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Toyota Road Report June 29-July 4: Lake County Captains

June 29, 2021 - Midwest League (MWL)
South Bend Cubs News Release


Lake County Captains

Miles from South Bend: 275 Miles

Affiliation: Cleveland Indians

Stadium: Classic Park

South Bend vs. Lake County:

Last Season: 6-6

Since Becoming a Cubs Affiliate: 49-28

The South Bend Cubs (20-27) travel to Ohio for the first and only time this season and take on the Cleveland Indians Affiliate Lake County Captains. Lake County enters this first of the team's two meetings in 2021 at 25-23, tied for second in the East Division of the High-A Central. The Captains dropped their last three straight against the Great Lakes Loons, their only series loss in the month of June.

Lake County is quite literally in the middle of pack in the High-A Central League, ranking sixth in both team ERA (4.48) and batting average (.239). They have seven of the Indians' top 30 prospects on their roster, most of any club in the Indians system.

Captains to Watch:

Will Brennan, OF: Will Brennan has made great strides in his first full season of professional baseball. The Kansas State product is eighth in the league with a batting average of .289, second in doubles and tied for sixth in extra base hits. Brennan tends to bat in the leadoff spot, leading the Captains with 46 hits on the season in the table-setting role. He is just as good in the field, playing 38 of his 40 games this season in the outfield without recording an error, and only one error in his two minor league seasons.

Jose Tena, INF: The nephew of major league veteran Juan Uribe is making a name for himself and climbing up the ladder in the Indians system. Jose Tena is one of the younger players in the league at twenty years old and is already the 23rd-ranked prospect in Cleveland's farm system according to MLB pipeline, and it's easy to see why. The left-handed batter is primarily a contact hitter but is developing his power stroke, already surpassing his home run total from his first two minor league seasons combined. He has a good combination of speed and power at the plate, and is a solid middle infielder as well.

Logan Allen, LHP: A left-handed starter is a relatively rare commodity in the High-A Central, and Logan Allen is one of the best. The second round pick of the Indians in 2020, Allen is the leader in the High-A Central with a 1.79 ERA, the only qualified starter with an ERA under two and has yet to lose a game this season. The Captains are 6-2 when Allen starts, and one of those losses was a 1-0 loss to West Michigan that ended on a tenth-inning balk after six shutout innings from Allen. He has great command of his low-90s fastball, as well as a nasty changeup and a looping curveball. Allen goes head-to-head with Derek Casey in Thursday's game for the Captains.

Cubs to Watch:

Jacob Olson, INF: While Olson might not have the most eye-popping numbers on the Cubs roster, his versatility in the field makes him a valuable piece to this team. He has been playing more first base than anything in the absence of Tyler Durna, but Olson has played first and third base, as well as left and right field in twelve games with South Bend. Olson returned to South Bend before the Fort Wayne series after a three-week stint with the AAA Iowa Cubs, where he hit a home run on the first pitch he saw after entering the game as a pinch hitter. When he left South Bend after the opening series, he was leading then High-A Central with five doubles. He's hit already two since re-joining the team. Olson has reached base in each of his last four games, with those two doubles and three walks coming on both games of Sunday's doubleheader.

Yonathan Perlaza, OF: Yonathan Perlaza continued his scorching hot month of June against Fort Wayne, ending the homestand against the TinCaps on a three-game hit streak and a six-RBI day. Perlaza added a grand slam in the series finale on his career day, going 2-3 and driving in over half of the Cubs runs in a much-needed win. Perlaza has been just as good at home as he has on the road, beginning the last road series in Cedar Rapids with home runs in two of the first three games, and looks to bring that power to classic part as part of a hard-hitting Cubs outfield.

Matteo Bocchi, RHP: Since returning to South Bend from a three-game stint in AA Tennessee, Matteo Bocchi has made the transition from reliever to starter with fantastic results. In two starts, Bocchi has pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and striking out 11 batters. In addition, his four walks means that of the thirty batters he has faced as a starter, only twenty percent have reached base. Bocchi has earned a place in this Cubs rotation, and will pitch the first and last games of this series against Lake County as he looks to continue his dominant run as a starter

Schedule

Tuesday, June 29 - 7:00 pm ET: RHP Matteo Bocchi (1-0, 3.09 ERA) vs. RHP Hunter Gaddis (2-3, 6.39 ERA)

Wednesday, June 30 - 7:00 pm ET: RHP Max Bain (2-2, 4.89 ERA) vs. RHP Xzavion Curry (0-0, 1.20 ERA)

Thursday, July 1 - 7:00 pm ET: RHP Derek Casey (3-5, 3.66 ERA) vs. LHP Logan Allen (4-0, 1.79 ERA)

Friday, July 2 - 7:00 pm ET: RHP Ryan Jensen (2-4, 7.11 ERA) vs. RHP Tanner Burns (2-3, 3.34 ERA)

Saturday, July 3 - 7:00 pm ET: RHP Chris Kachmar (0-2, 5.30 ERA) vs. RHP Kevin Coulter (3-3, 8.31 ERA)

Sunday, July 4 - 6:35 pm ET: RHP Matteo Bocchi (1-0, 3.09 ERA) vs. RHP Mason Hickman (3-3, 5.67 ERA)

You can listen to Max Thoma call every game of the series on the flagship station for the South Bend Cubs WSBT 96.1, or online at wsbtradio.com.

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