posted in: Lake County Captains