Rochester Red Wings Report: Where It Stands Now- and What's Next

I missed my report last week, so now is as good a time as any to look at where the Rochester Red Wings stand right now.

As of early Tuesday, August 13, the Rochester Red Wings are 23-17 in the second half, four games back of Columbus for the International League second half lead and percentage points ahead of Lehigh Valley for the divisional title for the half. Of course, the division title for the half doesn't really mean anything: only the league leader for the half gets to the playoffs.

The problem with this system, of course, is that teams aren't necessarily going to face teams ahead of them in the standings. For example, the Red Wings won't face either Columbus or another western division team, Memphis, the rest of the season.

But that's ultimately out of their hands: they'll play the schedule they are dealt. This week, they are playing Syracuse in Rochester, and then they have two weeks on the road, including a series with Lehigh Valley- their biggest divisional rival this year.

It could prove the most decisive road trip of the year- for good and bad.

Other notes:

• A fun “Ain't baseball great?” moment from last week's series with Buffalo: Darren Baker and Joey Votto, now and then.
• Speaking of which, Baker now has 36 stolen bases, second in the IL behind only Nashville (Milwaukee)'s Brewer Hicklen. Wait... the Brewers have a farmhand named Brewer? That's pretty great.
• Rico Garcia, meanwhile, is tied for the IL lead in saves as of this writing, with 16.
• It was no surprise when Andres Chapparo was called up to Washington: In his 10 games for Rochester, he hit four home runs and had a 1.046 OPS!
• Newly called-up-from-Harrisburg reliever Zach Brzycky has some connections to Western New York. Although from North Carolina, his family originally hails from the Buffalo area and he reportedly has some family in Rochester.
• With the Olympics recently finished and rumblings that MLB will allow players to take part in the 2028 games in Los Angeles, it's worth noting that two members of the Red Wings have Olympic bronze medals: manager Matt LeCroy won one back in his college days for the 1996 Team USA team in Atlanta, while Erick Mejia won a bronze with the Dominican Republic at the COVID-delayed Tokyo games.