Captain of the Week (9/2-9/7): The Team
MWL Lake County Captains

Captain of the Week (9/2-9/7): The Team

Published on September 9, 2025 under Midwest League (MWL)
Lake County Captains News Release


EASTLAKE, Ohio - After each series this season, the Lake County Captains will spotlight a Captain of the Week, presented by Official League, showcasing a player and their strong performance over the previous week.

For the week of Sept. 2-7, Lake County is recognizing The Team as its 22nd and final Captain of the Week for the 2025 season.

The Captains won three of six games versus the Great Lakes Loons this past week, clinching a spot in the 2025 Midwest League Playoffs. This marks Lake County's ninth playoff berth in franchise history, joining their appearances in the South Atlantic League Playoffs in 2003 and 2008, as well as their six previous appearances in the Midwest League Playoffs in 2010, 2012, 2014, 2019, 2022, and 2024.

Two of the Captains' wins this past week were courtesy of walk-off sacrifice flies. The first was on Tuesday, Sept. 2, when OF Nick Mitchell hit a walk-off sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 10th inning to secure a 7-6 victory for Lake County. Two nights later, INF Kyle Dernedde hit a walk-off sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Captains a 4-3 win.

As a team, Lake County went 74-58 during the regular season, which was tied with the Quad Cities River Bandits for the second-best record in the Midwest League.

The Captains had one of the best offenses in the Midwest League this season. Lake County finished second in the league in batting average (.248), hits (1,077), total bases (1,712), home runs (110), and slugging percentage (.394). The Captains' pitching staff also had a strong campaign, finishing second in the league in saves (40), third in strikeouts (1,162), and fourth in ERA (3.89).

Individually, Lake County had many players among the Midwest League leaderboard ranks this season.

Offensively, INF Jose Devers led High-A with 36 doubles, which set a Captains single-season record, while tying the High-A lead with 53 extra-base hits and leading the Midwest League with 197 total bases. He also ranked sixth in the league in RBI (67) and hits (114), as well as eighth in runs scored (68).

OF Esteban González ranked second in the MWL behind only Devers with 28 doubles this year, while also ranking sixth in extra-base hits (41) and total bases (172), eighth in slugging percentage (.430) and hits (109, tied), and 13th in batting average (.273).

1B/LF Ralphy Velazquez, MLB Pipeline's No. 10 Guardians prospect, had a remarkable campaign that resulted in his promotion to the Double-A Akron RubberDucks on Aug. 11. The 20-year-old tied the Midwest League lead with 17 home runs this season, while ranking second in slugging percentage (.469), third in extra-base hits (43, tied), fifth in total bases (174), sixth in OPS (.792) and triples (six), and eighth in RBI (63, tied).

Additionally, OF Alfonsin Rosario, MLB Pipeline's No. 13 Guardians prospect, ranked tied for fourth in the Midwest League with 16 home runs this season. The 21-year-old was promoted to Double-A Akron on Aug. 5. OF Wuilfredo Antunez, who was promoted to Double-A Akron on July 18, ranked tied for eighth in the league with 14 home runs this year as well.

OF Nick Mitchell, who was promoted to the Captains from the Single-A Lynchburg Hillcats on July 18, ranked tied for seventh in the MWL with five triples this year. Finally, OF Jaison Chourio, MLB Pipeline's No. 6 Guardians prospect, ranked ninth in the league with 66 walks this season.

Lake County's pitching staff also had many spots on the Midwest League leaderboard this year.

Four Captains pitchers recorded at least 100 strikeouts this season in LHP Matt Wilkinson (117, third in MWL), LHP Caden Favors (113, fourth in MWL), LHP Jackson Humphries (102, eighth in MWL), MLB Pipeline's No. 29 Guardians prospect, and LHP Josh Hartle (100, 12th in MWL), MLB Pipeline's No. 25 Guardians prospect, who was promoted to Double-A Akron on Aug. 21.

Humphries also tied the MWL lead with 26 games started, while both Favors and Wilkinson ranked tied for third in the league with 25 starts each.

With 10 wins this year, Hartle was the only Midwest League pitcher with double-digit wins this season. Both Favors and RHP Yorman Gómez, who was promoted to Double-A Akron on July 18, ranked tied for second in the MWL with eight wins this year.

Favors also ranked top-10 among qualified Midwest League pitchers in opposing batting average (.233, third), win percentage (.471, tied for third), innings pitched (108.0, fifth), ERA (4.08, sixth), and WHIP (1.36, seventh).

Wilkinson (104.0, 10th in MWL) and Hartle (103.1, tied for 13th in MWL) both ranked top-15 in the league in innings pitched this season as well, while RHP Jack Jasiak, who was promoted to Double-A Akron on Aug. 11, ranked second in the MWL with 13 saves this year. Finally, RHP Robert Wegielnik, who was released on Aug. 10, also ranked tied for ninth in the league with six saves this season.

The Captains will look to build onto their successful 2025 regular season this week, when they begin their 2025 postseason run with the best-of-three 2025 Midwest League East Division Championship Series against the West Michigan Whitecaps. First pitch for the series opener on Tuesday, Sept. 9 is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. from Classic Auto Group Park in Eastlake.

All of Lake County's 2025 playoff games will be broadcast on the Bally Sports Live App and MiLB.com, with social media coverage courtesy of @LCCaptains on X and Instagram.

Check out the Lake County Captains Statistics

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Midwest League Stories from September 9, 2025


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