Captain of the Week (7/1-7/6): Carter Spivey
EASTLAKE, OH – After each series this season, the Lake County Captains will spotlight a Captain of the Week, presented by Official League, showcasing a player and their strong performance over the previous week. For the week of July 1 through 6, Lake County is recognizing RHP Carter Spivey as
EASTLAKE, OH – After each series this season, the Lake County Captains will spotlight a Captain of the Week, presented by Official League, showcasing a player and their strong performance over the previous week.
For the week of July 1 through 6, Lake County is recognizing RHP Carter Spivey as its 12th Captain of the Week for the 2024 season.
The right-hander recorded the best start of his Minor League career against the Dayton Dragons on Thursday, July 4. Spivey tossed a career-high eight shutout innings, allowing just four hits and one walk, while throwing a career-high seven strikeouts in a career-high 96 pitches (career-high 66 strikes). This performance marked the first scoreless outing of his Minor League career. He did not record a decision in the eventual 6-5 defeat in 10 innings.
The 24-year-old became the third Captain to pitch eight innings in a game this season. Former Captain and current Double-A Akron RubberDucks RHP Austin Peterson pitched 8.2 innings on June 22 at South Bend, and RHP Trenton Denholm has reached the mark twice (8.1 innings on May 22 versus West Michigan and eight innings on June 15 versus Fort Wayne).
Spivey has excelled in two starts against Dayton this year, going 1-0 with a 0.64 ERA, 13 strikeouts, and a 0.79 WHIP in 14 innings of work.
So far this season, Spivey leads the Midwest League with an .833 win percentage (5-1 record), while ranking top-10 in innings pitched (79.0, fourth), games started (15, tied for fourth), and ERA (3.76, eighth), and ranking fourth on the Captains with 56 strikeouts. He has also recorded seven quality starts, which rank tied for second in the league with Denholm and Fort Wayne’s Jagger Haynes, and trail only Peterson’s eight. Lake County’s 27 quality starts as a team lead the MWL and rank third in High-A.
Spivey was signed by the Cleveland Guardians as an undrafted free agent out of East Carolina on January 9. He had a productive five seasons with the Pirates, going 17-4 with a 4.71 ERA, 168 strikeouts, six saves, and one complete game in 83 appearances (15 starts).
He was named the 2022 AAC Pitcher of the Year, going 8-0 with a 2.83 ERA and 76 strikeouts in 76.1 innings of work. The right-hander was also teammates with former Captain and current Cleveland Guardians RHP Gavin Williams from 2019 through 2021.
Spivey then spent the 2023 season with the Florence Y’alls of the Frontier League. He made eight starts for the Y’alls, going 2-1 with a 3.06 ERA, 41 strikeouts, and a 1.19 WHIP in 47 innings of work. Following this performance, he was signed by Cleveland and assigned to the Arizona Complex League Guardians. However, he did not make any appearances in the ACL, and was eventually named to the Captains’ 2024 Opening Day roster.
Spivey will look to continue his recent success this week, as the Midwest League East First Half Division Champion Captains continue their nine-game homestand with a six-game series against the Lansing Lugnuts. The series is set to begin on Tuesday night, with first pitch scheduled for 6:05 p.m. from Classic Auto Group Park in Eastlake. All six games will be broadcast on the Bally Live app and MiLB.TV, with social media coverage courtesy of @LCCaptains on X and Instagram.
The Lake County Captains are the High-A Affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians, and have been a Class A Affiliate of Cleveland since the team was founded in 2003. To find out more information about the Captains or purchase tickets, visit CaptainsBaseball.com, or call (440) 975-8085.