ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Rochester Red Wings returned to Innovative Field on Monday with a roster different from when they left on August 18.
Gone were top prospect outfielder Dylan Crews, fan-favorite utility man Darren Baker, and other players like reliever Zach Brzykcy, who all got their first call-up to the Washington Nationals. In their place were outfielders Robert Hassell III– making his AAA debut- and Andrew Pinckney, making his Innovative Field debut after joining the team during their road trip. Other key players, like catcher Drew Millas, returned to the majors, flipping roster spots with fellow catcher Riley Adams.
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Sadly for the Red Wings and the 8,511 fans in attendance for the rare Labor Day game, the new-look lineup struggled against the Worcester Red Sox, falling 3-1. Worcester starter Richard Fitts was perfect into the fifth inning before third baseman Brady House led off that inning with a single. The Red Wings (33-25 in the second half, 71-60 overall, 4.5 games back for the International League second-half lead) staged a few attempts at a comeback but, aside from a two-out rally in the ninth that plated one, were unable to capitalize on their opportunities.
That rally saw first baseman Joey Meneses single with two outs. After moving to second on defensive indifference, Pinckney brought him home with a sharp double to center to narrow Worcester’s lead to 3-1. Worcester’s Luis Guerrero forced a flyout to end the game, however, sending the Wings down in defeat.
Rochester pitcher Andrew Alvarez pitched well, allowing two earned runs on five hits in 5.1 innings while striking out three, but was haunted by four walks. Among those walks was a one-out free-pass to Kristian Campbell in the sixth that later came around to score on a Jamie Westbrook double to make it 2-0.
“I did okay,” he said post-game. “I didn’t throw a lot of strikes, though, made some tough walks. I made it a little harder on myself than I needed it to be.”
“But at the end of the day, we just didn’t pull it off.”
All three of Worcester’s runs came off the bat off Westbrook, as he opened scoring in the fourth with an RBI groundout to make the game 1-0 and later gave the Red Sox (32-25 in the second half, 67-65 overall, 5 games back) an insurance run in the ninth with a solo shot off Wings’ reliever Ty Tice– the lone run and one of just two hits to come off the Red Wings bullpen on the day.
“Anytime you give up just three runs in a game, you’re giving your team a chance, and we just offensively didn’t get it done,” said Red Wings manager Matt LeCroy.
Even as the Red Wings went 6-6 on their recent road trip to Lehigh Valley and Scranton, LeCroy found himself a recurring feature of the Washington Nationals’ social media, as he was featured in videos of him telling players like Crews and Baker that they were getting called up to “The Show.” While the loss of Crews and Baker to the big club has taken away two of Rochester’s best hitters in the second half, LeCroy was proud of how they received the call from the player development side of his job, especially Baker.
“I kind of had it (known) the whole we had Dylan [Crews] that we’d see him in the Big Leagues,” said LeCroy. “Darren, for me, was big personally for me being in player development. Watching and knowing what I knew about Darren coming into the season- he wasn’t going to have the opportunity to play much. We had Lipscomb come up here to start the season, so he was going to have to take a back seat. ‘Lip’ got called up to the big leagues, and Darren got to step in and got to play. He took an awesome opportunity that I didn’t think he would get , and he made the most of it. He had a great season, he’s probably one of the most improved players that I’ve had here in the last couple of years.”
“To see him get called up, for me, that was a pretty neat story, and we wanted to share that with the guys.”
Replacing Crews and Baker on the roster have been Pinckney and Hassell. Pinckney joined the team after Crews’ call-up and has hit well in his first seven games in AAA, batting .321 with a double and a home run in 28 at-bats.
“He had a good season for them in Harrisburg, and he came in here and faced the Yankees in Scranton and held his own, got some hits, had a big homer,” said LeCroy of Pinckney, who is the No. 28 prospect in the Nationals’ system according MLB.com Pipeline.
Hassell, meanwhile, is the latest to come to Rochester, who the Nationals got in what LeCroy refers to as “that big trade with San Diego”- the one that sent Juan Soto to the West Coast for a bevy of prospects, including James Wood, MacKenzie Gore, and C.J. Abrams. A former first-round pick of the Padres, Hassell has been on the radar of baseball scouts for years, playing in the Little League World Series twice as a kid before becoming one of the top high school players in the country and playing for the United States national under-18 team in 2019. A Futures Game selection when he was in the Padres system in 2022, Hassell is the No. 13 prospect in the Nationals’ system according to MLB.com Pipeline. His promotion to AAA came after Baker’s promotion with the expansion of rosters for September. While he went hitless in his AAA debut on Monday, LeCroy hopes some time in the International League will help him going forward.
“Hopefully he can do what he’s capable of doing and put a good taste in some people’s mouths who are making decisions about him next year,” LeCroy said.
The Wings have the day off Tuesday but resume their series with Worcester on Wednesday, Sept. 4, at 6:05 p.m. Rochester expects to send righty Spenser Watkins (7-5, 4.65) against Worcester righty Quinn Priester (3-2, 5.03).
unfortunately but very predictably, Washington sent the message loud and clear as to how they feel about winning a pennant down here in AAA. Even though they are totally out of it, we are supposed to simply feel good when LeCroy delivers his ‘welcome to the show’ speeches.
Thats what we are left with. In the bigger picture thats all any fan of minor league baseball is left with. But for the staggeringly shrinking number of us who still care about winning down here, its just business as usual. That isn’t going to change.
The youngsters getting their first taste of the big leagues will savor the moment…as well as the increased paycheck, so who can fault them I suppose.
Gone, long gone are the days when a Bobby Grich asked his manager down here in 1971 if he could not go up until his team here won the Jr World Series. OF course that was impossible, but it spoke volumes as to how important winning a championship was, when it was so close to happening. And Grich was probably better than any prospect we have seen here in decades. (my opinion…feel free to disagree)
So as September rolls on, the Wings will be simply playing out the string. We can attend a game or two to have some dogs, a brew, and maybe enjoy a nice fall evening at Frontier. (sorry) And watch some AA players get in a few licks.
And look forward to 2025.