Matt LeCroy says Red Wings pitching staff needs to start throwing strikes

If there’s one thing that drives every baseball manager crazy, it’s giving the opposition a free base via a walk, and three weeks into the season that has been a prevalent problem for the Rochester Red Wings’ pitching staff.

During last week’s six-game series at Lehigh Valley in which the Wings won two and lost four, their pitchers issued a ghastly 44 walks and now rank dead last in the International League at 5.25 walks per nine innings.

“We walked 44 people in that series and really, we were almost in every ballgame,” manager Matt LeCroy said. “So, if we throw the ball over more, it’ll give us a better chance to win some of these ballgames. We’ve got to throw more strikes.”

Everyone is contributing to the troublesome trend in Rochester’s 10-9 start, but it has been the starting rotation that has really paid a steep price for the wildness. It has combined for 42 walks in 70 innings and it has a bloated cumulative ERA of 8.36 which is last in the league by a full run.

The bullpen is actually averaging slightly more walks per nine innings — 5.46 to the rotation’s 4.97 — but its cumulative ERA is much better at 4.04, which ranks 11th in the 20-team league.

Walks were again a bone of contention Tuesday night when the Wings opened a 12-game homestand at frigid Frontier Field with the first of six games this week against the Syracuse Mets. Starter Luis Reyes walked five in three innings which led to his allowing eight runs.

However, trailing 8-1 when Reyes was knocked out, the Wings got off the deck with a stirring late-inning rally and pulled out a 10-9 victory.

“You put a lot of pressure on your defense when you give free bases and I know they’re not trying to walk people, but we do,” LeCroy said. “This is Triple-A, man; this is big boy baseball and some of the guys are having a hard time commanding the ball. We’ve got to get back into the zone or I’m sure (the Nationals will) probably make some changes.”

At Lehigh Valley, the starters had an 8.68 ERA and thanks to some inflated pitch counts the longest outing anyone had was Jackson Tetreault’s 4 ⅓-inning start in Saturday’s 4-3 victory, a game in which he threw 93 pitches and walked five.

“We’re struggling walking people and then we put ourselves in a bind a lot,” LeCroy said. “It forces your defense to make plays and then when you don’t, you see what happens, you give up a big inning here or there and then you lose a ballgame. We fought back in a few of those games but if we eliminate those walks … we messed up a couple plays, but the walks really came back to haunt us almost every game.”

Here’s what else is going on around the ballclub:

Luis Garcia keys come-from-behind victory

The Wings second baseman had himself a night going 4-for-4 with a walk, two home runs, four RBI and three runs scored. His two-run homer in the fifth cut Rochester’s deficit to 8-3, and he walked and scored during a four-run seventh that was highlighted by Donovan Casey’s three-run homer.

Then in the eighth, Tres Barrera tied the game at 8-8 with a solo homer and Garcia launched a two-run bomb that proved to be the winner.

This was the first time the Red Wings won a game in which they trailed by at least seven runs since June 1, 2011 when they trailed Toledo 7-0 after 1 1/2 innings and rallied to win win 10-9.

“Kind of a testament of character of what our team can be and what it is at this moment,” said LeCroy. “These guys keep fighting. Tonight we dug ourselves in a big hole early … the big seventh for us was huge and then to be able to score like we did in the eighth to finish it up. I couldn't be more pleased with his group.”

Garcia now has 27 hits on the season which leads all of the minor leagues.

Wednesday night's game was postponed due to cold weather and will be made up as part of a doubleheader Saturday with Game 1 set to being at 1:05 p.m.

Jake Noll just keeps raking

Despite an 0-for-4 Tuesday, the versatile infielder/outfielder, who was voted the Wings’ team MVP in 2021, is off to another strong start at the plate, yet he continues to wait for his opportunity to go up to Washington.

The 28-year-old Noll sipped a couple cups of coffee in the Nationals clubhouse in 2019 and 2020, but he spent all of 2021 in Rochester.

“Noll’s got value and if he didn’t have value, he wouldn’t be here,” LeCroy said. “I feel that if he continues to grow defensively like he’s doing now — he’s made some good plays at second, played really good at third the other night — if he continues to grow in all those areas, I don’t see any reason why they won’t use him at some point.”

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Noll’s 10 doubles lead all of the minor leagues, his 12 RBI are one behind team leader Joey Meneses, and he’s batting .279 with an .872 OPS.

“He’s got to keep hitting,” LeCroy said, “but that’s the one thing he can really do is hit. It’s hard to do at the big league level, but I think he’ll get another shot.”

Dee Strange-Gordon down on a rehab stint

The 11-year major league veteran, who has played 1,005 games for the Dodgers, Marlins, Mariners and Nationals and is a career .286 hitter, signed with Washington in December and made his Rochester debut Tuesday batting first and playing shortstop.

Strange-Gordon has led the majors in stolen bases three times, the last in 2017, and has 333 in his career plus another 236 in the minors. Even though he’s now 34, he can still move.

“He’s still athletic, he can still run,” said LeCroy, who watched Strange-Gordon score two runs. “I think his experience, his leadership, the way he carries himself, his work before (games) and just being a pro helps these guys to watch a guy who’s been in the big leagues and playing in some of the games he’s played. All it can do is help everybody here. Hopefully these guys will pick his brain.”

LeCroy provided a bit too much information

The other day, Lucius Fox — the speedy infielder who was expected to start the year in Rochester but made the Nationals out of spring training — had an unfortunate incident.

After just the second pitch of the game at Nationals Park against the Giants, Fox came over from third base to a spot behind the mound and threw up. A lot, and then immediately walked off the field.

Asked if he’d heard about this, LeCroy said no, but he has his own upchuck story to share from his football days at Belton-Honea Path High School in Belton, South Carolina.

“I played tight end in my senior year in high school and I was a field goal kicker,” LeCroy began, adding that he was the kicker out of necessity because there was no one else to do the job.

“I had one of those special (square-toed) shoes, you know, straight on. So I did a little tight end dump pass and I ran about 40 yards for a touchdown. So I’m putting the shoe on, my best friend is the holder and I’m getting there and I’m going ‘You can’t hike the ball, I’m about to throw up.’

“And he goes, ‘What do you mean?’ and I said, ‘I’m about to throw up’ and I just started hurling right there. They take me out of the game, we missed the extra point and we lose by one.”

Sal Maiorana can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Dee Strange-Gordon on rehab stint with Rochester Red Wings