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Max Clark (Photo by Paul R. Gierhart via Bill Mitchell)
As they have in more than seven out of every 10 games this season, the High-A West Michigan Whitecaps won their regular season finale on Sunday, beating Fort Wayne 5-0. It was the final capper in a truly historic season.
The Tigers’ High-A affiliate went 92-39 this year for a .702 winning percentage. That is the first MiLB full-season club to post a 70% or better winning percentage in the 21st century, topping Bowling Green’s .695 winning percentage in 2021. West Michigan was 18.5 games better than anyone else in the Midwest League.
West Michigan’s longest losing streak of the season was three games, which happened only twice.
The Whitecaps’ +289 run differential is also the best in the minors since at least 2005 (MiLB run differentials from seasons before 2005 are not part of MiLB’s stats database).
West Michigan was a star-studded team in the first half of the season, with players like shortstop Kevin McGonigle, center fielder Max Clark and catcher/first baseman Josue Briceño all ranking in the Baseball America Top 100 Prospects list. While that’s a lot of talent together at once, the reason we don’t typically see MiLB teams win this much over the course of the season is because a stacked roster having a great first half means the core of the team will get promoted to the next level.
While that also happened to the Whitecaps, the team somehow managed to get even better. After the big three of McGonigle, Clark and Briceño were all bumped up to Double-A Erie, West Michigan was an even better 48-18 (.727) in the second half of the season.
Izaac Pacheco led the club with 17 home runs. Reliever Marco Jimenez went 3-1 with a 1.50 ERA in 60 innings.
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