The Lansing Lugnuts (25-32) return home this week after dropping four of six games to the Great Lakes Loons at Dow Diamond.
Lansing, in fourth place in the Midwest League East, will look to get back on track this week against the Cedar Rapids Kernels (28-28). The Kernels lost three of five games against the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers last week (the series was cut short by a rain-canceled game on Sunday) and are in fourth place in the Midwest League West. This will be the only time these two teams clash this regular season.
Meet the Opponent
Cedar Rapids comes into the series with one of the lower-ranked offenses in the league. The Kernels have a .240 batting average (9th), a .745 OPS (8th) and a .347 OBP (10th). The team is eighth in hits (437) and ninth in runs scored (297) with a run differential of -61, the second worst in the league.
The team is led offensively by Marek Houston, the seventh-ranked Minnesota Twins’ prospect according to MLB Pipeline. Houston is tied for sixth in the Midwest League in batting average with a .308 and is second in hits with 60.
Twins’ No. 21 prospect Khadim Diaw is hitting .278 and is tied for sixth in doubles (13) in the league.
Overall, the Kernels' pitchers are ranked tenth in ERA (5.93), hits (494) and runs allowed (358) while having the ninth-ranked opponent batting average (2.63).
The starters, led by Twins No. 10 prospect Riley Quick (6 starts, 3.98 ERA), Eli Jones (8 starts, 5.09 ERA) and No. 5 prospect Dasan Hill (10 starts, 6.30 ERA), have the highest ERA (7.65), WHIP (1.73) and opponent batting average (.289) in the league.
It’s not all bad for Cedar Rapids though, with the group of starters and relievers issuing the lowest number of walks in the league (245) and ranked fifth in strikeouts (545), sixth in WHIP (1.53) and tied for seventh in home runs allowed (63).
The relievers, led by the promoted Paulshawn Pasqualotto (13 games, 1.50 ERA, 4 saves) and the newly-added-to-the-rotation Michael Ross (7 games, 1.59 ERA), are fourth in the league in ERA (4.86) and second in WHIP (1.40).
Keys to Victory
After starting the month of May hitting over .250 in their first two series, the Lugnuts have seen a dip in offensive performance since then. And the offense the team has generated has been inconsistent.
Against South Bend to start the month, Lansing hit .254 with a .702 OPS. Against Quad Cities, the Lugnuts hit .276 with a .837 OPS.
Since then, Lansing hit .220 with an OPS of .577 against the Lake County Captains and hit .238 with an OPS of .712 against the West Michigan Whitecaps.
The statistics went down again against the Loons last week, with the team hitting .227 with an OPS of .651.
In the series opener, the team managed just two hits (both from Ali Camarillo) and one walk with 12 strikeouts and went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position (RISP) in the 4-0 loss.
On Friday, the Lugnuts were again shut out 4-0 after accumulating just one hit (by Casey Yamauchi), though the team was able to get on base courtesy of 10 walks.
The Lugnuts, however, ended the series on a positive note. Despite a 16-6 blowout loss on Saturday, Lansing tallied 11 hits, with three players recording multi-hit games.
On Sunday, the team did even better, tallying a season-high 20 hits in a 13-4 rout of the Loons. Every Lugnut recorded a hit, with Pedro Pineda leading the charge with a 5-for-6 performance at the plate.
For the Lugnuts to start stringing together wins to get back towards the top of the Midwest League East, the offense needs to become more consistent and get back to where it was in early May. And the pitching staff of the Kernels, especially the starters, gives them a chance to do so.
Another aspect of the game to keep an eye on is how Lansing’s starting pitchers perform.
Over the last two series, Lugnuts’ starters have put together several notable performances. Against West Michigan, Steven Echavarria, Samuel Dutton, Zane Taylor, Ryan Magdic and Nathan Dettmer put together 30.2 innings of five-run baseball, with three of them (Dutton, Taylor, and Dettmer) recording quality starts.
Against Great Lakes, Echavarria pitched six innings in game one, allowing two earned runs (four total) on three hits with six strikeouts in a quality start.
Taylor, who has been the team’s ace this season, pitched a scoreless 7.2 innings on Thursday with nine strikeouts and just two hits allowed.
Taylor has a 2.75 ERA this season, the second best in the Midwest League among qualified pitchers. Taylor is tied for third in the league in wins with five and has the sixth-lowest opponent batting average (.229) and the third lowest WHIP (1.24) having pitched the second most innings (52.1).
Lansing needs its starting pitchers to perform at a high level to offset a bullpen that has struggled this season.
Lugnuts’ relievers have a 6.03 ERA (tied for eighth in the Midwest League), a 1.81 WHIP (11th) and a .283 opponent batting average (11th).
If the starting pitchers can go long and perform well this week and the offense can find its form, Lansing can bounce back with a series win against Cedar Rapids.