Peoria Set for Road Series at Beloit

The Peoria Chiefs were unable to get the bats going this past week, as they lost five out of six games to the division leading Quad Cities River Bandits. With the series in the books, Peoria sits at 6-12. Up next is a series on the road against the Beloit Snappers, the High-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins. Beloit’s roster features six of the top 30 prospects in the Marlins farm system.

Last 10 games vs. Beloit

Dating back to May 2019, the Chiefs are 5-5 in their last 10 games versus the Snappers. In their last series against Beloit on August 28-30, 2019, Peoria took two out of three games at Dozer Park.

Who to Watch For: Beloit

Griffin Conine: Conine, the son of former Marlins outfielder Jeff Conine, leads the Snappers in home runs and runs batted in with five and 15 respectively. He was traded to the Marlins last season as a “player to be named” from Toronto in the Jonathan Villar deal. He is ranked as the 18th best prospect in the Marlins system, per MLB Pipeline.

Connor Scott: The 13th overall selection in the 2018 First Year Player Draft, Scott brings great all-around tools to the table when it comes to defense, hitting, and baserunning. He is currently slashing .288/.362/.442 with an .804 OPS. Scott is ranked as the 16th best prospect in the Marlins organization.

Kyle Nicolas: Nicolas, the 17th ranked prospect in the Marlins system, is a hard-throwing right-hander whose fastball has been able to reach 100 miles per hour. He can also overwhelm hitters with a slider that features a sharp break. Nicolas has had a good start to the season, posting a 2-0 record with a 2.40 ERA and a 10.2 K/9.

Chiefs Previous Series:

It was a series to forget for the Chiefs as they dropped five of six games to Quad Cities last week. In the final three games of the series, Peoria only scored three runs combined, two of which came from a Matt Chamberlain home run on Sunday. The lone win of the series came on Thursday, powered by back-to-back home runs by Francisco Hernandez and Pedro Pages in the third inning.

Players to Watch: Peoria

Francisco Hernandez: In his first series of High-A ball, Hernandez has gotten off to a good start, posting a .286/.353/.500 slash line with a, .853 OPS, a home run and two runs batted in. It will get progressively tougher for him as the season continues, but Hernandez has passed all the eye tests so far.

Brendan Donovan: Donovan has been one of the most consistent players on the Chiefs roster this season, slashing .278/.371/.370 with a home run and four runs batted in. His ability to get on base at a high rate could act as a spark plug for the Chiefs offense when smoothly functioning. He previously had a 10-game on-base streak that ended on Sunday. Look for Donovan to continue his stellar start to the season this week.

Zade Richardson: Having only one home run and a .216 batting average may not look the most attractive on paper, but Richardson’s on-base percentage of .431 is a huge reason why he has a place on the Chiefs roster. If he can draw more solid contact off the bat this upcoming series, it will lead to more runs scored by the Chiefs offense due to his high OBP.

Fabian Blanco: Blanco has been a bright spot on Peoria’s pitching staff. In 9.1 innings pitched, he has only given up two runs on four hits, posting a 1.93 ERA while striking out 11 batters.

Single Game Ticket Information

June single game tickets are now on sale! Tickets can be purchased online or at the box office Monday-Thursday from 9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. and on Friday’s from 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. The box office will be closed for lunch daily between 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. Tickets for July, August and September will be available at a later time.

The Peoria Chiefs are locally owned and operated and play their games at Dozer Park. The Chiefs are a committed community asset and premier entertainment venue for families and individuals in Central Illinois.