Familiar faces head roster as Captains embark on 21st season
Apr. 3—The next step on the journey that at least some of them are confident will lead to Progressive Field begins April 5 when the Lake County Captains begin their 21st season in Eastlake as an affiliate of Cleveland's Major League club.
Weather permitting, the Captains, the High-A farm team of the Guardians, will meet the West Michigan White Caps in the start of a three-game series at Classic Auto Group Park. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.
Tickets for the opener are still available and can be purchased in advance by going to CaptainsBaseball.com or by calling 440-975-8085.
The Eastlake forecast for April 5 calls for a cloudy day with a high of 41 degrees. Tickets will also be available at the box office for last-minute customers who want to see how the weather pans out.
Long-time Captains fans will remember the likes of Jose Ramirez, Shane Bieber, Francisco Lindor (now with the Mets) and more recently Bo Naylor, Will Brennan, Tanner Bibee, Logan Allen, Gavin Williams and Brayan Rocchio playing with the Captains early in their baseball careers.
Some familiar faces and some new ones make up the Captains' 2024 roster. Nearly half of the team — 14 of 29, to be exact — are in their second season with the Captains.
The Guardians selected 21 players in the 2021 draft. All but two were pitchers. Jake Fox, an outfielder selected in the third round, is back for his second season with Lake County.
Fox, ranked as the Guardians' 24th best prospect according to Baseball America, last season led the Captains in hits (103), runs (61), doubles (23), triples (five), RBI (53), total bases (160), and at-bats (402). He hit .256 with eight home runs in 101 games.
Here are the names of the other position players in addition to Fox gearing up for a second season with the Captains: catchers Zac Fascia and Cooper Ingle, infielders Nate Furman and Tyreese Turner and outfielders Justin Boyd and Jorge Burgos. Ingle played his first 17 career professional games with Lake County last season, hitting .288 with 15 hits, five doubles, 10 RBI, 17 walks, and a .464 on-base percentage.
Left-handed pitcher Parker Messick, a second-round pick by the Guardians in 2022, was promoted from Lynchburg to Lake County on June 27 last year. He is back with the Captains after starting 11 games for them last year.
Alaska Abney, Trenton Denholm, Magnus Ellerts, Steve Hajjar, Jake Miller, and Josh Wolf are pitchers returning from last year in addition to Messick.
Jose Devers is a 20-year-old infielder worth watching. Devers played with Low-A Lynchburg in 2023. He will be making his Captains debut as the Guardians' 20th-best prospect according to Baseball America. He drove in 66 runs, scored 65 times and stole 34 bases with the Hillcats last year.
The next step for anyone playing with the Captains is a promotion to the Doue-A Akron Rubberducks, then the Triple-A Columbus Clippers and then the Guardians.
