Allentown, PA – The 2023 season was another one for the record books for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. The team finished above .500 for a second consecutive season, going 80-66, the most wins in a season for the ballclub since 2018. Off the field, the IronPigs had a banner year as well, returning to the top spot of the MiLB attendance leaderboard, as they led the entirety of the minors in total (567,322) and average attendance (7,990).
March/April
The IronPigs had their earliest start in franchise history as they kicked off the season on March 31 on the road at Rochester. The season started on a high note with the IronPigs claiming a come-from-behind 8-7 win in 10 innings. Aramis Garcia hit a game-tying homer in the 9th while Vimael Machin provided the go-ahead two-run homer in the 10th. The ‘Pigs followed it up with a 2-1 win on April 1 to move to 2-0 for the second consecutive season. Under the new split-season format for the International League, with a 1st half and 2nd half champion, the third game of the season was cancelled as the ‘Pigs and Rochester would not meet again until the 2nd half.
In their home opener on April 4 against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, the ‘Pigs saw 8,305 fans stream into the ballpark to welcome back the IronPigs for their 15th season. The ‘Pigs rewarded the faithful with a 5-3 win in the home opener. On the day of the homer opener, the ‘Pigs had their first ‘Pigs to the Bigs call-up of the season as McKinley Moore had his contract selected by the Phillies. Moore was the first of what would end up being 16 different players that would be promoted from Lehigh Valley to Philadelphia during the course of the season.
Following the home opening week, the IronPigs went on their first extended road trip, dropping five of six in Durham. The ‘Pigs bounced back, coming back to Coca-Cola Park and taking four of six from Worcester to wrap their home schedule for April. The ‘Pigs ended April at 12-14 on the season.
May
Thanks to the spark of a few new additions, the IronPigs offense soared to new heights in May. Jake Cave was optioned to Lehigh Valley on May 2 and proceeded to put up one of the best months of offensive production in IronPigs history. Cave began his IronPigs career with a 21-game hitting streak (t-3rd longest in franchise history), where he slashed. 437/.524/.862, with 16 2B, 7 HR, 22 RBI, and 31 runs scored. For his efforts, he was named International League Player of the Month for May as well as IL Player of the Week for May 22-28. But it was a later addition in May that actually beat Cave to the punch for the first IronPigs to capture a weekly award: Drew Ellis. Ellis was added to the IronPigs roster on May 17 and immediately tore it up. In his first week with the IronPigs, Ellis went 7-16, with 4HR and 13 RBI and was named IL POTW. He started his ‘Pigs career with an RBI in six consecutive games as well.
Still in search of the first no-hitter in franchise history, the ‘Pigs did throw a one-hitter in game two of a doubleheader on May 6. Jake Jewell, Ben Bowden, McKinley Moore, Jakob Hernandez, and Yunior Marte combined for the feat.
The IronPigs had another up and down month of May, going 13-13 as they strung together multiple winning streaks with losing streaks, bringing their season record to 25-27. The ‘Pigs did capture their first walk-off win on Mother’s Day, May 14. In one of their wackiest games of the season, the ‘Pigs rallied from down 7-3 to force extra innings as Weston Wilson came off the bench to hit a two-run homer to tie the game in the ninth. In extras, the ‘Pigs continued their comeback ways, coming back to tie the game after trailing by three in the 10th and then walking it off in the 11th on an Aramis Garcia RBI single.
June
June was another dead even month for the IronPigs as they went 12-12 to bring their season record to 37-39. The month did see the club welcome in multiple Major League rehabs. Darick Hall, Rafael Marchan, Cristian Pache, and Jose Alvarado all made rehab appearances for the IronPigs.
Jake Cave again led the offense for the month, pounding out 11 doubles and six homers for a 1.021 OPS. Drew Ellis also continued to play well and that garnered him his first call-up to the Phillies. Ellis smashed two homers for the Phillies on June 4 and scored four runs, the most for any Phillie in a single game in 2023.
The first half of the International League season came to a close on June 25. The IronPigs lost that day to Rochester, 9-2, to bring their first half record to 36-37. The club finished 11.5 games back of the 1st half champion Norfolk Tides who went 48-26.
July
With a reset record at 0-0 thanks to the split-season format, the IronPigs had renewed hope going into the dog days of summer. The IronPigs went 3-4 heading into the All-Star break that stretched from July 9 through July 13. When the IronPigs returned to the field at Coca-Cola Park on July 14, they did so with a vigor the team had not had the entire season.
