MWL1 Fort Wayne TinCaps

Game Notes: April 10 vs. Lansing (Game 6)

Published on April 10, 2018 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Fort Wayne TinCaps News Release


Fort Wayne TinCaps vs. Lansing Lugnuts

LHP MacKenzie Gore vs. RHP Maximo Castillo

Tuesday, April 10 - Parkview Field - First Pitch 7:05 p.m. (Game 6)

LISTEN: ESPN Radio 1380 & 100.9 FM / TinCapsRadio.com / TuneIn

WATCH: Comcast Network 81

MacKenzie Gore Notes

- THROWS: 4-seamFastball, Curveball, Slider, Changeup (2-finger grip)

- PROSPECT RANKINGS: No. 1 LHP (MLB.com), No. 2 Padres (MLB.com), No. 14 overall (espn.com), No. 19 overall (MLB.com)

- HOMETOWN: Whiteville, NC (population: 5,509)... about 45 miles west of Wilmington, NC... Referred to as "Baseball Town USA"

- CHILDHOOD: Didn't initially enjoy baseball (preferred soccer), but by age 11 fell in love with the game

- HIGH SCHOOL: Whiteville (Wolfpack)... 2017 Gatorade Boys National High School Athlete of the Year (featured on front cover of Sports Illustrated and received award at the ESPYs last July)... Won state titles as a freshman, sophomore, and senior (only senior on team - won the MVP award every time)... Senior year stats: 0.19 ERA (2 ER, 74. 1 IP)... Pitched on Tuesday nights at home (so the community could plan their schedules to see him... His postseason starts were said to draw 20% of the town's population)... Also played first base & outfield (scouts projected as a potential third or fourth round pick as a position player)... Pitched at the 2016 "Perfect Game All-American Classic" held at Petco Park...

- COLLEGE COMMITMENT: East Carolina University (Greenville, NC)... Committed the summer after his sophomore year... Has a close relationship with ECU head coach Cliff Goodwin... Actually lived with Goodwin this past offseason and trained at ECU

- DRAFTED: By the Padres in the 1st round (3rd overall) in 2017... $6.7 million bonus (largest in franchise history to a draft pick)

- BONUS BUY: Says he's frugal but did purchase a truck and a new set of golf clubs after signing

- LEG KICK: Practiced delivery in front of his bedroom mirror growing up... "I've been doing it for a long time, I guess," Gore said. "It's not anything anyone told me to do specifically or anything like that. I was just taught to turn my hip pocket toward the catcher to get everything to line up, and as I kept working on it, it became a turn and a big kick. It just kinda happened. But I'm happy with it because I'm able to repeat it. That's the big thing, repeating the delivery. I'm a big mechanical guy, so I want to make sure everything is smooth and repetitive. This just works for me."

- FAMILY: Parents are Selena (5th-grade teacher) and Evan... 2 older sisters are Lexie and Meredith... Says family helps keep him grounded

- MANTRA: "Ignore the noise" (from ECU head coach Cliff Goodwin)

- CATCHER CONNECTION: Roomed with Luis Campusano last year in Arizona

- RANDOM: Favorite show to binge on Netflix is "The Ranch" (starring Austin Kutcher)

LAST NIGHT: The TinCaps raced out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning as Jeisson Rosario wheeled around the bases on a fly ball to the warning track in left field that was then thrown to no man's land in the infield. However, the Lugnuts struck for 5 runs in the top of the second and never looked back en route to a 10-1 thumping.

ALMOST HAD 'EM: The TinCaps have led in 3 of their 5 losses. Fort Wayne coughed up a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the ninth on opening night at Lake County. In their second game of the season, the TinCaps led, 6-2, before eventually succumbing to the Captains, 10-8.

ALUMNI REPORT: On Monday, 2008 Fort Wayne Wizard Corey Kluber struck out 13 batters (MLB season high) in 8 scoreless innings against the Tigers... 2013-14 TinCaps outfielder Mallex Smith went 4-for-4, including a double and a triple, for the Rays against the White Sox in Chicago... 2009 TinCap Cody Decker went 4-for-4, including two homers and a double, for Triple-A Reno (D-Backs) against Fresno... 2017 TinCaps star Fernando Tatis Jr. (now with Double-A San Antonio) is on the front cover of the latest Baseball America.

YOUNGEST TEAM IN MiLB: Fort Wayne features the 4 youngest players in the league: Justin Lopez (17), Tirso Ornelas (18), Gabriel Arias (18), and Jeisson Rosario. The TinCaps have 11 teenagers on their roster. According to Baseball America, the average age for a TinCaps player is 20.6. (The average age in the Midwest League is currently 22 years old.) This theme continues up the ladder for the Padres, who also have the youngest team in the California League (High-A Lake Elsinore) and the Texas League (Double-A San Antonio).

WE'RE No. 1: According to MLB.com, the Padres have the No. 1 ranked farm system in baseball. The TinCaps boast 7 "Top 30" San Diego prospects (see list on right), including MacKenzie Gore, who MLB.com rates as the No. 19 prospect overall (No. 1 among left-handed pitchers). See the next page for more on Gore.

LAST YEAR: After having the worst record in the Midwest League in the first half of the season, the TinCaps had their largest half-to-half turnaround in franchise history and reached the Midwest League Championship Series. (Fort Wayne beat Bowling Green, 2-0, in their first round series, then defeated Dayton, 2-1, before being swept by Quad Cities.)

WHO'S BACK: The TinCaps currently have 9 players on their roster who've played in the Midwest League before (8 from last year plus Carlos Belen from 2016). Fort Wayne manager Anthony Contreras is back for his third season with the club, while pitching coach Burt Hooton is in his sixth year (franchise record). Fielding coach Jhonny Carvajal is in his second year.

PARKVIEW FIELD'S 10th SEASON: The TinCaps moved into this ballpark in 2009 and are now set to complete a decade downtown.

260 TO THE SHOW: 24 Fort Wayne alums have played in the bigs so far this season (159 have reached the majors in the franchise's history). In 2017, the total for the season was 44.

Check out the Fort Wayne TinCaps Statistics

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Midwest League Stories from April 10, 2018


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