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The IronPigs beat the Mud Hens last night 5-2.  It was the sixth straight opening night victory for the Lehigh Valley 9.  Here are some thoughts following the game, kinda randomly.

• 7,459 for baseball last night at the same time as 7,127 for hockey.  Pretty good night to support Lehigh Valley Professional Sports.  Kinda like it’s the “Top Level of the Minors” around here.
• It was really cold.  But at least it was windy. You gotta have both.
• At first glance the lineup was unserious.  Three catchers?  But in retrospect, with Miller and Rincones on the shelf, what else you gonna do?
• We’re expecting Oscar Mercado in the lineup tonight along with Sergio Alcantara perhaps.
• We’re getting the feeling that Felix Reyes in left field is going to be a real thing.  If he’s going to hit .800 then he can play anywhere he wants.
• I did think, from my seat, that he could have made a better play on the one ball hit to his right, down the line.  Even if he couldn’t have caught it we thought he should have done a better job keeping it from rolling all the way to the wall.  But man it was cold.  De La Cruz wasn’t moving any too fast, either.
• Pedro León is the new Leandro Castro.  Discuss.

• Reyes and De La Cruz back-to-back in the lineup is formidable.  If we can get Kieboom rolling it will look even better.
• And yeah, Rincones and Miller in there somewhere would be nice.  Word is that Miller is doing baseball activities so that bodes well.
• There’s a lot of zeros in this lineup.  I’m not being mean.  Just pointing out that having a number 0 and also a number 00 is kinda rich.
• No bar menu last night–system still links with Illuminations site.  PigsFoodFinder still hasn’t been updated.  Taps taste like they haven’t been cleaned.  Some feeling that the organization just trying to get through this weekend in one piece before they really get rolling on April 7.
• “Just Walk Out” looked like it was popular.  There were so many employees standing around watching it, though, they could have been serving the food rather than making people get it themselves!  I kid.  We think it’s cool.
• Kram III is not a fan of the Keystone Cabanas.  He thinks they’re ugly and they block the view from the main grandstand out and from the outfield concourse in.
• For my part, they don’t block any part of the big screen from my seats, and if they can help get some of the groups out of the club level and out of every nook and cranny of the stadium then I’m all for it.
• Perhaps they need to paint the grass-facing base of the cabana porches, though.  Perhaps green to match the lawn.  Or brown to match the structure?  It would make them more pleasing from a view perspective.
• There were a bunch of roster moves made before the game.  We’ll get the pinned roster post updated eventually, but for now the details of the moves, the injuries, and a printable roster are all HERE.

Today’s Game

Zack Wheeler rehab game!  All you can eat rib buffet special in the Tiki.  Ribbie is a heavy favorite to win the pork race. Orion Kerkering is here for rehab as well.  While we expect Wheeler to parachute in when he needs to pitch to competitive batters and then airlift out to Philly afterwards, Kerkering should stay with the team for full rehab until he can pitch back-to-back, at which point he may be reactivated for the Phillies.

Game Time: 4:35PM (Phillies start 4:05PM)

Gates: 3:15PM East/CF, 3:00PM West/Club/Suites

Tickets:  Good seats still available

Promotion:  Magnet Schedule Giveaway

TV Broadcast:  Of course, Service Electric.  But you can find games on the Bally Live App as well these days, free.

Radio Broadcast:  Some talk last night about listening to the game on a YouTube stream.  Not sure if they lost the radio affiliation or if they’re just getting bumped by March Madness.  We’ll follow up.

Weather: 43 degrees, sunny and windy at game time.  Sun is out but bundle up!

Pitching:  RHP Zack Wheeler (MLB Rehab) vs Toledo LHP Bryan Sammons (2024: 6-7, 4.15, 22G Toledo.  Japan in 2025)

See you at the park—AND the arena.  We’re hitting both tonight!

@Kram207

Featured Image by Kram.  I should have waited for the flag to open.  I also forgot to pick up my giveaway last night.  Still Spring Training for all of us I guess. 

More moves than expected today as we get ready to play baseball.  So we’ll update in a stand-alone post:

Stuff We Knew

We knew Mercado was on the way back.  We knew Cairo was put on the 40-man because he had an escalator clause in his contract.  We knew about injuries to Keaton Anthony, Aidan Miller, Gabriel Rincones and Daniel Robert’s balky heart.

News

Sergio Alcántara has 193 games of MLB experience with a myriad teams.  He was in camp with Washington this season and was released by Rochester earlier this week.  In 2025 he played one game with San Francisco and 113 with AAA Sacramento and AAA Reno where he slashed a combined .251/.368/.341

In addition to Daniel Robert, we wish good healing for Erick Brito and Mark Kolozsvary following their surgeries.

Jokes about betting (Rodriguez) and “are the Mercado’s related?” will be suspended until those guys can get healthy.

