HOMESTAND PREVIEW: Lugnuts take on Chiefs in penultimate home series

With three weeks left in the Midwest League regular season, the Lansing Lugnuts (19-28, 48-63) welcome the Peoria Chiefs (23-24, 55-58) into the state capitol for a six-game bout beginning on Tuesday night.

This is the first and only series the Lugnuts will have against the St. Louis Cardinals’ affiliate from the Midwest League west division this season. It is also the penultimate homestand of 2026 at JacksonⓇ Field™.

Both squads enter the matchup after dropping series to their respective opponents last week. Peoria lost four-of-six games against the Beloit Sky Carp, who are currently in second place in the west division second half standings.

The Lugnuts are coming off a difficult away series against West Michigan. The Whitecaps came away with five victories in the six-game series, highlighted by an avalanche of home runs against Lansing’s pitching staff, and sit atop the east division by a game.

Meet the Opponent

Peoria enters the series with an offense ranked towards the middle of the Midwest League over the last 30 days. The Chiefs are tied for eighth in batting average (.244), ranked sixth in OPS (.781), ninth in hits (206), fifth in runs scored (143), third in RBIs (138), 11th in walks (101), ninth in strikeouts (240) and tied for fourth in stolen bases (39).

Homers could be a factor this week. Peoria is ranked second in home runs over the last 30 days with 36, two below a West Michigan squad that just dominated the Lugnuts with 15 long balls, the most hit by a team in High-A and third-most hit in all of the minor leagues last week. In the last 30 days, Lansing’s pitching staff has surrendered a league-worst 46 home runs.

The current roster is led by right-handed hitters Yordalin Peña, Sammy Hernandez and Jalin Flores. Recently promoted to Peoria from the Single-A Palm Beach Cardinals on August 4, Peña is hitting .345 with an OPS of 1.148 with five doubles and two home runs in eight games with the Chiefs. Hernandez has a much longer resume with the squad this season, appearing in 51 games and hitting .310 with an OPS of 1.019 in addition to 15 doubles, nine home runs and 34 walks.

Flores has been with the team for the entire season, playing in 98 games. The San Antonio native is hitting .253 and is ranked second in the Midwest League in RBIs (78), third in doubles (24), extra-base hits (44) and total bases (178) and ranked fifth in hits (98).

On the mound over the last 30 days, Peoria is ranked sixth in ERA (5.11), tied for fifth in WHIP (1.50), eighth in opponent batting average (.252), second in strikeouts (253), fifth in walks (121), eighth in hits (222), seventh in runs allowed (146) and tied for eighth in home runs given up (32).

The Chiefs are led by two of the Cardinals’ top 30 prospects (MLB Pipeline). No. 9 prospect Brandon Clarke is the highest-ranked player on the team and has started in two games for Peoria this season, posting a 4.50 ERA, 0.75 WHIP and .143 opponent batting average in eight innings. The left-handed pitcher brings immense pitch speed to the Chiefs’ rotation; on July 18, Clarke threw a pitch 103.1 mph for Single-A Palm Beach in just his second start since having surgery on his left arm.

Jacob Odle also made the top prospects list, coming in at No. 21. Odle has made 12 starts for the Chiefs this season, posting a 4.59 ERA, 1.53 WHIP and .208 opponent batting average. Within the Midwest League in the second half, the righty is ranked sixth in ERA (4.38), second in strikeouts (55), tied for first in opponent batting average (.201) and ranked ninth in WHIP (1.44) over nine starts (in six-way tie for second-most starts).

Southpaw Cade Crossland is also a name to watch; promoted alongside Clarke on Aug. 4, Crossland has started two games for Peoria, boasting a 1.93 ERA, 1.18 WHIP and .167 opponent batting average over 9 ⅓ innings.

Things to Note

As has been the case over the last several weeks, Lansing’s pitching staff will be an x-factor in this series against the Cardinals. Since July 21, the Lugnuts have had a large piece of their starting rotation get promoted, seeing Nathan Dettmer, Zane Taylor, Ben Hansen and Steven Echavarria all advance to Double-A Midland. The pitching since then has been a bit inconsistent and unpredictable.

Take the last two series as an example. Against Lake County two weeks ago, Lansing’s pitching staff had an overall ERA of 4.25 and gave up 53 hits and 27 runs. Against West Michigan, however, the staff had a 6.66 ERA and surrendered 60 hits and 42 runs.

Jorge Marcheco, who was originally a reliever this season, pitched twice last week against West Michigan, allowing a single run, three hits and two walks with four strikeouts over 5 ⅔ innings in game one of the series. In game six, however, he surrendered six runs, five hits and three walks with five strikeouts in 4 ⅓ innings. Marcheco has a 5.26 ERA over his six starts (25 ⅔ innings) this season.

Former indy ball player Devin Kirby-Williams has had flashes of success, but he’s also struggled at times since joining the team in late July, currently holding a 10.13 ERA over his five starts as a Lugnut. Jackson Nove is new to the rotation and started his first High-A contest last week, allowing seven hits, five runs (four earned) and one walk with four strikeouts over four innings.

Tucker Novotny (also a former reliever) has shown positive results, highlighted by his best start of the season last week in which he pitched six scoreless innings and allowed four hits and two walks with five strikeouts. In 17 ⅔ innings (four starts) this season, Novotny has a 4.58 ERA.

Samuel Dutton rounds out the current starting rotation with the third-best ERA in the Midwest League (4.40) this season over a league-leading 108.1 innings pitched. Dutton is also ranked seventh in opponent batting average (.291) and seventh in WHIP (1.52).

If the pitchers have a good week, the staff can back up an offense that is performing well as of late. Over the past two series, Lansing is the second-best hitting team in the league, slashing .270 with 114 hits (2nd), 74 runs (4th) and 69 RBIs (4th).

Powell’s Predictions

I predict the Lugnuts’ offense will keep performing well in this series, especially because the team is back in Lansing. Over the season as a whole, Lansing is hitting .253 at home compared to .233 on the road.

I also really like what I am seeing from the top contributors. Jake Reinisch mashed .341/.449/.707 with two doubles, two triples and three home runs over the past two weeks and has a current on-base streak of 28 games stretching back to July 5. Daniel Bucciero hit .333/.455/.578 with three doubles, a triple and two home runs in the last two series.

I see no reason why the team’s success doesn’t continue against a Peoria pitching staff that isn’t ranked incredibly high in the Midwest League in the past month. Overall, if the pitching staff has a good series and the offense keeps performing well, I think the Lugnuts can win four or five games against the Chiefs this week.