The Rochester Red Wings played their first game of the season last night, and it was a thrilling 8-7 victory. The Nats Triple-A affiliate is full of exciting talent, and they showed what they could do last night. They will be a fascinating team to watch this year, especially early on.
Their roster is absolutely stacked with prospects or young players with big league experience. The Red Wings feature the likes of Dylan Crews, Harry Ford, Robert Hassell, Luis Perales, Mitchell Parker and many more interesting players. We are going to see a lot of these guys in the MLB at some point, so following them while they are in the minors will be important.
Last night, the Red Wings offense was firing on all cylinders. Everyone in the lineup got on base at least once. There was production from up and down the lineup, with a lot of important pieces for the Nats future showing their stuff. If you have time to head up to Rochester, you should do it.
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The most important player on this roster is definitely Dylan Crews. After a rough spring, the Nats new regime made the gutsy decision to send the former number two overall pick back to AAA. In his first game back down there, Crews was solid. He was not incredible, but his at bats looked better. Crews got on base twice, once with a single and once on a 9 pitch walk. He also only struck out once in his five at bats, which is encouraging.
The Red Wings faced solid competition to start this one as well. Robby Snelling is a top 100 prospect for the Marlins. The Red Wings only managed one run against him across four innings, but they made him work and put the pressure on. After Snelling left, they punished the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp’s bullpen.
The Jumbo Shrimp relievers were wild and the Red Wings took advantage. They walked 10 times last night. Abimelec Ortiz had three of those walks, and he was the best player on the field last night. He got on base in all five of his AB’s last night, with two hits and three walks.
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Ortiz came over in the MacKenzie Gore trade as one of the secondary pieces. The squatty first baseman has a track record of hitting, but does not have value in the field or on the bases. He was in the mix to make the team, but he did not have a great spring. However, if he performs in Rochester, he will get his opportunity before too long.
Another hitter who was in the mix to make the team was Christian Franklin. Like Ortiz, the Nats got him via trade. He was part of the Michael Soroka package in July. The 26 year old projects as a solid fourth outfield type who can really do damage against left handed pitching. Franklin did hit a 111 MPH double off of a righty last night though.
The Red Wings are going to be such a fascinating team. It is not just the offense either. Andrew Alvarez, who looked great in September and in Spring Training for the Nats was the starter. It was not his best outing, but we know what he can do. Julian Fernandez, Orlando Ribalta and Jackson Rutledge all got in the game out of the bullpen as well.
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Today, the Red Wings have Mitchell Parker on the mound, who has made 59 big league starts in the last two seasons. It is rare for an AAA rotation to have that kind of recent big league experience in it. All of these guys are hungry and are not just content to be in AAA. They are on the hunt for big league spots.
That showed itself in the field as well. The Red Wings made a couple of web gems last night. Yohandy Morales made a diving play going into the netting and Robert Hassell made an outstanding over the shoulder catch. These guys are competing and many have gotten a taste of the big leagues.
They are ticked off to be in Triple-A and will be competing every day to show the new regime they belong in the big leagues. I love that and think this competition will be great for the Red Wings and the Nats. Over the last few years, the AAA roster has been pretty barren at times. However, that will not be the case this year. All of these guys will be ready to roll if guys at the big league level struggle.
