Nationals' Triple-A Affiliate Accomplishes Something for First Time Since 1997

The Washington Nationals are trying to get back to competing for division titles and championships.
That's what their Triple-A affiliate just accomplished on Thursday night.

For the first time since 1997, the Rochester Red Wings won the International League when they defeated the Memphis Red Birds by a score of 3-2 in the final game of their best-of-three series. Now, they will face the Oklahoma City Comets -- the Los Angeles Dodgers' Triple-A affiliate -- in the winner-take-all Triple-A National Championship Game on Saturday at 9:05 p.m. CT at Las Vegas Park.

This is a massive moment for the Nationals franchise. They have not had a ton of success throughout their affiliate levels during this rebuild. But in one year under the leadership of their new regime, they have not only seen a massive rise in their farm system rankings with star players littered throughout the pipeline, but they have also won the International League for the first time in 29 seasons.

Rochester Manager Matthew LeCroy Gets A Lot of Credit

The best Manager on the planet ❤️ 🥹 pic.twitter.com/NlbYm1WXD4
— Rochester Red Wings (@RocRedWings) September 25, 2026

Even before the Red Wings won their final game to claim the championship, there were a lot of compliments flying around about manager Matthew LeCroy.

Nationals manager Blake Butera said, per MLB.com, "He's as much a part of [the Nationals] as anybody is. We wouldn't be having some of the success that we had this year if it wasn't for the job that he's done."

Words like "electric" and "awesome" and "great" were used to describe LeCroy by some players on the big league roster who played for him, so it was no surprise to see they were thrilled when they saw the celebrations that took place after Rochester clinched their first playoff berth since 2013.

In many aspects, being a Triple-A manager can be a thankless job. Players who reach that level are either waiting for a call up to The Show or they are trying to get back to it after they were sent down. Much of the job responsibility for the skipper is making sure those on the roster are prepared to make an impact for the big league club whenever they get that call, which can sometimes impact the product that is on the field since the sole focus isn't on winning.

Despite that, LeCroy was able to do something for the first time since 1997. And that was no small feat after there were tons of promotions and demotions -- especially on the pitching side of things -- throughout the year.

Rochester will try to stamp this historic season with a win on Saturday over Oklahoma City. And they have plenty of talent on their roster to get it done, as top prospects Seaver King, Jarlin Susana, Ben Grable and Sam Petersen are slotted alongside former top prospects Andrew Pinckney, 2026 MVP Trey Lipscomb and other talented players who can bring the organization a championship.

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