Rochester Red Wings preview
PROBABLE STARTERS: C – Tomas Telis; 1B – Zander Wiel; 2B – Ronald Torreyes; SS – Nick Gordon; 3B – Mike Olt; LF – Brent Rooker; CF – LaMonte Wade; RF – Jon Kemmer; DH – Wilin Rosario.
KEY PITCHERS: Starters – LH Stephen Gonsalves, RH Kohl Stewart, RH Chase De Jong; LH Lewis Thorpe, RH Zack Littell; LH Devin Smeltzer. Relievers – RH Fernando Romero, RH Tyler Duffey, LH Andrew Vasquez, LH Justin Nicolino, RH Mike Morin, RH Preston Guilmet, LH Dario Alvarez, RH Jake Reed, RH D.J. Baxendale.
STRENGTHS: The pitching staff should be strong. Many of the young, talented pitchers have taken their lumps in Triple-A and in the big leagues. Hopefully they have learned from the experience and are much improved in 2019.
WEAKNESSES: The offense could struggle especially early in the season as some of the prospects adjust to the International League, and there isn’t a lot of depth until the guys from Double-A are ready to be promoted. The Red Wings do, however, have a lot of power potential…There also are a lot of young players, hitters and pitchers on the roster, who will be playing against opponents with much more experience.
TOP PROSPECTS: Many of the top prospects on the Red Wings 2019 roster will be players that were there at some point in 2018 as well. The pitching staff should be comprised of quality young prospects who, with the exception of Lewis Thorpe, all saw big league time in 2018. LHP Stephen Gonsalves made his Major League debut last August and went 2-2 in seven outings for the Twins. Kohl Stewart also debuted last August, and the former 4th overall selection in the 2013 draft went 2-1. Chase De Jong has 11 MLB appearances to his name with the Mariners (2017) and Twins (2018). Zack Littell is another projected starter who made his big league debut in 2018. SS Nick Gordon and OF LaMonte Wade are among the position players returning to the Red Wings. OF Brent Rooker will be making his Triple-A debut if he opens the 2019 season with Rochester.
COMING SOON: Hard-throwing Jorge Alcala and former first-round pick Tyler Jay should see time in Rochester during the 2019 season…2B Luis Arraez was added to Minnesota’s 40-man roster in the offseason and should be spending the second half of this campaign with the Red Wings…Luke Raley is a power-hitting slugger acquired from the Dodgers organization at the July deadline last year…Alex Kirilloff, one of the top prospects in baseball, is expected to start in Double-A Pensacola and could jump to Rochester at some point.
VETERANS TO WATCH: Wilin Rosario returns to the United States after spending the past couple of seasons playing in Korea and Japan…Tomas Telis has spent parts of four seasons in the big leagues…Ronald Torreyes was signed by the Twins after spending parts of the last three seasons with the New York Yankees.
ITEMS OF INTEREST: Joel Skinner is back for a second season managing the ball club…The Red Wings are teaming up with RIT’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf and the Rochester School for the Deaf to host “Deaf Culture Day” on April 28. Players and coaches will wear American Sign Language jerseys and hats. Rochester has the largest per capita deaf population of any city in the United States.