BY DAN GLICKMAN
The Rochester Red Wings finally won another International League title, but there’s still one more pennant to win, and it’s one that has eluded them even longer than the IL championship had: the AAA national championship.
This is partially because the championship for AAA has not been played as regularly as others. When the Red Wings won the International League pennant in 1997, for example, there was no AAA championship to play in afterwards. This time though, there is: The AAA National Championship Game, to be held in Las Vegas on Saturday night. A win there would give Rochester its first AAA title since the legendary 1971 team managed by Joe Altobelli defeated the American Association’s Denver Bears.
VIEW MORE PHOTOS FROM JOE TERRITO.
Standing in Rochester’s way is the Pacific Coast League champion Oklahoma City Comets. The AAA affiliates of the Los Angeles Dodgers, like the Red Wings they had the best overall record in their league (89-60) but had to win the second half in order to qualify for the playoffs. Like Rochester, it took all three games for Oklahoma City to beat their opponent, the Las Vegas Aviators. Due to Rochester having a better overall record (90-58), the Red Wings will technically be the home team, although Oklahoma City may have the advantage of having already been in Las Vegas due to the fact that is where the PCL Championship Series was this year.
While in a single game any team can beat any other, it’s clear that the Comets (managed by Scott Hennessey) will not be an easy opponent for the Red Wings, and it will likely be anyone’s game. While Oklahoma City was in the top half of the PCL in most offensive categories, their big strength was on the mound: they led the PCL with a 4.30 ERA – nearly .20 lower than the next-best team – and also led their league in shutouts, saves and strikeouts. Their .248 opponent batting average was the second lowest in the PCL.
Expected to start for Oklahoma City is Emmet Sheehan, a 26-year-old righty who has pitched on-and-off for parts of three seasons for the Dodgers and who threw 5.1 innings of one-hit ball against the San Francisco Giants last Sunday. In his career, Sheehan is 15-12 with a 4.13 ERA in 51 games in the majors, although he struggled this season, going 5-8 with a 4.57 ERA. Mostly sent down as a roster-management move, he’s expected to be called up back to Los Angeles in time for the NLDS next week, where he’s expected to work in the bullpen like he did in their 2025 postseason run.
As for Oklahoma City’s lineup? Contrary to the grumblings of many fans, the Dodgers do not just win titles through sheer money alone: they also have one of the best farm systems in baseball, and Oklahoma City has six of the Dodgers top 30 prospects according to MLB.com Pipeline. That includes their top two prospects and three of their top ten. Those top two prospects are among the Top 15 prospects for all of baseball: outfielders Josue De Paula (No. 6) and Mike Sirota (No. 14).
De Paula, a Brooklyn-born Dominican left-hander, made his MLB debut earlier in September and acquitted himself well in the 11 games he played, hitting .323 with a 1.081 OPS in 42 plate appearances. Although sent down when Shohei Ohtani returned from the injured list, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has said that he may still be called up again for the MLB postseason. Sirota, meanwhile, was a late call-up to AAA as well but is a career .316/.458/.558 hitter in his minor league career.
The other top-30 Dodgers prospects on the Comets roster are 1B/OF James Tibbs III (No. 7), OF Zach Ehrhard (No. 15), LHP Jackson Ferris (No. 17), and SS/3B Noah Miller (No. 25). Tibbs was second in the PCL in home runs, with 30, and fourth in OPS, with a .941 mark.
Outside of the prospects, the Comets have plenty of MLB experience, as might be expected from an organization that has such a loaded major league roster. All three of the Comets’ catchers, for example, have MLB experience – Eliezer Alfonzo, Ben Rortvedt, and Chadwick Tromp. In the infield, both Hyeseong Kim and Alex Freeland have seen MLB action this season, while other outfielders like Alek Thomas have experience in the big leagues as well.
Rochester, though, is hardly without firepower, and they had to get through the generally-regarded-as-tougher International League, where a squad must beat out 19 others instead of just nine in the PCL. The Red Wings had the highest-scoring team in the IL this season, as well as the highest batting average, and even with some of its best players like Yohandy Morales called up to the big club, they remain one of the best-hitting teams in the minors. The names in that lineup are, of course, familiar to Red Wings fans, with the two most important likely being infielder Seaver King and utilityman and team MVP Trey Lipscomb.
King is the team’s top position-player prospect, and the No. 68 prospect in all of baseball according to MLB.com pipeline. The Wake Forest grad slashed .289/.361/.497 in 77 games with the Red Wings this season while hitting 16 home runs, and hit .333 (4-for-12) with a home run in the ILCS. Lipscomb, meanwhile, had a historic year at the plate for the Wings, hitting 32 home runs while slashing .287/.325/.536, becoming the first Red Wing to hit 30 or more home runs in a single season since Terry Crowley in 1977. Like King, Lipscomb has stayed hot in the playoffs, batting .385 (5-for-13) with two doubles in the ILCS. Other key contributors for the Red Wings include catcher Riley Adams, outfielder Andrew Pinckney (who also is a key contributor with his fielding), and outfielder Leandro Pineda. Cayden Wallace and Max Romero have also shown pop at the plate, and second baseman Cortland Lawson became an unexpected hero for the Red Wings when he singled in Pinckney for the game-winning run in game three of the ILCS.
On the mound, Rochester expects to send out Jack Cebert. The No. 14 prospect in the Washington system, the right-hander was acquired in the Luis Garcia Jr. trade earlier this season from the Yankees and has split time between A, AA and AAA this season. Across 24 games (20 starts) in those levels, he’s gone 5-6 with a 4.03 ERA, including 1-2 in Rochester.
Matt LeCroy will have a full bullpen ready behind Cebert, as well as potential wild card in Jarlin Susana. Susana, the No. 65 overall prospect in baseball and the No. 3 prospect in the Washington system, is a 22-year-old flame-thrower from the Dominican who can throw a ball faster than 100 MPH. Injuries had kept him from pitching as much this season, and he struggled in his AAA debut when he started during the Buffalo series to end the regular season, but his pure stuff cannot be denied.
Regardless of who sees the mound, the AAA National Championship Game starts on Saturday at 10:05 p.m. Eastern Time. The game will air on MLB Network, MILB.TV, and the Bally Sports App, and will be be called on the radio by Josh Whetzel on FOX Sports 1280.
Leave a Reply