Printable Roster:

032726 LHV Roster Updated

“Who is this guy?”

This post will be updated through the first week or two of the season, and then via the “IronPigs Today” columns after that.  We’ll pin this one as it’s a nice reference when you’re at the game to remember who “that guy” is.

[UPDATE]  This post has been updated for the weekend of the Red Wings Series, April 10. 

Injured List, Etc.

Let’s get this out of the way.  We’re not starting off the season particularly healthy.

INF Aidan Miller:  The guy who is a top prospect.  Balky back.  Return unknown.  Reports of him “swinging the bat” could be erroneous.  Stay tuned.

OF Gabriel Rincones Jr: We know him from last season.  Big lefty outfielder with light-tower power.  Bad knees.  Hopefully back sooner rather than later.  They’re leaning into the platoon with him, which is an interesting developmental strategy.  Something to watch.

1B Keaton Anthony:  Broke his foot during Spring Training.  It will be a few weeks probably before we see him.  If he does well we may see him in left field a bit.

OF Johan Rojas:  Not injured, but suspended for horse steroids until 6/25/26.

RHP Daniel Robert:  Balky heart.  Treatment ongoing, should be able to return to play. 60-Day IL.

RHP Andrew Bechtold:  “Shoulder Discomfort” now on the 60-Day IL

RHP John McMillon: (Dev List)

RHP Michael Mercado:  7-Day IL for “Shoulder Tear”

C Mark Kolozsvary: 60-Day IL “Knee Surgery”

INF Erick Brito: 60-Day IL for “Hand Surgery”

INF Jose Rodriguez: “Shoulder Tear” now on the 60-Day IL

* – denotes, on the 40-man roster

Starting Pitchers

#12 LHP Tucker Davidson (LHP):  The lefty from Texas.  AAA veteran started 23 of 36 games in 2025 and 2024 with Nashville.  Started 15 in 2022 with Gwinnett.  MLB time with Atlanta, Baltimore, the Angels and Kansas City, all as a reliever.

#18 RHP Bryse Wilson:  Another AAA veteran.  He came up with the Braves and has MLB time with them, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee and the White Sox.  Another AAA starter, MLB reliever type.

#69 RHP Jean Cabrera*:  They guy who’s a prospect, but should be a reliever.  From Venezuela, he spent the last couple seasons in Reading.  Plenty of pitch-ability but not the body or the stuff that you usually see in an MLB starting pitcher.  He did have some nice innings in MLB Spring Training.  He and Rangel are the depth starters for the Phillies at this juncture.

#55 RHP Alan Rangel*:  Hey we know him!  From Mexico, we saved him from the Braves and Angels and he’s been up with the Phillies for a bit.  He’s in the mix to be the Phillies #6 or #7 starter this season.

#41 Ryan Cusick:  The former Braves’ first rounder.  He was claimed off waivers from the White Sox last season, passed through waivers and here he is.  He pitched for Vegas and Toledo last season in Triple-A and had yet to make his MLB debut.  His numbers in 19 games, 4 starts (man, I don’t remember those four starts, doubleheaders?) with the Pigs last season were not tremendous. He kicked around the Big Leagues as a reliever but has been stretched out to start games here.

#43 Connor Gillispie: The guy who might be a starter.  He started six games for Miami last season and has another stint in the bigs with Cleveland.  Last season pitched for Jacksonville and St Paul, including starts for both teams. So far he’s been a bulk innings guy on Wheeler nights

#xx Zack Wheeler:  The guy who might be a future Hall of Famer.  MLB Rehab will next pitch for the IronPigs on Wednesday April 8.  Probably will not go to St Paul with the team for the next series, but should rehab somewhere, one more time, before re-joining the Phillies.

First Base

#13 1B/DH Felix Reyes: The guy who won the Eastern League batting title last season.  He’s listed with the outfielders and they might try that a bunch, especially when Keaton gets back.

Infielders

#00 Christian Cairo*: The guy who is Miguel’s kid.  Stands just 5’8″ and spent all of last season with AAA Columbus.  Has yet to make his MLB debut.  Listed as a shortstop.  Slashed .237/.338/.331 last season in the International Leauge.

#5 Liover Peguero:  The guy who was a Pirate.  Fiery competitor from the DR spent parts of the last four seasons in Pittsburgh.  Listed as a shortstop.  Has been playing some First Base, although he doesn’t really profile there.

#29 Carter Kieboom:  The guy who was a first rounder for the Nationals.  Spencer’s brother.  Listed as 3B, it just hasn’t clicked for him in the big leagues, but he hit .319/.368/.449 last season with AAA Sugar Land.  He was a late addition via cash trade with Cleveland where he was a non-roster invitee, but showed poorly this spring.

