After losing five out of six games in Ohio against the Lake County Captains last week, the Lansing Lugnuts (19-26) will look to get back on track with a series against reeling in-state rival West Michigan (14-31) starting Tuesday at JacksonⓇ Field™.
Back in the middle of April, the Whitecaps blitzed the Lugnuts, leaving the state capital with a six-game series sweep. This time around, the Lugnuts will be looking for a much different result.
Meet the opponent
After winning the Midwest League Championship last season, West Michigan finds itself in a very different situation about two months into 2026; in last place in the standings and with the worst offense in the league.
The Whitecaps have had a tough go of it over the last month, going 2-24 since April 25.
Pitching isn’t necessarily where the team is running into problems. The Whitecaps are third in ERA (4.53), number of runs surrendered (226) and walks (202) while having the lowest WHIP (1.45) among teams in the Midwest League.
The pitching staff is led by starters Gabriel Reyes (7 starts, 2.30 ERA) and Hayden Minton (8 starts, 3.78 ERA) along with relievers Ryan Harvey (13 games, 2.79 ERA) and C.J. Weins (14 games, 2.79 ERA).
Despite the pitching, the team has a run differential of -48 (second worst in the league), and it comes down to offensive performance. As a team, the Whitecaps are hitting .215 with an OPS of 6.54, both worst in the league. The team is also last in OBP (.325), runs scored (178), and RBIs (163) while being tied for last in hits (315). Additionally, the Whitecaps have 486 total strikeouts, the most of any team in the Midwest League.
West Michigan’s offense is led by outfielder Andrew Sojka and infielder Garrett Pennington. Sojka is reaching base in nearly 42% of his plate appearances and hitting .278 with 27 hits, 16 RBIs and 17 runs scored. Pennington is batting .270 with 40 hits, 24 RBIs and 23 runs scored in addition to being ranked seventh in the Midwest League in total bases with 75, tied for fourth in doubles with 11 and tied for fifth in extra-base hits with 19.
Keys to victory
In order for Lansing to get back on its feet after a tough week down in Ohio, the team’s offense needs to reignite its spark.
Two weeks ago, the Lugnuts hosted the Quad Cities River Bandits and buried them with offense, scoring 56 runs with 54 hits in the six-game series, winning five of the six matchups.
Last week against the Lake County Captains, that offense stalled out. The Lugnuts only scored 16 runs on 41 hits and returned home with just one win in the series. Lansing lost three of its games against the Captains by 10 or more runs.
To make matters worse, the Lugnuts’ pitching staff is also struggling. Lansing’s starters are posting a 4.78 ERA (6th in the Midwest League) and opposing batters are hitting 2.55 on average (8th).
But the bullpen is where things get messier. Lugnuts relievers have a 6.33 ERA (9th) and a .295 average against opposing batters, the worst in the league. The bullpen also has the least number of strikeouts in the Midwest League with 158.
In order to get back to its winning ways, Lansing needs to fire up its offense again, and the team has proven it can do so. The Lugnuts’ pitchers need to take advantage of a Whitecaps’ offense that is struggling and use that to try and find a groove, possibly leading to momentum they can carry past the series.
And finally, Lansing needs to cut down on mistakes on defense. The series against Lake County was littered with wild pitches and errors, several of which led to runs for the Captains. In total, the Lugnuts committed eight total errors over the week.
If Lansing’s offense can find its swag and its pitchers can get some momentum going, this series against a struggling Whitecaps squad represents a way for the team to get back on track.