Looking Back
The IronPigs opened at home in the cold of March with a three game series against Toledo. The Mud Hens (AAA-DET) came in with top prospect Max Clark as well as our old buddy Cal Stevenson. To everyone’s delight, the ‘Pigs got the mini-series sweep and left town for the warmer weather of Durham, North Carolina with a perfect 3-0 record.
Alas, a perfect 150-0 record was not to be, as they dropped a couple in Durham, but gatheered a 4-2 series win. They return home with a 7-2 record, near the top of the standings.
Resources
The headlining roster post with player capsules has been fully updated HERE.
The ‘New Food’ post will get updated this week–hopefully in time for the ‘Weekend Update.’
Reading has their home opener tonight. Their roster post is HERE. We’ll update that one at some point as well.
Roster
Click on the link above to get the full roster details and latest news as of this morning. The headlines, though, are that Garrett Stubbs has returned (yay four catchers) and that RHP Zack Wheeler will remain* with the IronPigs on rehab and start the game tomorrow (Wednesday) at Coca Cola Park.
*He’s not really with the team. He’s doing his training and rehab in Philadelphia and will parachute in for the games, home or away. Still, we’re glad to have him and to watch the work put in by one of the best pitchers in baseball.
Hello, Rochester
Rochester opened their season in Jacksonville (Aside: Imagine that! A team from upstate New York opening in Florida in March rather than the frozen tundra! Maybe this MLB-owns-MiLB thing will work out somehow.) where they won 2-1 in the mini-series. Then they opened their home schedule last week versus Scranton and went 2-4 on the week including a 16-5 pasting by the RailRiders on Easter Sunday.
The AAA-affiliate of the Washington Nationals, the Red Wings do not appear to carry any of our old friends; however, they do have a fair few names you’ll remember, maybe from last season or from prospect lists. C Harry Ford is the former 12th overall pick of the Seattle Mariners in the 2021 draft, out of high school in Georgia. He came over when the Nationals traded LHP Jose Ferrer. LHP Luis Perales was on the Red Sox as an international signee out of Venezuela. He came over to Washington in a December trade. OF Andrew Pinckney is a name you’ll recognize from Red Wings teams of the past couple seasons. OFs Dylan Crews and Robert Hassell III are former prospect-list darlings who find themselves in Triple-A to start the season.
Pitching
Probable starter matchups this week: [Updated 4/7, 1PM]
Tuesday: RHP Jean Cabrera vs RHP Riley Cornelio
Wednesday: RHP Zack Wheeler (MLB Rehab) vs LHP Andrew Alvarez
Thursday: RHP Alan Rangel vs. LHP Mitchell Parker
Friday: RHP Connor Gillispie vs. RHP Luis Perales
Saturday: RHP Ryan Cusick vs. RHP Andry Lara
Sunday: LHP Tucker Davidson vs. TBA
Updates
Batting practice viewing for Bacon USA Members will be held on Tuesdays this season. Contact your ticket rep for details and RSVPs.
Note that games in April are exclusively 6:35PM starts other than Sundays, which are 1:15PM this season. That means weekly gates are 5:00PM for Club/Suites and 5:15PM for Main/CF–except Thursday Happy Hour will be 5:00PM everywhere. In May it gets wonky with a 6:05PM on a Tuesday before an education day, and a couple of those 11AM day games. And then 6:45PM. It looks like those 6:45PMs will continue throughout the season and not convert to 7:05 at any point.
PigsFoodFinder.com appears to have been updated for 2026 at this juncture. It’s not perfect, but a great resource, especially if you’re bringing guests who may want to explore without wasting the hole game in lines.
Promotions: What’s Going On At The Park?
Tuesday: Tail Waggin’ Tuesday, Dollar Dogs, “Awful Night”
Wednesday: Tacos & Tallboys, Rock Night
Thursday: Happy Hour, Pro Wrestling Night
Friday: Fireworks, Club PIG, Youth Wrestling Night
Saturday: Coquis Night, STEAM Night, Tesla Pre-game Parade
Sunday: Master’s Sunday in Club Level, Post-game Kids Run Bases
Who’s Hot, and Who’s Not
HOT
Reliever Chase Shugart has been pitching in leverage situations and maintains a 0.00 ERA on the season.
OF Bryan De La Cruz is heating up. His .178 average may seem poor, but his .878 OPS shows his real impact on the games.
INF Carter Kieboom is also heating up. His average is up to .280 and OPS .840.
C Garrett Stubbs came out of the chute on fire. He has a couple HRs already!
1B/OF/DH Felix Reyes is starting to hit the home runs.
NOT
MLB-Rehab Zack Wheeler doesn’t have the good stuff yet–poor fielding behind him notwithstanding.
C Caleb Ricketts hasn’t found the groove yet at Triple-A
Relievers Genesis Cabrera and Andrew Walling have been uneven in the middle innings
RHP Griff McGarry had a great first appearance for the Pigs, but then melted down in his second.
Thoughts on the Team, This Young Season
The offseason worry about this roster was largely centered on the starting pitching. Thus far, the starters have done reasonably well. Hopefully it continues. The relief crew will have occasional bad outings, but they are a deep bunch and should continue to be good. We’ve been doing enough at the plate to make things work–Kieboom, Reyes, De La Cruz all chipping in. The lineup will improve, too, with the return of Aidan Miller and Gabe Rincones and Keaton Anthony, when they are available.
Elsewhere
Reading is ice cold, 0-3 after their opening series in Akron. It seems top prospect Dante Nori is nicked up, only starting two of their games and not yet playing the field. They open their home schedule tonight (my 10th opening night down there as a season ticket holder) so we should get some answers.
In Philadelphia, Alumns Andrew Painter and Justin Crawford are doing ABOUT WHAT WE THOUGHT. We’ll continue to follow them and wish them well.
See you at the park,
@Kram207
Featured Image by Jack Mitroka, cropped to fit the space