KC Royals’ Omaha Storm Chasers take league title, could win national one Saturday

While their big-league brethren chase a long-awaited return to the postseason, the Omaha Storm Chasers are already there.

The Royals’ Triple-A affiliate in Nebraska beat the Columbus Clippers 7-3 Thursday night, closing out the best-of-three International League Finals with a 2-1 series victory at Werner Park in Omaha.

The eighth league title in franchise history earned the Storm Chasers a spot in Saturday night’s Triple-A National Championship Game in Las Vegas — marking the first time since 2011 that Omaha has advanced to the Triple-A National Championship Game (more about that in a moment).

Per mlb.com, Omaha is the only Class AAA team to win titles in three different leagues. Writes Michael Avallone: “Omaha won four American Association titles (1969, 1970, 1978, 1990) and three Pacific Coast League crowns (2011, 2013 2014). The club joined the International League in 2022.”

“These guys have been resilient all year long,” Chasers manager (and former Royals third base coach) Mike Jirschele told mlb.com. “We played a lot of close games in the summer and they never gave up or gave in. Even if we were down late, they always felt like they were going to win it. They would never say die.”

The Storm Chasers will look to keep their momentum going Saturday, when they face the Sugar Land Space Cowboys, the Houston Astros’ Class AAA affiliate, in the Triple-A National Championship Game at Las Vegas Ballpark. That game will be shown live on MLB Network, with first pitch set for 9:09 p.m. Central Time.

Sugar Land is the Pacific Coast League champion after sweeping the Reno Aces in this week’s PCL Championship Series.

As for Omaha, the Storm Chasers are powered by names that should be pretty familiar to ardent Royals fans. Nick Pratto, Nelson Velazquez, Drew Waters and their teammates helped Omaha finish the regular season with a club-record 89 victories.

This sort of organizational success should only bode well for the Royals’ future at the major-league level. Former standout Royals pitcher Danny Duffy reflected on that dynamic several years back, saying the minor-league titles piled up by himself and his contemporaries of the day — guys like Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, etc. — girded them for greatness in KC.

Duffy’s point is well taken. Players who win together with regularity in the minors typically set up their parent club for success in the bigs.