After a 150-game regular season and a pair of best-of-3 finals, the winningest teams at the Minors’ highest levels will meet for the final crown of the year.
The Oklahoma City Comets (Dodgers) and the Rochester Red Wings (Nationals) will square off in the Triple-A National Championship on Saturday, Sept. 26 at Las Vegas Ballpark.
Will it be a rematch of the 2019 NLDS when the Nats were victorious over the Dodgers? Or will Los Angeles’ winning ways in The Show trickle down to Triple-A?
Here’s everything to know about the final Minor League game of the year.
2026 Minor League playoffs
- Brackets & schedules | Procedures
- Steady flowing prospect pipeline keys Dodgers' Triple-A title
- Nats' Triple-A club snags first title since 1997
- Angels' top prospect powers Double-A team to championship
- Up-and-comers key D-backs' second Double-A title in four years
- Offense + arms equal Double-A crown for Phils affiliate
- Royals' most stacked affiliate takes High-A crown
- Top White Sox prospects bolster arms to win High-A title
- High-A Blue Jays claim second crown in four years
- Pitchers, draftees storm their way to Cal League crown
- Marlins affiliate outlasts Mother Nature and FSL competition
- Top Astros prospects, 2026 draftees lead to Single-A crown
- Astros win first FCL title since 1994 on a walk-off
- Rockies cap record-setting season with first title since 2021
- DSL Padres Gold wins second straight DSL Cup
How to watch
The Triple-A National Championship Game is set for 10:05 p.m. ET on Saturday at Las Vegas Ballpark. The game will air on MLB Network and can be streamed on top of this article as well as on the MiLB and MLB Pipeline homepages, MLB.TV, MLB+ and the MLB App. Tyler Maun, the co-host of MiLB’s The Show Before The Show podcast, will handle play-by-play alongside MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis. MLB Network's Sande Charles will be the sideline reporter.
Probable Pitchers
Emmet Sheehan is slated to toe the rubber for Oklahoma City. While the 6-foot-5 right-hander has had a tough time sticking in the Majors this season -- 4.57 ERA in 112 1/3 IP -- he has been stingy in his limited time with the Comets. Sheehan has a 1.50 ERA with 24 strikeouts and seven walks in 18 frames across four Triple-A starts. With a four-pitch mix led by his four-seamer, the 26-year-old has a 35.5 chase rate while in the bigs this season.
Jack Cebert is expected to be called up from Double-A to get the ball for Rochester. The 24-year-old was selected by the Yankees in the 15th round of the 2025 Draft, then was dealt to the Nationals as part of the Luis García Jr. trade this summer. Across the two organizations, Cebert has a 4.03 ERA with 122 strikeouts in 109 1/3 innings across 24 games (20 starts) in his first full season. The right-hander's top-graded pitch is his slider (55) with a 26.6 whiff rate, though he's found a lot of success with his curveball at Triple-A.
Top prospects
Comets on the Dodgers’ Top 30 Prospects list:
1. Josue De Paula, OF (MLB No. 6)
2. Mike Sirota, OF (MLB No. 14)
7. James Tibbs III, 1B/OF
15. Zach Ehrhard, OF
17. Jackson Ferris, LHP
25. Noah Miller, SS/3B
Red Wings on the Nationals’ Top 30 Prospects list:
3. Jarlin Susana, RHP (MLB No. 65)
4. Seaver King, SS/2B (MLB No. 68)
9. Jackson Kent, LHP
20. Ben Grable, RHP
28. Sam Petersen, OF
How they got here
The Comets led the Pacific Coast League with an 89-90 (.597) record overall this season, with a commanding .640 winning percentage in the second half to book its spot in the PCL Finals. Oklahoma City’s bats came out strong in the opener, but so did Las Vegas’, resulting in a 13-11 loss. The Comets’ pitching then caught up as the club outscored the Aviators, 12-4, over the last two games to win their second PCL title in four seasons. Oklahoma City went on to lose to Colton Cowser’s Norfolk in the 2023 championship.
Rochester won the division in the first half, but fell a game behind Memphis for the first-half league title. While the race for the second-half spot came down to the final day of the regular season, the Red Wings went 7-3 down the stretch to close it out. Rochester was the only Minor League team to win 90 games this season and the first Triple-A club to reach that mark since Sugar Land in 2024. Red Wings claimed Game 1 of the International League Finals, but the Redbirds came storming back with 15 runs in Game 2 before Rochester sealed its first league title since 1997.