#4 Robert Moore:  Came over from the Brewers along with Hendry Mendez, for Oliver Dunn.  Scrappy second-base type drafted out of Arkansas with a sandwich-round pick. Never seems over-matched despite his diminutive stature.

Outfielders

#46 Bryan De La Cruz:  The guy from Miami.  He split last season between Gwinnett and Scranton in Triple-A.  He’s been in the bigs with Atlanta and Pittsburgh in addition to Miami.  He had a really nice Spring Training but got squeezed out for a spot with the Phillies.  The righty could get a shot if Otto Kemp falters. He’s got an opt-out over the summer some time.

#0 Pedro León*:  The Cuban from Houston.  Cup of coffee with Houston in 2024 where he was a highly rated prospect at one time.  Spent the last few years with Sugar Land, where he hit .299 in 2024.

#7 Cade Fergus:  [UPDATE:  Development List]  The guy who is clutch.  He’s been up and back from Reading and should continue along that path.  Money in extra innings.

#3 Oscar Mercado:  The guy who was on our team first part of last season; he returns for outfield depth.

#45 Steward Berroa*:  Came via cash trade with Milwaukee due to 40-man crunch for Brewers.  Switch-hitting Dominican outfielder standing 5’9″.  He slugged 10 HRs in 79 games for AAA-Buffalo in 2024, slashing .281/.371/.454.  He has MLB time with Toronto and Milwaukee.

Catchers

(It’s a lot of catchers)

#27 René Pinto:  [UPDATE: 7-Day Injured List] The veteran who played 83 games in the Majors with Tampa.  54 games in Reno last season in Triple-A.  He’s from Venezuela and has some pop in his bat.

#16 Caleb Ricketts:  The guy who is a catching prospect.  Phillies’ 7th round pick in 2022 out of San Diego.  The big backstop bats lefty and has been with Reading the last couple seasons.  Definitely advanced in 2025 over 2024, but did battle some injuries along the way.

#24 Paul McIntosh:  The guy who came over from Miami in the Luzardo trade.  He was originally drafted by the Angels out of West Virginia.  Was here a bit last season, but didn’t hit a ton.

C Garrett Stubbs:  He’s back!  They guy who passed through waivers!  He has a unique “two-way” kind of contract and anyone who claims him would have to initially have him on the MLB active roster and then might be responsible for his current deal.  He could elect free agency, but then he’d lose his current deal.  Why is this important?  Well, his deal will pay him $575,000 to play in the minors and $975,000 to play in the majors.  It’s good work if you can get it, in East Allentown.

Relief Pitchers

#50 Seth Johnson*:  The guy who throws gas.  But, needs to throw strikes.  If he can stay in the zone and get guys out, he’ll be good ‘pen depth for the Phillies.  He also might be the AAA closer.

#56 Griff McGarry:  The guy who was a National this spring.  Plucked via the Rule 5 draft, he was returned to the Phillies when he didn’t make the Nats 26-man roster out of Spring Training.  He was being groomed to be a reliever on the MLB level this spring, which is probably right, but we know he wants to start, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him perhaps piggy back with Wheeler a bit and start getting stretched back out so that the Phillies can have him eat AAA innings as a starter.  He’s a column-favorite, though, so we’ll be watching carefully for what their plan is.

#39 Chase Shugart*: The other guy who was a Pirate.  Drafted by the Red Sox initially he appeared in 35 games out of the pen for the Bucs last season with reasonable numbers.  Like Johnson, competing to be an up-and-down guy for the Phillies relief crew.

#47 Nolan Hoffman*:  The guy who’s not the original Hoffman.  He was here last season and will be in the mix with Johnson and Shugart for first call up.  Came over last season in a cash trade with the Rangers.  A Mariners pick out of Texas A&M.

#54 Genesis Cabrera (LHP):  The guy who hurt Bryce Harper.  It’s all good now, but he spent time with St Louis and then Toronto before kicking around to four teams last season: Mets, Pittsburgh, Cubs and Twins.

#67 Jonathan Hernandez:  The guy from the Rangers, via Durham.  He has a bunch of MLB time mostly with Texas.  He had a stint in the Seattle organization and returned to Texas before ending up on Durham last season spending part of the season injured.  His numbers with AAA-Durham though, were outstanding following his injury.  This guy’s a dark horse for a 40-man spot.

#33 Trevor Richards:  The guy from KC and Arizona.  He has 295 games in the MLB with Miami, Tampa, Milwaukee, Minnesota and Toronto, too.  The Phillies snapped him up in December on a minors deal; he almost certainly has an opt-out at some point.  His Triple-A numbers last season weren’t great, though, so he’ll be looking to get back to MLB form.

