Baseball in Fort Wayne

Cory Luebke was a first-round pick in 2007 and joined the Wizards late in the year. After going 3-0 with a 1.46 ERA for Eugene, he stopped in Fort Wayne for three games and didn’t exactly impress by posting a 3.33 ERA and a 1-2 record over five games. But he moved onto Hig-A Lake Elsinore anyway, where he struggled more by rounding out his first year as a pro by going 1-1 with a 7.71 ERA.

2008 picked up where Luebke left off on Lake Elsinore, where he went 3-6 with a 6.84 ERA over 17 games; 15 of them as a starter. In 72.1 innings, he struck out 60 and walked 23 before being demoted back to Fort Wayne where it’s hoped that he can regain his command a restore some of the promise that accompanied the prospect when he was drafted.

In his first outing after returning to Fort Wayne, Luebke walked three in two innings of work Sunday against Wisconsin. In two innings of work, he threw 45 pitches, struck out one and walked three while giving up one unearned run on no hits.

“I just want to be able to get out there, get more consistent in the zone with all my pitches. The off-speed was giving me a little trouble, I fell behind in some counts. I just want to go out there, pitch and get some confidence.”

Manager Doug Dascenzo liked what he saw from Luebke in limited action. “The ball is coming out of his hand pretty nice,” Dascenzo said. “He felt pretty good. He will have a little bruise on his side, but he’ll be fine.”

Credit Lamond Pope: Luebke Back as Starter | Luebke coming back to Fort Wayne