It was the first week back after the All-Star Break in the Midwest League and we’re going to take a look at the teams who made the playoffs, but first, the league awards!
League Awards
Jacob Rogers of the Kane County Cougars (CHC) took home the Player of the Week Award after hitting .455/.500/.1.091 in just four games with four of his five hits going for extra bases (essentially completing a cycle over the week). It was a shortened week thanks to the All-Star Game but Rogers, a 2012 40th round pick by the Cubs, made the most of it.
Jonathan Martinez of the Great Lakes Loons (LAD) earned the award thanks to a six-inning, three-hit, no-walk outing in which he struck out seven batters against the Dayton Dragons. Martinez, who is the Dodgers’ 15th-ranked prospect (according to MiLB.com), gets a nice, early birthday present as he turns 20 tomorrow and is having an excellent season in his first, full season in a starting role in A-ball with a 3.32 ERA and a very strong 5.00 K/BB ratio.
First-Half Playoff Teams
In the Eastern Division, the West Michigan Whitecaps (DET) made good on the promise of having a dominant pitching team. Their pitching staff has allowed the second fewest runs in the league with the second lowest ERA and WHIP. The Whitecaps pitching staff has, by far, the most strikeouts in the league and features three of the top five pitchers in the league for strikeouts (Buck Farmer , Austin Kubitza and Kevin Ziomek ).
The Whitecaps managed to win the division’s first half by just a half a game over the South Bend Silver Hawks (ARI) who take the second place playoff spot. South Bend’s first half victory had more to do with their offense, scoring 377 runs and placing third in the league in OPS. The Dayton Dragons were the closest finishers, 3.5 games behind the Silver Hawks.
In the Western Division, the first-half title went to the Kane County Cougars (CHC) who won the division by 6.5 games. Kane County rivaled West Michigan for the best pitching in the league, allowing fewer runs and posting an ERA that was one point lower and having a WHIP at 1.21 (tied with West Michigan). Kane County’s offense wasn’t all that great, posting a .689 OPS, fifth worst in the league (although West Michigan had the absolute worst OPS and the third fewest runs). Despite the low OPS, Kane County actually finished in the top half of the league in runs scored.
Second place in the Western Division goes to the Burlington Bees (LAA) who made a charge to hold off the Peoria Chiefs over the first 70 games. Burlington’s pitching is solid, finishing fifth in runs allowed, fourth in ERA and sixth in WHIP. They balanced the solid pitching with pretty average hitting but were able to secure their playoff spot.
Notable News
The Chicago Cubs got their first-round pick, fourth overall selection Kyle Schwarber to the Midwest League pretty quickly after a five-game introduction to pro ball with Boise in the Northwest League. Schwarber destroyed the pitching in those five games, hitting four home runs and hitting .600 (12/20). While it’s impossible to maintain those kinds of numbers, Schwarber hasn’t slowed down much since arriving in Kane County, going 8/22 with two walks, two home runs and two doubles for a .421/.500/.842 slash line and he’s thrown out both runners who have tried to run against him.