#57 Lou Trivino:  The guy they call “Sweet Lou” is a Slippery Rock product who was here for a spell last season as the organization was collecting former PSAC players.  He was originally drafted by Oakland and has a bunch of MLB time there, in addition to some with the Yankees and last season with the Phillies.  He re-signed on a minors deal to be here.

#44 Andrew Walling (LHP):  The guy who the Phillies signed to a minor league contract after he pitched for Williamsport in the MLB Draft League.  He spent a bunch of the past two seasons with Reading before showing well for the IronPigs late last season.

#27 Kyle Backhus (LHP)*:  The guy who throws side-arm.  He had a tremendous Spring Training, a horrible Opening Day, and has been good since.  He had options and got moved down to activate Kerkering.  Came over in a trade with Arizona for CF Avery Owusu-Asiedu.  26 games with AAA-Reno last season, 4-4, 2.05 ERA, also had 32 games with MLB Arizona last season.

Printable Roster: 4/9/2026

040926 LHV Roster

See you at the park,

@Kram207

Featured Image of Griff McGarry by Steve Kiebach

Now that it’s official that Painter and Crawford will be making their Major League debuts with the Phillies and will be on the Phillies’ roster for MLB Opening Day, let’s take a look at what Phillies fans should expect from the two 2025 IronPigs.

Andrew Painter

What’s Different?  There are a couple things are not exactly like the Andrew Painter we saw all last season at Coca Cola Park. First, they corrected his delivery a little bit.  They (Phillies coaches and evaluators) knew that his delivery was a bit off from what it was prior to UCL surgery, but because he was healthy and comfortable, they didn’t shut him down and correct it during the season last year.  Secondly, Painter was suffering from some bad blisters last season on his throwing hand.  This made it near impossible to throw his changeup.  Again, instead of shutting him down, they let him keep pitching with his other pitches because everything else was healthy.  Was it a bad decision to let him suffer poor results like that?  Probably not.  He was forced to pitch and learn and grind.  He was able to get his innings in so that this season he should be available for a full workload this season.

Remember:  “First Season After Tommy John” is a thing.  Many other, more experienced pitchers have come back from UCL surgery and had command struggles their first season back.  Last offseason, despite getting some work in Arizona Fall League, he spent the offseason still rehabbing from his injury.  This offseason, he was able to spend the time working on his pitching.  Add in the improved delivery and no blisters and he’ll be more prepared for MLB this season than he was for AAA last season.

Kram Predicts:

1. He’ll have a couple bad innings and give up some long home runs here and there, but mostly he’ll be what any team wants out of their fifth starter and maybe more.
2. He’ll get sent down.  Wheeler is on the way, we know.  Rather than banish Taijuan Walker to the bullpen where they’ll have other decisions to make when Kerkering and Lazar get healthy, before McFarlane kicks in the door, they’ll get Painter innings, with things to work on, with the IronPigs.  So long as everyone is healthy.  But it won’t be punitive, he’ll approach it well, and before you know it he’ll shove his way back up there.
3. Phillies fans expecting him to ride in on a white horse and plow through rosters like an erstwhile Paul Skenes, might be disappointed.  Pay no attention to those folks.  Painter will be fine.  And sure, the switch might flip and things might look different in August compared with April.

Justin Crawford

What’s Different?  Well it turns out they did lower his hands a bit at the plate.  They’ve also allowed/encouraged him to embrace bunting even more.

Remember:  Justin has been around Major League locker rooms his entire life.  Not only will there be no situation that’s too big for him, he’ll be able to ride out any frustrations or slumps that might arise–not that any have during his years in the minors.  He’s got his routine and his approach refined and he’s got the mentality to depend on that.

Kram Predicts:

1. Sometimes it won’t look pretty.  He’ll go down 0-2 quickly and you’ll think it’s a horrible at-bat.  But then, he’ll foul off a pitch or two and not chase a ball out of the zone, and then smack a triple down the line.  You’ll think he had a bad game and then the box score will say he went 2-for-5 and scored two runs.
2. He won’t strike out as much as you expect.  He has elite hand-eye and bat-to-ball and that can get him out of a lot of trouble when necessary.
3. He’s gonna score a lot.  He’ll be on base a ton with hits, walks and bunts. Those guys at the top of the order will get pitches to hit while the pitchers and fielders worry about Crawford stealing bases.
4. He’ll have some struggles in the field early on.  I just think he’ll need an adjustment period and that “third deck syndrome” is a thing, especially for outfielders.  But he’ll get it and be an asset in center field by season’s end.
5. He won’t get sent down.  And he won’t get benched.  Expect him in there almost every day.
6. His helmet will fall off.  A lot.

So good luck and good health to these guys!  Down here at AAA and AA we serve at the pleasure of the Phillies and when players we’ve watched every day then graduate to the big team we want the best for them.

Go Pigs and Go Phillies,

See you at the park(s),

@Kram207

Featured Image by Jack Mitroka