COMSTOCK PARK, Mich — Through six series in the minor league baseball season, it's easy to see the Whitecaps are hitting the cover off of the ball.
"We work very hard to make sure we understand as a team what we need to do," Whitecaps manager Brayan Peña said.
The Whitecaps are "tough cookies" in the batter's box. Like Pat Benatar, West Michigan is giving its best shot. It's working quite well.
"Just going up there with confidence is the main key," Whitecaps infielder Jace Jung. "Going up there with confidence and hit the ball hard. Keep going."
So far through 33 games, the Whitecaps lead the Midwest League in several offensive categories hits, runs scored, batting average, on base percentage, OPS and West Michigan has recorded the least amount of strikeouts in the league.
The Whitecaps say the reasoning behind the efficiency at the dish is quite simple.
"Getting pitches at the heart of the plate," Whitecaps infielder Justice Bigbie said. "I think that's just really pride ourselves in being able to do."
That sense of pride comes from many of the behind the scenes guys setting the Whitecaps up for that success.
"It's a testament to our preparation and our hard work and our hitting guys and our coordinators have done a great job telling us what we need to do," Whitecaps infielder Izaac Pacheco said. "They give us a good plan to go out there and accomplish it. I think we are just having fun. We are swinging it well."
The Whitecaps plan to keep swinging it at a high level, and they are loving the ride.
"Super excited about our young talent," Peña said. "We are excited about guys like Bigbie, JJ, Pacheco, [Eliezer] Alfonzo, Danny Serretti. The guys are doing pretty good. We just have to continue to still have fun and they enjoy what they do."
The Whitecaps play the Great Lakes Loons on the road this week.
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