Fort Wayne TinCaps vs. Great Lakes Loons preview
The Great Lake Loons come to Parkview Field this week to play the Fort Wayne TinCaps.
Fort Wayne returns home and starts a 12-game homestand.
This will be the first of three series Fort Wayne will be playing at Parkview Field in the month of July.
The visiting Loons are the High-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers. I am expecting some extra adrenaline for this series. The Major League  Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres have formed a rivalry out in the National League West.
Expect that rivalry to flow down to their High-A affiliates that also share a division.
 About The Great Lakes Loons:
- From Midland, Michigan. 211 miles from Fort Wayne
- Home games are played at Dow Diamond.
- Clayton Kershaw, Corey Seager, Johan Santana are notable Loons alumni.
Going into last weekend the Loons Miguel Vargas and Ryan Ward were leading the High-A Central in batting average at .313 and .312 respectively. Vargas has since been promoted to the Tulsa Drillers in double-A. Outfielder Ryan Ward is an 8th round draft pick in 2019 out of Bryant. Outfielder Andy Pages is currently leading the league in homeruns with 14 and runs scored with 42.
For the TinCaps, Johnny Homza continues to hit the ball hard. Homza leads the High-A Central in line-drive contact percentage at 29.8%. He is over three percentage points higher than 2nd place Connor Scott of the Beloit Snappers. This is impressive as Scott was the 13th overall pick in the 2018 MLB draft. The closest Loon in line drive percentage contact is center fielder James Outman at 23.5%. Below are the top 10 in the High-A Central.
Name |
Team |
Level |
LD%
|
| Jonny Homza | SDP | A+ | 0.30 |
| Connor Scott | MIA | A+ | 0.27 |
| Cobie Vance | OAK | A+ | 0.26 |
| Nick Loftin | KCR | A+ | 0.25 |
| Tyler Gentry | KCR | A+ | 0.24 |
| Spencer Torkelson | DET | A+ | 0.24 |
| James Outman | LAD | A+ | 0.24 |
| Moises Castillo | STL | A+ | 0.23 |
| Victor Nova | CLE | A+ | 0.23 |
Agustin Ruiz continues to lead the TinCaps with nine home runs and 32 runs batted in. Seven of Ruiz’s homeruns have come at Parkview Field. Ruiz’s flyball contact is at 48.8%. Reinaldo llaraza continues to do small things as he leads the TinCaps with 14 stolen bases. He also Leads the High-A Central with four sacrifices.
Going into last Sundays series finales in the tightly contested High-A Central East division, 1st place to last place is only separated by five games. That is good new for the TinCaps if they can string together some wins.
| – East Division | Aff | W | L | W-L% | GB |
| Dayton Dragons | CIN | 26 | 19 | 0.578 | — |
| Lake County Captains | CLE | 25 | 21 | 0.543 | 1.5 |
| Great Lakes Loons | LAD | 23 | 23 | 0.5 | 4 |
| West Michigan Whitecaps | DET | 21 | 23 | 0.477 | 4.5 |
| Lansing Lugnuts | OAK | 22 | 25 | 0.468 | 5 |
| Fort Wayne TinCaps | SDP | 21 | 24 | 0.467 | 5 |
Series Information:
- Location: Parkview Field (back to full capacity)
- Six games starting Tuesday 6-30-21 through 7-4/21. Weekday games begin at 7:05 PM EDT. Saturday and Sunday games at 6:35 PM EDT.
- Listen or Watch:Â 1380 ESPN Fort Wayne or Milbtv.com
I was born, raised, and still reside in the Hoosier state. I am a 2008 graduate of Ivy Tech Community College. I am married to my beautiful wife Kristen, father to Garrett, with another child on the way. A baseball enthusiast covering the Fort Wayne TinCaps, High A affiliate of the San Diego Padres.