Welcome home, to your first-place Lehigh Valley IronPigs! Hey we have to enjoy it now rather than when we’re 20 games back in August. There’s plenty of time to go over playoff scenarios and rules so we’ll table that for now and just recognize that there is no team in the Triple-A International League, East or West, with a better record right now.
Recall that the IronPigs won their first two games of the season opening at home versus Scranton, before yielding in the closer and not getting the sweep. They shuffle up to Rochester to face the Triple-A Nationals and get smoked 10-1. But, then the pitching and bats both come alive at the same time and the ‘Pigs win the next five straight by a combined score of 42-13.
7-2 on the season as they open up a standard six-game set with the Mets affiliate from Syracuse.
Resources:
Team/Roster post with player capsules and transactions, Updated, HERE
2025 New Food Items, NOT Updated, but HERE
Feature Story: Who are all those guys in the bullpen, and where did they come from?
Who’s Hot:
CF Justin Crawford hitting .286 with a .724 OPS after going 3-for-6 on Sunday with 3 RBI.
INF Buddy Kennedy, went 0-for-6 Sunday but is STILL hitting .300 since arriving from Philadelphia
OF Gabriel Rincones, Jr. is hitting .290 with a .849 OPS
INF Christian Arroyo hitting .357 with 1.043 OPS, but tweaked something running the bases Sunday
OF Oscar Mercado hitting .333 with .826 OPS
C Payton Henry hitting .348 with 1.081 OPS
OF Matty Kroon 3-for-3 Sunday .375 with .944 OPS in a small sample
RHP Mick Abel with 6 scoreless innings in his outing.
RHP Seth Johnson with 1.93 ERA through two games.
Who’s Not:
LHP Nick Vespi has a 31.50 ERA
RHP Jose Cuas has a 19.29 ERA
C/DH Josh Breaux is hitting a robust .083
OF Cal Stevenson is off to a slow start hitting .136
INF Rodolfo Castro is hitting .150
Injury has slowed Carson Taylor because he was hitting a scalding .714 with a 2.179 OPS before that
They Are Not The Real Mets
The Syracuse Mets are in town. They are 3-5 on this young season, good enough for 7th place in the International League East.
Prospects:
This Mets affiliate is not rich with Mets system prospects, as several we remember from last season have graduated to the actual Mets.
#34 RHP Brandon Sproat, Rank: #1
#29 RHP Blade Tidwell, Rank: #16
#26 RHP Dom Hamel, Rank: #26
Other Players You Might Know:
#49 RHP Chris Devenski: Pitched in 9 games for the 2022 IronPigs
#55 LHP Anthony Gose: 2008 round 2 pick by the Phillies, as a position player. Was in the Roy Oswalt trade and then immediately dealt to Toronto.
#40 RHP Yacksel Rios: Pitched for the IronPigs in 2018 and 2019. Currently on the Injured List.
#45 1B Joey Meneses: Never regained his MVP form from 2018 IronPigs, but is raking so far this season hitting .333/.412/.600
#28 1B Jon Singleton: 2009 Round 8 pick by the Phillies, was included in the Hunter Pence trade
#21 OF Billy McKinney: Several seasons with Scranton, had some time with the Pirates last season
#9 Bench Coach J.P. Arencibia: Was a catcher for the IronPigs years ago.
At The Park This Week
It’s not a tremendous lineup of promotions this early in the season, but after the opening weekend, this is our chance to settle into the regular weekly routine:
Tuesday (not always, though): Dog Day. Bring your dog. $1.06 Hot Dogs
Wednesday: Tacos and Tall Boys. $5 16oz cans, $5 for two tacos, $10 for 5 tacos
Thursday: Happy Hour 5PM to 7PM. Details not yet released for 2025
Friday: Fireworks and Faux-Back Jerseys
During the week we have 6:45PM first pitch, 5:30PM Gates, 5:15PM Club. Regular on the weekend: 7:05PM Friday, 6:35PM Saturday, 1:35PM Sunday
Rotation Probables
Unofficial as of this writing
IronPigs
Tuesday: RHP Kyle Tyler
Wednesday: RHP Allan Rangel
Thursday: RHP Seth Johnson
Friday: RHP Mick Abel
Saturday: RHP Nabil Crismatt
Sunday: RHP Kyle Tyler
Syracuse
Tuesday: RHP Dom Hamel
Wednesday: RHP Blade Tidwell
Thursday: RHP Justin Hagenman
Friday: RHP Brandon Sproat
Saturday: LHP Brandon Waddell
Sunday: RHP Dom Hamel
Weather
It looks like a cold week, but mostly dry. Friday and Saturday look like the biggest risks for rain. Will Update.
Remember the rule of “one more”: You always need one more layer than you think you do.
IronPigs Today
6:45PM first pitch, 5:30PM gates, 5:15PM club
Weather: Very cold and very windy. Probably no rain.
Kyle Tyler vs. Dom Hamel
Stay tuned for a daily column through this series,
@Kram207