Red Wings season brings plenty of reasons for excitement

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — The Rochester Red Wings open the season on Friday in Syracuse with the home opener on Tuesday, April 2nd.

While the Wings haven’t had a winning season since 2017 and have been at least 14 games under .500 in each of the three seasons as the Nationals’ top farm team, there’s plenty of reason for optimism.

Washington’s farm system has gone from poor to good over the years with several top prospects in the pipeline, including one who will start the year in Rochester.

6’6” outfielder James Wood towers over his teammates and is a top-15 prospect in baseball. He had a monster spring, hitting .364, and wows his new manager.

“He has an ability to slow the game down which I think is going to help him become a very big impact player at the big-league level,” said Red Wings manager Matthew LeCroy. “He’s a good defender, he can play all three positions, he can really run. It’s strange to see a guy that size who can do the things that he does athletically.”

“It’s exciting. I’ve been in spring with a lot of these guys,” said Wood of his new teammates. “I’ve gotten to know them pretty well. I’m just looking forward to sharing the field with some of them. I’m hoping I can be with this organization for a long time.”

While development is arguably the main goal at the Triple-A level, the Red Wings are hungry to put a winner on the field in Rochester.

“When your organization gets the depth that we’re starting to get, now it’s about winning and preparing these guys for how to win a ballgame,” said LeCroy. “Our front office for the Nationals, they want to bring a championship back here.”

“It would mean everything,” said Red Wings infielder Darren Baker. “The fan support is amazing. They want to win, we want to win. I think hopefully this is the year it comes together.”

The home opener for the Red Wings is at 4:05 p.m. on Tuesday, April 2nd against Lehigh Valley.

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