By Dan Glickman
In one of the surest signs that summer is approaching, the 2025 Rochester Red Wings held their first workout at Innovative Field on Wednesday, just days before they’ll open the season in Buffalo.
Mother Nature didn’t get the memo, however. As the team took to their home field for the first time since arriving from the Washington Nationals’ facility in Florida, the skies opened, and the temperature dipped. Snow fell heavily, turning the warning tracks and infield dirt a whitish color and speckling the grass with dots of precipitation. Wings manager Matt LeCroy, now in his fifth season skippering the club, looked a bit like Santa Claus from a distance as he watched the team stretch, jog, and play catch.
He said he’d warned his players that it could be like this.
“They all ask ‘how cold is it?’,” he said. “It’s cold, but it’s a different type of cold, it kind of bites you.”
Even returning players like infielder and utilityman Darren Baker, now entering his third season in Rochester, admits the early-season cold isn’t something one gets fully comfortable with, but that it’s something everyone has to deal with.
“I’m a California guy, I went to college in California,” he says. “You learn how to deal with it with a couple of tricks. The other team’s playing in it, too; it’s not just you. You still have to deal with it; you still have a job to do.”
Thankfully for Red Wings players looking to escape the cold, new upgraded facilities have opened at Innovative Field—a state-of-the-art performance center featuring a new weight room, a video room, an auxiliary clubhouse, two batting cages, and storage. While all 120 of the minor league affiliates still associated with major league clubs are now required to build similar facilities, the Red Wings went the extra mile with the indoor performance center, which sits in what was once VIP parking behind the first base stands.
Coaches and players have noticed, with top prospect Brady House saying that they were “way better than I could have imagined.”
He wasn’t the only one to sing the performance center’s praises.
Some @RocRedWings getting their swings in. @PickinSplinters pic.twitter.com/nyKQYSgLAt
— Dan J. Glickman (@DanJGlickman) March 26, 2025
“This is by far the best in the league,” says LeCroy. “Probably one of the best I’ve seen, even in the big leagues. Naomi and the town did a nice job of putting together an unbelievable facility for these guys to come in and work every day.”
“It’s awesome,” said outfielder Robert Hassell III, who is looking to build upon a good spring training season with the Nationals. “Guys are going to be living in there, staying in the gym, and staying in the cages, too. Guys are probably going to stay up there all pre-game instead of just chilling and doing nothing in the clubhouse.”
The early days of the season will likely see the Red Wings use the performance center frequently. Cool temperatures and possible rain are forecast for much of next week, including a possible home opener in the thirties next Tuesday.
Still, the team is ready for action.
“The guys are just ready to get out of Florida and play some real baseball in games that count,” said LeCroy.
The first of those games is Friday at 2:05 p.m. in Buffalo.
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