Four Captains Named 2024 Midwest League All-Stars, Cooper Ingle Named Most Valuable Player

EASTLAKE, OH – On Thursday, September 19, Minor League Baseball announced its High-A All-Star Teams for the 2024 season.

Four Lake County Captains were named Midwest League All-Stars for the 2024 campaign.

C Cooper Ingle, MLB Pipeline’s No. 13 Cleveland prospect, SS Angel Genao, MLB Pipeline’s No. 5 Cleveland and No. 87 Cleveland prospect, RHP Austin Peterson, and LHP Matt Wilkinson, MLB Pipeline’s No. 29 Cleveland prospect, were each honored for their efforts with the Captains this year.

Cooper Ingle, C

Not only was Ingle recognized as an All-Star, but he was also named the 2024 Midwest League MVP.

The 22-year-old catcher had a remarkable 68 games with Lake County this season, which resulted in him being promoted to the Double-A Akron RubberDucks on August 12. At the time of his promotion, he led the Midwest League in batting average (.313) and OPS (.933), while ranking second in on-base percentage (.433) and slugging percentage (.500), and tied for sixth in RBI (55). Ingle also hit nine home runs for the Captains this year, two of which were grand slams.

Additionally, at the time of his promotion, the 2023 fourth-round pick out of Clemson was the only MiLB or MLB catcher with 50-or-more walks (51) and 40-or-fewer strikeouts (40). He was also one of two MiLB or MLB catchers at the time with .310+ batting average, 55+ RBI, and a .930+ OPS, joining Triple-A Reno C Adrian Del Castillo.

Ingle’s .433 on-base percentage this year set a Lake County single-season franchise record (minimum 250 plate appearances), and his career .439 OBP in 85 combined games across 2023 and 2024 set a Captains career franchise record (minimum 350 plate appearances).

According to FanGraphs, through the games of August 13, Ingle led the Midwest League in wRC+ (169), walk-to-strikeout ratio (1.28), and wOBA (.433), while ranking second in walk percentage (16.7%) and wRAA (25.1), third in swinging strike percentage (5.0%), sixth in strikeout percentage (13.1%), and eighth in line drive percentage (27.0%).

Ingle’s 13-game hitting streak from May 17 to June 6 was the longest by a Captain this season. He led MiLB in both batting average (.460) and on-base percentage (.565) during this span, while ranking second with a 1.245 OPS. During this streak, he also led the Midwest League in slugging percentage (.680), while ranking top-five in hits (23, second), walks (12, tied for third), and RBI (16, tied for fifth).

Angel Genao, SS

Genao was promoted to Lake County from the Single-A Lynchburg Hillcats on June 3, and was one of the premier players in the Midwest League for the remainder of the season.

Through the MiLB games of September 18, in the regular season across Lynchburg and Lake County, is the only Minor Leaguer with at least a .330 batting average (.330), 50 extra-base hits (52), and 25 stolen bases (25). The only Major Leaguer with these numbers through the MLB games of September 18 is Kansas City Royals SS Bobby Witt Jr.

In 66 regular season games with the Captains, the 20-year-old hit .322 with 87 hits, 24 doubles, one triple, four home runs, 32 RBI, 24 walks, 13 stolen bases, and an .840 OPS. From the time of his promotion through the end of the regular season, he led the league in batting average, hits, and doubles.

Genao hit safely in 52 of his 66 regular season games with Lake County, recording twice as many multi-hit games (28) than games without a hit (14).

But the Castillo, Dominican Republic native played some of his best baseball of the year during the Midwest League Playoffs. On September 10, he hit a solo home run in his first career High-A postseason at-bat in Game 1 of the 2024 Midwest League East Division Championship Series at Dayton. Genao eventually led the Midwest League Playoffs in RBI (five, tied), slugging percentage (.857), OPS (1.466), doubles (three), walks (eight), and extra-base hits (four).

Austin Peterson, RHP

Peterson had an impressive start to the 2024 season with the Captains, which resulted in him being promoted to Double-A Akron on June 24.

Through the MiLB games of September 18, in the regular season across Lake County and Akron, the 25-year-old leads Minor League Baseball in wins (14), WHIP (0.89), quality starts (15), and innings pitched (160.0, tied), while ranking tied for 10^th in strikeouts (159).

At the time of his promotion, Peterson was the only pitcher across MiLB and MLB with 85-or-more strikeouts (87) and six-or-fewer walks (six). He became the third pitcher across MiLB and MLB with at least 85 strikeouts and six-or-fewer walks through the first 68 team games of a season since 2005.

Additionally, at the time, he led High-A in innings pitched (85.0) and games started (14, tied), while leading the Midwest League in strikeouts (87), WHIP (0.84), and wins (seven), while ranking second in ERA (2.44), and third in both opposing batting average (.208) and win percentage (.778). Peterson also ranked second in MiLB with a 14.50 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

His 13.2 combined shutout innings in two starts against Fort Wayne during the week of April 30 through May 5 were the most scoreless frames from a pitcher across MiLB and MLB during this span.

The 2022 ninth-round pick out of UConn also made Lake County franchise history this year. On May 29 at Cedar Rapids, he threw a career-high 13 strikeouts in a 6-4 win over the Kernels. With this performance, Peterson tied RHP Adam Plutko (5/8/2014 vs. Bowling Green) for the Captains’ single-game strikeout record.

Also, in his final start as a Captain, he was one out away from pitching the fifth nine-inning complete game in franchise history. On June 22 at South Bend, he pitched a career-high 8.2 innings, allowing four hits, two earned runs, and no walks, while throwing five strikeouts in a career-high 94 pitches (64 strikes).

Matt Wilkinson, LHP

Wilkinson was promoted to Lake County from Single-A Lynchburg on May 21, and was the Captains’ first midseason addition from the Hillcats.

Through the MiLB games of September 18, in the regular season across Lynchburg and Lake County, the 21-year-old ranks second in Minor League Baseball in: ERA (1.90), strikeouts (174), WHIP (0.91), and opposing batting average (.169).

Additionally, through the MiLB games of September 18, Wilkinson is the fourth MiLB pitcher since 2005 with at least 180 strikeouts (181), a 1.95-or-lower ERA (1.92), and at least 130.0 innings pitched (131.0) across the regular season and postseason since 2005. The left-hander joins LHP Matt Maloney (2006, Class A Lakewood), eventual 2010 MLB All-Star RHP Yovani Gallardo (2006, Class A Brevard County/Double-A Huntsville), and eventual four-time MLB All-Star, three-time World Series Champion, and 2014 World Series MVP LHP Madison Bumgarner (2008, Class A Augusta).

From his High-A debut on May 25 through the end of the regular season, Wilkinson led High-A in ERA (2.30) and opposing batting average (.174), while finishing second in both the Midwest League and High-A in WHIP (0.98). He also led the Midwest League in strikeouts (103) during this span, going 5-5 in 16 regular season starts for the Captains.

The 2023 10^th-round pick out of Central Arizona College (JUCO) then made two starts in the Midwest League Playoffs for Lake County. He went 1-0 with a 2.19 ERA, allowing 12 hits, four runs (three earned), and five walks, while throwing seven strikeouts in a combined 12.1 innings of work.

His final start of the year was the longest of his professional career. With the Captains facing elimination at home in Game 2 of the 2024 Midwest League Championship Series against Wisconsin, Wilkinson delivered his first career postseason quality start. He pitched a career-high 6.2 innings, allowing seven hits, two earned runs, and two walks, while throwing five strikeouts in a career-high 96 pitches (career-high 60 strikes).

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.