Opening Day for AAA
| Team | Today’s Game (ET) | Pitching Matchup (’24 Stats at Level) |
| Rochester | @ Buffalo, 4:05 p.m. | Alvarez (4-7, 4.58) vs. Lauer (4-5, 5.26) |
The forecasted rains appear to have shifted from the afternoon to evening in Buffalo, where the Red Wings are slated to begin the 2025 season. But it’ll still be fairly cold, putting the the Bisons’ 50-degree guarantee to the test.
Unfortunately, like two years ago, the official press release for the the Red Wings’ Opening Day roster has not been officially released (as far as I can tell) despite the big club playing yesterday.[Insert joke about yesterday’s bullpen implosion here].
Should the press release come this morning—and I’m able to steal a few minutes to update this post, natch—I’ll link to what will most likely be a PDF of the roster.
UPDATE: The Red Wings’ Opening Day Roster is now in hand (H/T to Matt Toohey)
As you might expect, there are several current watchlist players…
| PITCHERS | INFIELDERS | OUTFIELDERS |
| LHP Andrew Alvarez | Darren Baker | Robert Hassell |
| RHP Andry Lara | Brady House | Andrew Pinckney |
| RHP Jack Sinclair |
…and several former watchlisters, including the Jacksons (Cluff and Rutledge), Brady Lindsly, Trey Lipscomb, Drew Millas, and Carlos Romero.
Alas, rain is in the forecast for five of the next six days, so we may be in for some PPDs and doubleheaders. And if you’re thinking, well, maybe they’ll get to play south of Pennsylvania, the answer is yes. But not until July 29 – just in time for the dog days of August!
It’s a pleasant surprise to see the aggressiveness of the SP placements.
Lara starting in AAA, Susana in AA. Has there been confirmation that Sykora will start in Wilmington yet?
On the other hand, mildly surprising to see King and Lomavita get named to Wilmington. Lomavita in particular was reputed to be relatively polished (or at least a finished product).
It appears that the FCL’s earlier start is permanent, so it’s possible they’ll send Sykora there to “work on some things” before sending him to Wilmington. Of course, that’s presuming the Nats weren’t lying about the extent of the injury and when they expected him to next pitch.
If a player’s rehab takes longer than initially expected, why do we simply assume that the organization was deliberately lying rather than relying on the best guess of medical professionals that happened to be incorrect?
We’re making inferences and deductions based on incomplete and oblique information. We don’t know, for example, exactly when the surgery took place (or if it was even a surgery).
We also don’t know the diagnosis or what was done. For example, the recovery time for a microdiskectomy is very different than that of a spinal fusion, but both are described as “back surgery.” An epidural steroid injection is also described as a “procedure” to treat a back problem.
Again, I’ve been covering the Nats minors for a more than a decade and can generalize based how forthcoming they have not been in the past about injuries. You seem to be objecting to the word “lying,” but if they tell us something that turned out not to be true (again), then what else would you call it?
As I’ve written before, I understand this comes with the territory. I’ve worked as a reporter. I’ve dealt with SIDs. I’ve been lied to before. There isn’t any hard feelings here, just skepticism based on experience and professional training.
Where are Schnell and Carlos De LaRosa ? DL or AA ??