BY DAN GLICKMAN
The Rochester Red Wings are 11-10 in the second half of the season, 2.5 games out of a playoff spot. To make the playoffs and face first-half champion Norfolk for the International League title, they’ll need to have the best record in the half.
This week, they’ll have a chance to make up some of that ground when they travel to Massachusetts to face the Worcester Red Sox. The Boston affiliate is currently 13-7 and tied for first place in the International League for the split-season half. A good series for the Red Wings will help propel them further into contention for the second-half title.
“This will be a good test for us,” said Red Wings manager Matt LeCroy on Sunday. “I know the guys want to go into every series and try and win it, but we know we’ve got to play our best baseball.”
The series will be the third this season between the two teams, who have split the twelve games they’ve played this season thus far. In May, the Red Wings won a home series, 4-2, but Worcester returned the favor in their house in a series in June. This week’s series won’t be the last time the two teams play, either: Worcester will return to Innovative Field in late August.
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“It’s going to be a challenge,” said LeCroy on Sunday. “We’ve played them good [in Rochester], and we had some good games down there that we ended up losing late.”
Rochester enters the series having gone .500 in the last 10 games but is coming off its first series victory against traditional IL power Durham since 2018 after taking four out of six games at home. The Wings have been powered recently by center fielder Derek Hill, who has been on a tear since being sent down to Rochester during the all-star break. Since his return, Hill is hitting .486, slugging .829, and has a 1.315 OPS. He has also homered, driven in a team-leading 11 runs, and stolen three bases. Worcester, meanwhile, comes off a 3-3 series split in Scranton.
At the plate, Worcester is led by Bobby Dalbec. A corner-infielder who has bounced between AAA and the big leagues the last few seasons, the right-handed hitter is tied for third in the league in home runs (22) and fifth in both slugging percentage (.611) and on-base-plus-slugging (1.013). He’s joined in the lineup by No. 2 Boston prospect Ceddanne Rafaela. Called up to Worcester in late June, the utility player from Curacao has hit .305 with six home runs in his 19 games of AAA action thus far. The 22-year-old played in the Little League World Series as a child and, according to MLB.com, is regarded as “one of the best defenders in the Minors – and likely the most versatile.” Three other position players on MLB.com’s list of Boston’s top 30 prospects are also on Worcester: No. 18 Niko Kavadas (a first baseman recently called up from AA), No. 21 Wilyer Abreu (an outfielder acquired from the Astros last season), and No. 26 David Hamilton (who is fifth in the league in steals with 34).
Worcester’s lineup also has a notable name to Red Wings fans: Daniel Palka. The 31-year-old left-handed first baseman and outfielder has had stints with Rochester in both the Twins and Nationals eras, most recently when he hit 18 home runs for the Wings in 2021. He remains a power threat with 12 home runs this season, third on the WooSox. Another former Red Wing, Niko Goodrum, had been a mainstay of the Worcester lineup earlier this season but was released in early July.
On the mound, Worcester is led by 33-year-old righty Kyle Barraclough. Signed out of the independent Atlantic League in June, the veteran of 288 MLB games has yet to have a start in the big leagues but has done so in five of his six games with Worcester this season, going 5-0 with a 3.19 ERA. Lefty starter Shane Drohan has struggled since being called up to AAA but was still selected to take part in this year’s Futures Game, although he didn’t see any action in it. Another Red Sox left-handed starter, Rio Gomez, is notably the son of late ESPN baseball reporter Pedro Gomez. In the bullpen, Andrew Politi leads the team in wins (6) despite not having a start- he’s finished 26 of the 36 games he’s played in and earned nine saves.
Worcester’s rotation for the coming series is unknown, but Rochester’s probably starters for the first games are. Right-hander Jackson Rutledge (1-0, 4.76) is expected to start Tuseday, to be followed by righties Jose Urena (1-2, 6.09), Joan Adon (3-5, 4.46), and lefty Anthony Banda (0-2, 7.88) on Wednesday through Friday.
Rochester will follow the Worcester series with a trip to Scranton before returning home on August 8 for a series with Lehigh Valley.
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