BY DAN GLICKMAN
The Rochester Red Wings look to remain in the second-half playoff hunt this week with a six-game series at the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. Along the way, though, they may see some roster changes.
That’s because the Major League Baseball trade deadline is at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, and the Washington Nationals will likely again be sellers. Although they lack a mega-star trade piece as they did with Juan Soto during last season’s deadline, they have received interest in several players and have already traded third baseman Jeimer Candelario to the Chicago Cubs in exchange for two prospects.
Even if no current Red Wings are involved in any trades, the deadline could bring a reshuffle to Rochester’s roster since some players could get called up to replace traded MLB players, and prospects acquired in trades may join the Red Wings.
That was the case last season. Joey Meneses and Josh Palacios were promoted from Rochester after Washington traded Soto and Derek Bell. The Red Wings gained C.J. Abrams and Mackenzie Gore for a time after they were acquired in those trades.
While some of the ramifications of the Candelario deal have yet to be announced, Washington Post beat writer Jesse Dougherty reports that Red Wings infielder Jake Alu is expected to be called up to fill his spot. Neither of the prospects acquired in the deal have played in AAA as of this season, with pitcher DJ Herz playing in AA.
Regardless, roster changes weren’t new to Red Wings manager Matt LeCroy then, and they won’t be new now.
“For me, I’m so used to changes,” he said shortly before last season’s trade deadline. “I mean, you look at our club; it’s changed over the season. Over the last six or seven weeks, we’ve lost a lot of guys who went to the big leagues.”
On the field, the Red Wings (15-12 in the second half, 49-51 overall, 2.5 games back of International League leader Buffalo) will be focused on Scranton. The Yankees affiliate is 12-13 in the second half and 46-53 overall and currently sit two games behind the Red Wings in the standings. Rochester has gone 6-6 against Scranton this season, losing a series 2-4 in Scranton in early May but winning a home series with the RailRiders 4-2 in June.
Although coming into the series on a three-game losing streak and 3-7 in their last ten games, Scranton has a dangerous team that includes two of the league’s top 10 home run leaders, the league’s co-leader in wins, and three of the Yankees’ top 10 prospects according to MLB.com.
At the plate, Scranton is led by outfielder Estevan Florial. A left-handed hitter with three brief stints with the Yankees over the past few years, the Dominican 25-year-old is tied for fourth in the league in home runs with 23. He is also seventh in slugging percentage (.592) and ninth in OPS (.982). Third baseman Andres Chaparro is another power threat, sitting tied for fifth in the league in RBI (68) and ninth in the league in home runs (19). Infielder Jamie Westbrook, a silver medalist in baseball at the Tokyo Olympics, lead qualifying RailRiders in batting average (.305) and has also hit 15 home runs. Two of the Yankees’ top 10 prospects are Scranton position players: catcher Austin Wells and outfielder Everson Pereira. Both are relatively recent call-ups to Scranton, with the second-rated Wells only playing eight games for the RailRiders and the fourth-rated Pereira with 18 games this season for Scranton.
On the mound, Scranton is paced by right-hander Mitch Spence. His eight wins are tied for first in the league, and he’s proved a workhorse with a league-leading 107.2 innings pitched. He is fourth in the league in strikeouts (92) and in the top ten in WHIP and opponent batting average. Also in the rotation is righty Will Warren, New York’s seventh-rated prospect. Although 4-4 in AAA since being called up from AA Somerset, the 24-year-old is well-regarded for his slider but can also reach the high-90s with a fastball. The most common closer for Scranton has been Greg Weissert, who leads the team with seven saves. That’s tied for fifth in the International League with several players, including Rochester’s Gerson Moreno.
The full pitching matchups for the series are to be announced, but Rochester has announced that Jackson Rutledge (1-0, 5.57), Jose Urena (1-2, 6.03), and Joan Adon (3-5, 4.62) will start the opening three games of the series.
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