Jumbo Shrimp unveil championship banners but lose Opening Day
The International League champion Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp opened their 2026 Triple-A baseball season against the Rochester Red Wings.
For nearly 15 minutes on Opening Day, the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp commemorated their Triple-A baseball championship for 2025. For the next hour and a half, they played like a team ready to challenge for a repeat. And after that?
A painful reminder that 2026 is a whole new season. The Jumbo Shrimp rang in their new year in celebration March 27 but couldn't hold an early four-run lead, going down to the Rochester Red Wings 8-7 in a Friday night walk-fest of an Opening Day for the International League season. The 10th walk from Jacksonville pitchers was the killer, issued by William Kempner to Rochester's Yohandy Morales in the ninth and scoring Abimelec Ortiz to break a 7-7 tie.
The Jumbo Shrimp subsequently failed to convert a bases-loaded, no-out opportunity in the bottom of the frame. Much remained the same: Six months after winning the franchise's first-ever Triple-A championship in Las Vegas, Robby Snelling showed once more why he's a top-two prospect in the Miami Marlins' organization and Deyvison De Los Santos crushed a home run that nearly left the confines of VyStar Ballpark. But Jacksonville's relief corps, a cornerstone of the championship season, struggled in its debut.
A 5-1 Jumbo Shrimp lead dissolved in a nightmare sixth inning, with five Red Wing runs against reliever Jake Walkinshaw, and Jacksonville relievers issued nine of the team's walks. Jack Ralston (0-1) took the loss. SNELLING STARS FOR JACKSONVILLE Before the bullpen's woes, Snelling delivered an ace-worthy performance to begin his second year in Jacksonville.