Lake County Captains 2025 Season Preview

Another fun season on tap for the High-A affiliate

Last season was a fun one for the Lake County Captains, as they won the championship of the Midwest League. We’re about to see what they can do as an encore, so let’s take a look at their opening day roster:

Projected Lineup:
C: Jacob Cozart LHH
1B: Ralphy Velazquez LHH
2B: Juan Benjamin SH
3B: Jose Devers RHH
SS: Christian Knapczyk LHH
LF: Wuilfredo Antunez
CF: Jaison Chourio SH
RF: Alfonsin Rosario RHH
DH: Jonah Advincula LHH

Analysis: This is a fun group for the Captains, highlighted by Velazquez, Chourio, Cozart and Rosario, all top 30 prospects for the Guardians (with Velazquez and Chourio in the top 5-7). Velazquez dazzles with high exit velocities and a fun personality, as shown in his mic’d up portion of the Spring Breakout game for the Guardians. Will be interested to see if he gets some time at catcher and in corner outfield spots, as well, to see if there’s some David Fry in this kid’s versatility. He needs to mitigate his swing-and-miss a bit and then he may become the best hitting prospect in the system. Chourio is the younger brother of Milwaukee’s Jackson, but he has displayed an advanced hitting approach and increasing exit velocities. A big 2025 from Chourio could put him on track to play centerfield for Cleveland in late 2026. Cozart was the comp pick for Cleveland in 2025 and Stephen Vogt raved about his defense in Spring Training (Tom Hamilton reported Vogt’s comments on a Spring Training broadcast); his bat is a bit of a project, but he showed some pulled-fly ball abilities in college. Rosario was acquired from the Cubs for Eli Morgan and having put up a 127 wRC+ as a 20 year old in Low-A is exciting, even if his 32.2% K-rate will need some work. Benjamin, Devers, Knapczyk, Antunez and Advincula are all interesting players with at least some level of potential to be major league contributers if they find an extra gear. This will probably be the last real chance for any of that bunch to break out, and if any do, my money would be on Antunez

Bench:
Maick Collado 1B SH
Kevin Rivas C SH
Johnny Tincher C
Esteban Gonzalez OF LHH
Nick Mitchell OF LHH

Analysis: Collado, Rivas and Tincher are what I would call “solid little players” and Gonzalez has amazing speed, so that’s fun. Mitchell was part of the Gimenez deal, also, but appears to be hurt. When he is healthy, he’s got potential to get the bigs as a contact-first outfielder. putting up a 129 wRC+ for Toronto in Low-A last year in his first taste of pro ball.

Starting Rotation:
Dylan DeLucia RHP
Josh Hartle LHP
Michael Kennedy LHP
Matt Wilkinson LHP
Jackson Humphries RHP
Yorman Gomez RHP

Analysis: This is perhaps the most interesting rotation in the Guardians’ system, rivaled only by the Rubber Ducks’ group. DeLucia put up a 2.52 ERA with a 9.84/2.27 K/BB per 9 in Lake County last year and looks to improve on that strong first effort, Hartle is a big lefty who was acquired when the Guardians’ traded Gimenez and has more ceiling than the other lefty acquired, Kennedy, but Kennedy has shown more as a pro so far, with a 3.66 ERA and a 10.22/2.04 K/BB per 9 in Low-A and High-A for the Pirates last season, featuring a nasty slider. DeLucia and Kennedy are set to piggyback as starters to begin the season. Wilkinson is famous for his “Tugboat” monikor and big man physique but opinions among scouts are divided on whether or not his 89 mph disappearing fastball will work as he continues to advance through the minors; he did have a 13.8 K/9 rate last season, though, so it will be fun to watch him try. Gomez is a bit of an org soldier, but will eat innings effectively. Be sure, again, to check out our Tommy Pecoraro’s list of Guardians pitching prospects to see some more insights on some of these interesting arms.

Other notable names: Caden Favors LHP was listed with this roster, but I’ve heard he may be hurt, so I haven’t listed him above. He is not currently on the team’s roster page, but was listed by Guards’ Insider on Twitter as with the team. I hope he turns out to be ok health-wise for his sake, of course, and also because I think he was one of the more interesting pitcher picks for the Guardians in the 2024 draft. Good command and reasons to think the Guardians can help his stuff play up.

Bullpen:
Jay Driver RHP
Josh Harlow RHP
Steven Perez LHP
Robert Wegielnik RHP
Adam Tulloch LHP
Alonzo Richardson RHP
Jack Jasiak RHP

Analysis: Always tough to say much about High-A relief pitchers, but Perez and Driver strike out a lot of guys (roughly 11 per 9) but need to manage their walk rates to have potential of being more than just minor-leaguers, Richardson may start but I’d prefer to see if his stuff will play up in a relief role myself, and Harlow, Wegielnik, Tulloch and Jasiak all strike out around 1 batter an inning, which is solid, but surrender some hard contact and too many walks. It’s really a very solid High-A bullpen, but it wouldn’t be surprising not to see any player emerge as a viable major league arm from this bunch. Driver or Perez would be my guess, if someone does.

If I had to guess, the 2025 season should see the Captains make a strong playoff push again, and hopefully they will see names like Welbyn Francisca and Braylon Doughty make their way onto the roster as the season progresses, possibly to replace Chourio and Kennedy when they get promoted, to hazard a prediction. The name to watch the most in the box scores for me is Velazquez, whose potential to be a middle-of-the-order bat makes his performance most important for the future of the parent club that made him a first round pick.