The ‘Pigs pitching staff threw darts coming out of the break, hurling back-to-back shutouts, the first time the franchise had done so since May 30-31, 2019 when the ‘Pigs blanked Pawtucket back-to-back nights. To cap off their three-game set out of the break, the ‘Pigs allowed just one run on Sunday to Charlotte to grab the three-game sweep.
The winning continued on the road, as the team ventured to Toledo for the first time since 2019 and took five out of six before returning home and splitting a six-game set with the Syracuse Mets. During the Mets series, the IronPigs set a new franchise record for runs in an inning as they scored 10 runs in the 3rd inning of the July 26 game and went on to win 14-11.
During the month, Jake Cave got his much deserved promotion back to the Major Leagues and the Phillies. Cave finished his time with the IronPigs hitting .346 with a 1.113 OPS, smacking 30 doubles and 16 homers. Even in just 59 games, Cave’s 30 doubles tied him for eighth in single-season franchise history.
The club went a pristine 15-8 in the month, setting them up to be in the postseason race heading into the summer.
August
Thanks to the hot start out of the All-Star break, the IronPigs found themselves in the hunt for the 2nd Half International League title at the start of August. A key series with fellow playoff contender, the Buffalo Bisons, kicked off the month for the IronPigs. Trailing 6-0 in the bottom of the 6th inning, the IronPigs staged their largest comeback of the season, scoring nine times in the frame, including a go-ahead grand slam from Scott Kingery, the first grand slam of the year for the IronPigs. This kicked off the series in style for the ‘Pigs as they took four out of six and found themselves all alone in first place by a half game at the end of the week.
In a memorable and emotional moment, Weston Wilson received his long awaited call-up to the Majors when he was recalled by the Phillies on August 6. To that point in the season, Wilson had easily been the most valuable IronPigs, smoking a team high 25 homers and swiping 23 bases as he became the first IronPigs in franchise history to have a 20-20 season. Wilson’s foray into the history book would extend to his time with the Phillies. He made his Major League debut on August 9 and homered in his first plate appearance, becoming the fifth player in Phillies history to homer in his first career plate appearance. Wilson had been drafted by the Brewers in 2016 and was signed as MiLB free agent by the Phillies in the off-season. A fan favorite in Lehigh Valley, Wilson’s long journey to the big leagues was celebrated by all who had come into contact with him during his time with the IronPigs and across the minors.
Hitting the road to Rochester, the IronPigs had their most explosive offensive games of the season, scoring 14 runs on August 9 and then 17 on August 10. In the August 10 game, the ‘Pigs toppled and tied multiple franchise records. The ‘Pigs collected 23 hits in the game to set a new franchise mark while they also scored in every single frame in the game for the first time in franchise history. Individually, Kody Clemens socked three homers to become the 2nd IronPig in franchise history to complete that feat after Dylan Cozens did it on May 2, 2018. Clemens also scored four times to tie a franchise record as well, the 15th IronPig to do so. Clemens did set a new franchise mark with 14 total bases. Darick Hall also had a stupendous night, becoming the sixth IronPigs to collect five hits in a game.
Returning home to welcome in the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp for the first ever meeting between the two franchises, the IronPigs took four out of six games. Dustin Peterson smoked a two-run walk-off homer on August 16 as he continued a career year that saw him end up with a career high 19 homers, blowing past his previous high of 12.
By the end of the Jacksonville series, the IronPigs were still a half game up in first place in the 2nd half standings. A tough week in Scranton saw the IronPigs drop of six of seven games, moving them into a tie for fourth place and 2.5 games back of the top spot in the league. On a bright note, the IronPigs did tie a franchise record for most double plays turned in a game (5) when then pulled off the feat in game one of a doubleheader that week on August 23.
Needing to heat back up, the IronPigs capped the month by winning the first three games of their series with Syracuse back at Coca-Cola Park. For the month, the IronPigs were 16-12 and 68-59 on the season.
September
After winning the first three games of their series against Syracuse to close the month, the IronPigs wrapped up the sweep by taking the final three games of the series to open the final month of the season. It was the first six-game sweep for the IronPigs in the franchise’s history.
More history was made on the final day of the series. After Weston Wilson was optioned back down to the IronPigs from the Phillies, he kept up his masterful work for the ballclub and entered that Sunday with 27 homers on the season, two away from tying Rhys Hoskins for the franchise single-season mark of 29. Wilson homered in his first two at-bats on that Sunday, tying him with Hoskins for the franchise mark.
