HOMESTAND PREVIEW: Nuts look to rebound in rematch with Great Lakes

For the second time this season, the Lansing Lugnuts (0-3, 29-38) go toe-to-toe with the Great Lakes Loons (1-1, 37-29), but this time the Lugnuts have home-field advantage in a six-game series starting Tuesday.

Last time these two teams faced off, Great Lakes took four of the six games in the series. It was a bit of an inconsistent series for the Lugnuts’ offense; the team was shut out in two games but ended the series with a resounding 13-4 victory.

The other win of the series came on the back of one of Zane Taylor’s best pitching performances of the season; the right-hander fired 7 ⅔ scoreless, two-hit innings and collected nine strikeouts on June 4.

This will be the first full series for both teams after the first half of the season ended last Thursday. The Loons are coming off of a matchup against Lake County in which they lost three of five games against the Captains, but that wasn’t the main takeaway.

For the majority of the first half of the season, Great Lakes held the top spot in the Midwest League East division and looked poised for a playoff berth, only for the Dayton Dragons to swoop in and steal the honor last week.

Lansing returns home after getting swept by the West Michigan Whitecaps in a five-game series on the road, highlighted by a struggle to score runs.

Meet the Opponent

The Loons’ strength comes from their starting pitching staff, and that was apparent last time these two teams faced off. Before the blowout in game six of the series, Great Lakes starters held the Lugnuts to just nine hits and four runs (three earned) over the opening five games.

The starters, who are ranked first in the Midwest League in ERA (3.86), WHIP (1.31) and opponent batting average (2.19), are led by Brooks Auger, Aiden Foeller and Zach Root. In nine starts this season, Auger has posted a 2.30 ERA and a .216 opponent batting average. Foeller has a 2.51 ERA and .160 average against opposing batters in seven starts, and Root has a 2.73 ERA and a .194 average against in 10 starts.

On offense, the Loons are tied for second in the league in batting average (2.61) and are seventh in OPS (.775). The team is tied for the least number of strikeouts with 555 and are a threat with runners on the bases with 129 stolen bases this season (3rd).

The group is led by Logan Wagner (.308 AVG, .964 OPS), Eduardo Guerrero (.303 AVG, .772 OPS) and Eduardo Quintero (2.83 AVG, .782 OPS). Last time against the Nuts, Quintero was one of the best hitters, slashing .333/.391/.524 in 21 at-bats.

Things to Note

Offense is typically a topic in these previews, and this week is no different. As mentioned before, the Lugnuts’ offense was inconsistent three weeks ago in the first series against the Loons.

Two weeks ago, Lansing scored a total of 44 runs against the Cedar Rapids Kernels, and the series was only five games long (the final game was canceled). Then last week against the Whitecaps, Lansing’s offense ground to a halt, scoring just seven runs in total over another shortened five-game series.

The Lugnuts have seen this pattern throughout the season; the team’s offensive statistics when comparing home games and away games present a stark contrast.

When playing at JacksonⓇ Field™, Lansing is one of the top offenses in the league; the team is third in the Midwest league in batting average (.268), fifth in OPS (.800), fourth in hits (287), second in runs scored (219) and first in RBIs (207) while striking out the second-fewest times (250).

On the road, those numbers plummet; Lansing has scored 72 fewer runs (147 total, 12th in league) and is last in batting average (.229), OPS (.647), and RBIs (133) while ranking ninth in hits (266) and eighth in strikeouts (337).

With this series against the Loons being at home, theoretically the team should fare better than they did the first time around. But, roster changes need to be considered as well.

Since playing Great Lakes the first time, Lansing has lost Casey Yamauchi and Devin Taylor to promotions up to Double-A. When they left, Yamauchi was hitting .297/.387/.430, and Taylor was slashing .292/.425/.436.

Against the Loons at the beginning of the month, Taylor was a major contributor, hitting .318 with an OPS of 1.080 and two home runs. While more subdued, Yamauchi hit .250 with an OPS of .625.

To win the series this time around, the Lugnuts are going to have to find offensive boosts from other players currently on the team.

Powell's Prediction

To offset the offense previously seen by Taylor and Yamauchi, I am looking for Ali Camarillo and Carlos Pacheco to lead the way.

Camarillo hit .280 against this team last time out and collected five doubles. Pacheco is hitting .282 in nine games with the Lugnuts this season and has proven to be a threat on the basepaths with nine stolen bases.

But the team is going to need to find answers from elsewhere in the lineup as well, and I think Pedro Pineda is another name to watch. Pineda was the best hitter against the Loons last time, hitting .467 with an OPS of 1.033 (although it was with a smaller, 15 at-bat sample size).

If the Lugnuts can get going on offense, boosted by the fact that they are playing at home, I think this series will go better than the previous one. I expect it to be difficult, but I think Lansing can at least split the series with three wins and maybe even grab a fourth.