FORT WAYNE, Ind. (ADAMS) – For the second time in three weeks, TinCaps starting pitcher VictorLizarraga has won the Midwest League’s Pitcher of the Week award, Minor League Baseball announced Monday.
The 19-year-old right-hander from Tijuana led the ’Caps to a 2-0 victory Sunday night against the South Bend Cubs at Parkview Field as he worked six scoreless innings with nine strikeouts.
Feeding off a sellout crowd of 7,343 fans, the six innings equaled a career-long for Lizarraga, while his punchout tally marked a new career best. With his fastball reaching 95 miles per hour, his curveball on point, and a changeup to keep hitters honest, he scattered just three singles with no walks and overcame a pair of errors committed behind him. MLB.com ranks “Liz” as the No. 15 Padres prospect (fifth among pitchers).
The TinCaps released the following:
Lizarraga is the first TinCaps pitcher to win multiple Pitcher of the Week honors in a season since left-hander Joey Cantillo in 2019. (Cantillo was traded by San Diego to Cleveland in 2020; he’s currently with Triple-A Columbus.)
While Lizarraga was the only arm in the league last week to throw more than five scoreless innings with more than five strikeouts, he had competition for this accolade from some teammates. Righty Dylan Lesko (No. 4 Padres prospect) struck out nine as well over five shutout, one-hit frames Friday. On Saturday, lefty Austin Krob (No. 28 Padres prospect) K-ed 11 batters across six and 2/3 innings of two-run ball.
Thanks in part to their outstanding pitching, the TinCaps ended their 2023 regular season home schedule with five consecutive wins and moved into Midwest League postseason position. Fort Wayne has six regular season games remaining on the road against the Dayton Dragons (Cincinnati Reds affiliate) from Tuesday-Sunday. All games can be heard on 1380 The Fan and 100.9 FM, and watched online.
If the TinCaps advance to the postseason, they would host Game 1 of the East Division Championship Series on Tuesday, Sept. 12 (6:35 p.m.) against the Great Lakes Loons (Los Angeles Dodgers affiliate), who’ve already clinched their spot. Click here for the latest standings.
The TinCaps are seeking their first postseason appearance since 2017. The club is also hunting an overall winning record for the first time since 2015.
Fort Wayne now has had five players, including Lizarraga, combine for six Midwest League Pitcher/Player of the Week awards, the team’s most since 2009.
