Welp, the season came to an end for the Fort Wayne TinCaps earlier this week. The Lake County Captains swept them right out of the playoffs. They gave Fort Wayne trouble all year so it came as no surprise that they eliminated the TinCaps. Now because the season is over, I figured I would give some quick thoughts on the season.
It wasn’t the greatest season in TinCaps history. The team went only 63-76 on the year, but they still made the playoffs despite that record thanks to Midwest League playoff procedures. Even with that record, I would still say the season was successful. They defeated West Michigan in the first round of the playoffs and made the Eastern Division Championship Series for the fourth straight year. The team also set a new record in overall attendance. The fans need to keep coming out to the ballpark every season to make sure their TinCaps keep getting to the playoffs. It helps that Parkview Field is a pretty awesome stadium.
Let’s look at some individual efforts for the TinCaps this season. Players come and go in the minor leagues so it is good that Fort Wayne had some players that played over a hundred games with the team this season. Fernando Perez was fourth in the Midwest League in home runs with 18 and he also led the league in RBIs with 95. Dustin Peterson wasn’t too far behind as he finished sixth in RBIs with 79 and he finished eighth in doubles as well. Mallex Smith was second in stolen bases and he moved his way up to the California League. Being second in stolen bases is pretty good when he played in half as many games as the guy in first and only finished a couple stolen bases behind him. The TinCaps had two players in the top ten in On Base Percentage (OBP). Ronnie Richardson had a .401 OBP which was good for second and Jake Bauers had a .376 OBP to finish sixth. Bauers also finished fifth in batting average at .296. Trea Turner and Nick Schulz both played pretty well for Fort Wayne even though they only played 46 and 49 games between the two. Turner and Schulz actually were first and second in batting average, but they didn’t play enough games to be counted towards the league leaders.
The TinCaps as a whole were pretty good at batting this season. Fort Wayne led the league in hits, RBIs, total bases, and batting average.
Pitching was not a strong spot for Fort Wayne in 2014. No TinCaps pitcher had over ten wins, but nobody had over ten losses either so that’s good. A big bright spot was that Kyle Lloyd led the Midwest League in strikeouts. Justin Livengood went 7-1 for Fort Wayne this year which is pretty good for a relief pitcher. Ronald Herrera started the most games for the TinCaps, but he probably wishes he had won more of those starts. Hopefully the pitching will improve in 2015.
I’m already looking forward to the 2015 season. I’m hoping I can get out to Parkview Field a little more next season. The city of Fort Wayne will now turn our attention the Fort Wayne Komets and the defending NBA D League Champion Fort Wayne Mad Ants. Is it November yet?
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