Wilson went ahead and set the record with another multi-homer performance the next week. In the 3rd inning on September 8 against the Buffalo Bisons, Wilson launched a two-run homer out to left, his 30th homer of the season, giving him the franchise record. Later that month on September 20, Wilson swiped his 30th base of the season, making him the first IronPigs to complete a 30-30 season as well. For his efforts, Wilson was named an International League Postseason All-Star, the first postseason accolade for an IronPig since 2018.
In the midst of Wilson’s hunt for history, the IronPigs were still in the thick of a playoff hunt. A 12-game road trip from Buffalo to Rochester saw the ‘Pigs go 7-5, putting them two games back of the Durham Bulls with six games to play. Playing the final series of the season at home against Worcester, the ‘Pigs opened the week with two wins to keep their playoff hopes alive the Bulls matched them win for win. The ‘Pigs fell in games three and four that week and coupled with Durham winning both of those nights, the ‘Pigs were officially eliminated as Durham locked up the 2nd half title. The final two games of the season were rained out and cancelled, giving the ‘Pigs a 12-7 mark in September and a 80-66 record overall, with a 44-29 record in the second half.
During the final week of the season, the IronPigs also had two very exciting debuts. On September 20, reliever Orion Kerkering made his first and only appearance of the season for the IronPigs. The flame-throwing righty with a wipeout slider had started the year at single-A Clearwater before tearing through the minors. Following his lone outing for the ‘Pigs, Kerkering had his contract selected by the Phillies and made his Major League debut later that week. Additionally, one of the Phillies top pitching prospects, Mick Abel, made his ‘Pigs debut the final week of the season as well. Abel struck out six hitters in his lone appearance for the ‘Pigs in 2023.
Conclusion
In all the IronPigs 2023 season was wildly successful. Off the field, the club returned to its top billing as the most attended team in MiLB and additionally various promotions like Hoagies, Hess’ strawberry pies, Corgis, IronHorses, and Strike Out Cancer, continued to prove why the IronPigs are one of the great innovators and draws in all of MiLB. On the field, great individual performances marked the season, as Weston Wilson became the first ‘Pig to go 30/30, setting the single-season franchise mark for homers (31) and runs scored (90). On a team level, the IronPigs hit the most homers (213), scored the most runs (857), stole the most bases (180), drew the most walks (697), had the highest OBP (.360), SLG (.462), and OPS (.822) in franchise history.
Records Broken/Rare Feats
Team Records
First six-game sweep: 8/29-9/3 vs. SYR
Most hits in a single game: 23, 8/10/23 @ ROC
Most HR in an inning (tied): 3, 8/1/23 vs. BUF
Most walks (hitting): 13, 5/4/23 @ SYR
Most consecutive HR allowed: 3, 8/26/23g1 @ SWB
Fewest hits allowed (tied): 1, 5/6/23g2 @ SYR
Most walks (pitching): 14, 5/25/23 vs. BUF
Most double plays turned (tied): 5, 8/23/23g1 @ SWB
Most runs, inning, tied (combined): 13, 8/1/23 (LHV 9, BUF 4)
Most walks (combined): 23, 7/26/23 vs. SYR (LHV 12, SYR 11)
Biggest blown lead (tied): 8, 6/11/23 @ SYR (led 8-0 after 3.0)
Single-season homers: 213
Single-season runs: 857
Single-season stolen bases: 180
Walks drawn: 697
OBP: .360
SLG: .462
OPS: .822
Individual Records
Single-game hits (tied): 5, Darick Hall (8/10/23 @ ROC)
Single-game Total Bases: 14, Kody Clemens (8/10/23 @ ROC)
Single-game home runs (tied): 3, Kody Clemens (8/10/23 @ ROC)
Single-game runs scored (tied): 4, Kody Clemens (8/10/23 @ ROC)
Single-game walks (tied): 4, Cal Stevenson (9/20/23 vs. WOR)
Single-game strikeouts (hitter): 5, Jordan Qsar (6/15/23 vs. TOL)
Single-game walks (relief), tied: 5, Louis Head (5/25/23 vs. BUF)
Single-season home runs: 31, Weston Wilson
Single-season runs: 90, Weston Wilson
Most consecutive stolen bases: 23, Scott Kingery
Most caught stealing: 12, Simon Muzziotti
Inside the park HR: Jim Haley, 5/11/23 vs. MEM