Pitching, defense expected to carry the Wichita Wind Surge baseball team this summer
For the first time in more than a decade, an affiliated baseball team from Wichita will begin its season.
The Wichita Wind Surge will make their franchise debut in a Tuesday night game in Springfield, Missouri, kicking off a six-game series against the host Cardinals. The Surge will return to Wichita for their home debut at the new $75 million, 6,000-seat Riverfront Stadium on May 11.
After practicing for the first time at Riverfront Stadium on Sunday, manager Ramon Borrego said the team was excited to play in Wichita this summer. It will be the first time affiliated baseball returns to Wichita since the Double-A Wranglers left in 2007.
“First of all, we’re so happy to be back playing baseball after a year and a couple of months away from the game,” Borrego said. “And it makes it even better to be able to play in a new stadium and for a new team. The stadium is a really nice facility. I think we have a good team and there will be a lot of good things this summer.”
Being the manager of the Double-A organization in the Minnesota Twins’ farm system, Borrego knows his job to the parent club is to develop top prospects like outfielder Gilberto Celestino, infielder Jose Moreno and pitchers Josh Winder and Cole Sands.
But he also knows to play at the major-league level, players are going to have to learn to win. That’s why he says Wichita fans can expect a winning team this summer in the Texas League.
“The mentality has to be a winning mentality for these guys,” Borrego said. “Obviously there’s a lot of points besides that, but we’re going to be teaching these guys how to compete and how to try to win all the time. My expectations with this team is bringing Wichita fans a very competitive team. We’re going to give it everything on the field. Our mentality will be to win the most games possible.”
In a new twist to the minor-league schedule, teams will play six straight days against the same opponent. For example, Wichita will play in Springfield six times between Tuesday and Sunday, then host Amarillo for six straight games at Riverfront Stadium from May 11-16. Mondays are always days off for the teams.
With such a condensed schedule, pitching will be premium and that’s why Borrego feels confident Wichita will be a competitive team. Winder, the top pitching prospect on the team, is slated to be the opening day starter, while Sands will start on Thursday and is also a prospect capable of reaching the majors.
While the bats continue to develop, Borrego said Wichita will rely on its pitching and defense to win games this summer.
“We feel really good about our pitching staff, from our starters all the way down our bullpen,” Borrego said. “When it comes to offense, we’ll try to find a way to manufacture runs. We just need to produce. Our offense will be a lot of guys just putting the ball in play and doing the little details.
“We have a really good team defense. I think our defense will be really good. So if we play solid defense and have solid pitching, that should carry us.”
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