Three things to know about the Comets
Just before Game 2 of the PCL Finals, the Comets lineup got a boost with Josue De Paula being sent down for what would become his Triple-A debut. In two playoff games, MLB’s No. 6 overall prospect reached base four times with a double and an RBI. The Dodgers are leaving the door open for De Paula – who posted a 1.081 OPS in 11 MLB games – to possibly join them on their NLDS roster, so for now, the 21-year-old is getting his own postseason experience.
Oklahoma City outfielders Mike Sirota and James Tibbs III are both coming off history-making seasons. Sirota tallied a 72-game on-base streak across High-A and Double-A for the longest stretch since Andrew Velazquez (74 games) in 2014 before ending the season at Triple-A. Tibbs III became the first PCL player since 1982 with 100+ RBI, 100+ runs and 100+ walks in a single season. Look for the pair to take advantage of the hitter-friendly park.
And combatting a potential slugfest is arguably the best pitching staff in the Minors’ most hitter-friendly league. The Comets led the circuit with 1,375 strikeouts and a 4.30 ERA, thanks in part to Jackson Ferris, who topped the team with 119 punchouts, as well as Cole Irvin and Christian Romero, who are all over the league’s leaderboard. Highlighted by Jerming Rosario, the bullpen also stood out with 520 strikeouts from the seventh inning on to lead the Minors.
Three things to know about the Red Wings
The big name in the Rochester lineup is Seaver King, MLB’s No, 68 overall prospect. The Nationals' 2024 first-round pick improved almost every part of his game this year with career highs in a .303/.382/.898 slash line, 24 homers and 74 RBIs. King saw a dip in stolen bases (from 30 in 2025 to 15 this year) perhaps being cautious following an oblique injury, but he still found ways to showcase his explosive 70-grade speed. The versatile middle infielders’ 33 bolts (sprint speeds above 30 ft/sec) in 77 Triple-A games were surpassed in Washington only by Nasim Nuñez (69) and Daylen Lile (36).
Typically batting right behind King in the 2-hole is Trey Lipscomb, who is in the Top 5 on the Triple-A leaderboard in homers (32), RBIs (94), slugging (.536), hits (149), extra-base hits (64) and total bases (278 T-lead with Tibbs). The 2022 third-round pick out of Tennessee, who has played 64 Major League games across 2024 and 2025, has a pair of 445+ ft homers this season, so he could reach the pool if he launches one into the desert air on Saturday.
The Rochester franchise has been around since 1899, winning a league title in its inaugural season. The club has been in the International League since 1912 and will be making its 12th appearance in a Triple-A title game, just one behind the Louisville Colonels’ record 13. The Red Wings are 4-7 in the series, but haven’t won a Triple-A crown since the 1971 Junior World Series. This appearance marks the Nationals’ first affiliate in the contest, though Montreal had a pair of teams make it – and win – in the 80s.
Managers
The Comets are led by Scott Hennessey in his second year with the club. After being selected in the 43rd round of the 1990 Draft by the Royals, Hennessey spent a couple seasons in the Minors before switching to amateur coaching. The 56-year-old was a scout for the Dodgers from 2007-2017, signing Dee Strange-Gordon and Darnell Sweeney. Hennessey then managed Double-A Tulsa for seven seasons before getting bumped up to Triple-A.
Matthew LeCroy is in his sixth season with Rochester and 18th with the organization. The 50th overall pick in the 1997 Draft out of Clemson played seven seasons in the Majors with the Twins and one with the Nationals while also winning a bronze medal for the U.S. at the 1994 Olympics. LeCroy spent 2014-15 as Washington’s bullpen coach and has helmed every full-season level of the Minors, totalling 1,022 career wins.
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Triple-A National Championship history
An interleague championship at the Minors’ highest level began in 1904, and there have been 78 contests in total. What started as the best-of-3 Little World Series between Buffalo and St. Paul evolved into the single-game matchup that has consistently been played since 2006 (aside from 2020 from when the season was canceled and 2021 when there were no Triple-A playoffs). The PCL holds a 10-8 advantage in the modern iteration.
In 2025, the Marlins’ Jacob Berry helped Jacksonville best the host team, Las Vegas, and complete a wild comeback with an electrifying walk-off homer.