Final thoughts from inside the WooSox clubhouse
The most on par way for the 2023 season to end for the WooSox happened on Sunday when the final game was cancelled due to rain.
In what seemed like it rained or had a chance of rain every single day in Worcester when the WooSox were at home made it one of the craziest years yet for the franchise. The WooSox grounds crew (great Twitter/X account) deserve a raise after having to pull a tarp almost daily for most of the summer.
Enough with the rain talk because it was usually the main topic of discussion every day once I got to the park.
The team finished at 79-68 with the second half record being better than the first. Enough with talking about the wins and losses and stats. I wanted to get more into the behind the scenes things people don’t really get to see.
It was very apparent from day one about how great the manager was in Worcester. I don’t have enough good things to say about Chad Tracy. There is a reason he was named the Best Manager Prospect by Baseball America this year. He will be on a major league coaching staff sooner than later. Any player that came through Worcester this year will most likely tell you the same. The Red Sox have a very good one in Triple-A and should not let him get away.
It was a tale of two different vibes between the first and second half of the season. In the first half, there were a handful of veterans like Jorge Alfaro, Niko Goodrum, Daniel Palka, and Jake Faria who set the tone in the locker room.
It was cool to hear stories from some of the younger guys who picked up a few things from the experienced big leaguers. Taylor Broadway told me earlier in the season that Faria was teaching him new grips and different pointers on a few of his pitches. Most of the veterans were a great mind to pick for the younger guys in Worcester.
The second half of the season was more a youth led movement with quite a few guys coming up from Portland. It was good to see the younger guys get time to end the season, even if that meant releasing a few of the veterans mentioned above. The younger guys had all come up together through the ranks and had been teammates for years at this point. It was very obvious by how fast they adapted to the clubhouse once they arrived from Double-A.
The locker room never seemed to skip a beat. The WooSox had an excellent core in place with Ryan Fitzgerald, Nick Sogard, AJ Politi, Chase Shugart, and a few others that were in Worcester the entire season. Those guys never let the room get stale no matter who was let go or who came up.
We saw a ton of major league debuts this year with the Red Sox. Enmanuel Valdez, Wilyer Abreu, Ceddanne Rafaela, Chris Murphy, Brandon Walter, Joe Jacques, and David Hamilton. It never gets old seeing guys get that call and you never truly realize just how far these guys have come to get to that point.
I have one ask to Red Sox fans for next season. When you see a guy who comes up for the first time in his career, be patient. Baseball is a grueling sport and they have spent their whole lives getting there. It was telling by speaking to a few of the guys after making their debuts this season and we should be way more supportive of that.
I am beyond grateful to be able to have had the chance to be around the team this year. Every guy in that locker room made them very easy to root for.
See you in 2024, Worcester.
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