Lake County Captains: Baseball America's 2024 MiLB Team Of The Year
With the low-payroll Guardians relying on homegrown talent to fuel MLB success, the Lake County Captains provides optimism for the future.
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Under manager Omir Santos, the Lake County Captains were all of that, and more, in 2024. The team went 77-53 (.592) then beat Wisconsin in the best-of-three championship series to win the Midwest League title.
The Captains led the MWL in runs scored and fewest runs allowed. They led in walks and on-base percentage and ranked second in stolen bases and slugging. Lake County pitchers allowed the fewest baserunners.
“When we looked at our roster at the start of the year, we were quite excited,” Harris said. “Then at midseason, we moved some guys up and got even more excited.”
Even more exciting was the addition of 2024 No. 1 overall pick Travis Bazzana, the Australia-born second baseman from Oregon State. Coming off a full college season, Bazzana’s numbers in 27 games for Lake County were modest—he hit .238/.369/.396 with three home runs—but his presence energized the team and, especially, the fans.
