The Greatest Lugnuts (to have never made it to MLB)

Minor League Baseball, as has been said so often, is about development... but that doesn't mean we haven't seen players come in to Lansing and make their mark, even if they never make the Major Leagues in the end as they had hoped.

After honoring the Lugnuts' best Major League starting lineup last week, it's time to remember the best players who came through Lansing who never did make it to The Show.

We'll go chronologically, the same way we did when naming the top Lugnuts relievers of all time.

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Blaine Mull, 1996 - Opening Day starter Mull was a teenager for the majority of the Lugnuts' inaugural season, yet his 15 wins and 174 2/3 innings pitched still rank as the Nuts' single season records and his 28 starts have been matched but never topped.

Jose Amado, 1996-1997, Tony Miranda, 1996-1997, and Kendrick Moore - The 1997 Lansing Lugnuts slashed .278/.360/.405 as a team, led by monster seasons from Amado, who followed up a .349/.414/.514 showing in 1996 by slashing .342/.403/.509 in 61 games, and Miranda, who had been alright the previous year but exploded to hit .341/.430/.496. Miranda's .430 on-base percentage remains the Nuts' single season record. Not to be overshadowed, Moore hit .285 with a .370 OBP, stole 43 bases in 57 attempts, and led the Lugnuts with 105 runs scored. Stop me if you've heard this before: Moore's 105 runs still ranks as the Lansing single season record.

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In 1999, the Lugnuts became a Chicago Cubs affiliate, and the bats began to roar.

Tony Schrager, Tydus Meadows, Jeff Goldbach, 1999 - Do you understand how good the 1999 Lugnuts offense was? It scored 822 runs in 140 games, averaging 5.9 runs per game. Sure, there was Corey Patterson and Hee-Seop Choi, but Tony Schrager (pictured above after homering) drew 103 walks and bashed 51 extra-base hits, Tydus Meadows slashed .301/.400/.512 with 55 extra-base hits and 18 steals, and teenage catcher Jeff Goldbach added 27 doubles and 18 home runs of his own while drawing 64 walks compared to 66 strikeouts. This was a monstrous lineup that was betrayed by a pitching staff with a 4.73 ERA.

Ryan Gripp, 2000 - Before there was Brian Dopirak, there was third baseman Ryan Gripp, who collected 166 hits (a team record tied four years later by Dopirak), bashed 36 doubles and 20 home runs, and drove in 92 runs, all while walking 68 times compared to 86 strikeouts in 135 games. His slash line: .333/.416/.526 in one of the greatest offensive seasons Lansing has ever seen. Also worth mentioning in 2000: Ben Johnstone stole 54 bases.

Adam Morrissey, 2001 - Put on some Morrissey and listen to this: In 122 games, the 20-year-old had 26 doubles, 11 triples, 14 homers, 10 steals, and 88 runs scored. His slash line: .309/.427/.524. Just ridiculous, all while hitting in front of future Major Leaguer Jason Dubois.

Kevin Collins and Brian Dopirak, 2004 - Dopirak's name has come up once or twice before. That's what happens when you hit 39 home runs to break the Midwest League single season record, and nobody comes close to touching you in the years since, plus you amass 77 extra-base hits, 166 total hits, 321 total bases, and 120 runs batted in, all Lugnuts single season records. Don't forget about Kevin Collins, though, who belted 33 home runs of his own, plus 26 doubles. Collins's .615 slugging percentage was better than Dopirak's, and ranks as the highest in Lugnuts single season history. (Also in 2004: Chris Walker stole a team record 60 bases. Shout out to great stolen-base artists!)

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In 2005, the Lugnuts switched affiliates from the Chicago Cubs to the Toronto Blue Jays. Coincidentally, the team's strength switched from hitting to pitching.

Chi-Hung Cheng, 2005-2006, 2008 - Boy, things were looking promising for Cheng in 2005. The young southpaw from Taiwan struck out 142 hitters in 137 innings in his first Lugnuts season, posting a 3.15 ERA. In 2006, he was even better, with an 11-5 record and a 2.70 ERA in 28 starts, striking out 154 in 143 1/3 innings while allowing only five home runs. But the hand of fate stepped in. He made only seven appearances in 2007, was back in Lansing in 2008 and pitched ineffectively, and was done after a 2009 campaign in the Pirates' organization.

Frank Gailey and Matt Daly, 2009 - The Blue Jays constantly stocked the Lugnuts' bullpen with capable arms, and Gailey, a lefty, and Daly, a righty, presented a fine example of this. Both made 44 appearances in 2009; Gailey pitched to a 1.93 ERA as the setup man and a multi-inning reliever, and Daly pitched to a 1.95 ERA and 19 saves as the club's closer. They combined to allow only two home runs all year. The Lugnuts finished the year 54-84, but the back end of the bullpen was not the problem.

Steve Turnbull, 2010-2011 - For two years, The Bull closed games in Lansing, using a spike curve to save 36 total games and post a 3.37 ERA in 77 appearances while allowing only four home runs. His finest moment came in Appleton, Wisconsin, when he struck out three straight Timber Rattlers with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth to lock up a Lugnuts win.

K.C. Hobson, 2010-2012 - The son of Major League player and manager Butch, first baseman K.C. joined the Lugnuts for 23 games in 2010 and then played 128 games apiece in 2011 and 2012, peaking with a team record 43 doubles in 2012 and leading the ballclub with 86 runs batted in. One of home runs tore through the foul pole in Fort Wayne. On another occasion, he scored the game-winning run against the TinCaps while wearing only one shoe -- he had lost the other spike between second and third base.

Jesse Hernandez, 2012 - Quick, how many future Major Leaguers were in the Lugnuts' 2012 starting rotation? There was Noah Syndergaard, and Aaron Sanchez, and Anthony DeSclafani, and Justin Nicolino. There was also Marcus Walden, now a setup man in Boston, and there was David Rollins, who made the Majors for a cup of coffee. Count 'em, six Major Leaguers. Jesse was the forgotten man, so it might surprise you to learn that his ERA of 2.26 was the best of all of them, and he only allowed two home runs. He nearly threw a no-hitter at Fort Wayne, too, but gave up an infield single with one out in the eighth inning and lost a one-hitter, 1-0.

Jason Leblebijian, 2012-2015 - We had to mention Leb, didn't we? A utilityman on the Lugnuts in 2012 and 2013, he became the heart of the team in 2014 and 2015, showing off surprising power - including a night in which he swatted two home runs into the second story of the in-progress stadium apartment construction in center field. In all, he played in 229 games with the Lugnuts, compiling 69 extra-base hits, 109 RBIs, 22 steals, and 200 base hits on the nose.