LAST TIME OUT: The 'Pigs dropped their third straight game (and second one-run loss), 9-8 to the RailRiders on Wednesday night. Trailing 6-0 early, the 'Pigs pounced for seven in the third, bolstered by a Payton Henry grand slam. Scranton popped two homers in the fifth to take the lead back. The 'Pigs got a run in the sixth on a GIDP, but three outs on the bases ultimately cut rallies short down the stretch. The 'Pigs bullpen didn't allow a run in 4.2 innings of work. Justin Crawford had three hits and reached base four times.
TODAY’S OPPONENT: Carlos Carrasco starts on Thursday for the RailRiders. Carrasco began the year in the Yankees rotation and has since bounced up and down with multiple DFA's and stints between NY and SWB. Originally signed by hte Phillies out of Venezuela, Carrasco was traded in 2009 to Cleveland as part of the package for Cliff Lee. Carrasco was with the 'Pigs at the time of the trade and joined Columbus was playing the 'Pigs at Coca-Cola Park. Carrasco made his Cleveland org debut later that series on July 31, getting the win as he outdueled future Hall-of-Famer Pedro Martinez who was making his first start with Lehigh Valley on his way back to the big leagues. Carrasco's last appearance at Coca-Cola Park came on May 9, 2010, 5,534 days ago.
RAIN RAIN GO AWAY: Tuesday's game between the 'Pigs and SWB was postponed to Wednesday, August 6th thanks to heavy thunderstorms. It's the sixth weather related delay, postponement or cancellation for the 'Pigs since June 15th.
LONG TIME, NO SEE: The IronPigs finally see the RailRiders again, having last seen them for the first three games of the season, a gap of 78 games. The 'Pigs make their first trip to Moosic this season later this week, the second time in three years they've played their first game of a season at PNC Field on July 4.
JUNE WAS SWOONING: The 'Pigs endured wild streaks during June, ending the month 10-14. They ran out two, five-game losing streaks, and managed to fit in a four-game winning streak as well. Rafael Lantigua finished the month hitting .303 while Óscar Mercado led the team with 17 RBI and nine stolen bases. Rodolfo Castro hit the most homers with four. Justin Crawford had the best OPS for any regular at .903 with a .344 avg. On the pitching side, Seth Johnson had a 2.79 ERA in eight outings and Joel Kuhnel had the only save and a 2.70 ERA. Nabil Crismatt worked 26IP with a 3.12 ERA.
CROWING FOR CRAWFORD: Justin Crawford leads the IL in hitting at .335 and is all over the league leader list elsewhere. He's sixth in OBP (.409), 1st in H (87), t-1st R (50), and 3rd in SB (32). The 'Pigs have never had a hitter win the IL Bat- ting Title. An IronPigs hitter (or pitcher for that matter) hasn't led the league in a category since 2018, when the 'Pigs had numerous league leaders between Joey Meneses, Mitch Walding, Pedro Beato, and Cole Irvin.
BACK TO THE FUTURE(S)(GAME): Andrew Painter was selected to participate in the 2025 MLB All-Star Futures Game, taking place at Truist Field in Atlanta during All-Star week on July 12th. Painter is the first active IronPig to be selected since Enyel De Los Santos represented the 'Pigs in 2018. Painter will be joined by fellow Phillies farmhand Eduardo Tait. Current 'Pig Justin Crawford participated in the event in 2023, alongside Mick Abel, and again in 2024 with Aidan Miller.
HIRED MERC TO STEAL BASES: Óscar Mercado is second in the league in stolen bases with 32. He's only been caught four times as well. For anyone with as few as four caught stealings this season, Mercado has the most stolen bases by 10. This is the first time Mercado has swiped 30 bags since 2018. His career high is 50 in 2015 with Peoria
KEATON, LIKE MICHAEL: Keaton Anthony joined the 'Pigs on Wednesday from Read- ing. Anthony was named the Phillies MiLB Player of the Month for May, where he slashed .385/.442/.603 (1.045 OPS), going 30-for-78 with 11 runs, 12 doubles, one triple, one home run, 12 RBI and seven walks in 22 games. Anthony was a 2023 MiLB Gold Glove winner and was 2nd in the Eastern League in AVG and 1st in 2B at the time of his promtotion. Anthony has a hit in each game as a 'Pig, including six multi-hit games and four this week.
RAFFY BOMB: Rafael Lantigua had his second three-hit game in a week last Wednesday, going 3-for-4. He's 17-for-49 in his last 14 with a homer and six RBI, scoring nine times.
DOLF'O THE CAP: In his past nine games, Rodolfo Castro has nine RBI and 11 hits (3 2B, 2 HR). He's started 21 straight games. He's added three walks and two stolen bases during that time as well.
OTTOMAN KEMPIRE: Otto Kemp got his long awaited call to the show as he had his contract selected by the Phillies on June 7. An undrafted free agent out of Point Loma Nazarene in 2022, When Kemp was promoted he lead the IL in home runs, runs & runs batted in and he ranks second in OPS and third in slugging percentage.
TO RANGEL WITH THAT: Alan Rangel got the call on June 6, making his Major League debut on Friday night with the Phillies. Rangel was the sixth IronPig to play for the Phillies this season. Rangel finall got to shed his status as a rare "phantom" MLBer. He was called up 9/4/22, but never appeared in a game with Atlanta. Rangel allowed two runs in three innings in his debut. Since returning to the 'Pigs, Rangel has 10 strikeouts against just one walk.
THIS BUDS FOR YOU: Buddy Kennedy captured his first MiLB monthly honor and is the second straight IronPig position player to be named Player of the Month (Otto Kemp). Kennedy appeared in 24 games during the month, slashing .358/.426/632 and led the league with 34 hits. He was second in doubles (eight), RBI (24), and total bases (60), while finishing fourth in slugging percentage (.632) and OPS (1.058) and was fifth in home runs (six) and average (.358). He recorded 12 multi-hit games including five straight games from May 14-18. Kennedy drove in a run in 16 of 24 games including driving in a run in six straight game from May 13-18. Kennedy ran a 15-game hitting streak from April 30-May 18, and went hitless in just four games during the entire month. Kennedy’s 24 RBI in the month were a new career-high for a single month while the seven homers were one shy of matching his career best mark.
MIGHTY MICK'S MAGNIFECENT MAY: Mick Abel became the first IronPig pitcher to cap- ture an IL monthly award since Michael Plassmeyer was honored for his performance in Au- gust 2022 as Abel was named IL Pitcher of the Month for May. It is the first monthly honor in Abel’s career. Abel went 3-0 with a 1.19 ERA in four starts as he allowed three earned runs on 14 hits and 13 walks over 22.2 innings. He struck out 31 and held opponents to a .171 average. He held opponents to one earned run over his last 11.2 innings in the Minor Leagues before being promoted back to Philadelphia on June 4. Abel made his Major League debut during May with the Phillies on May 18. He fired six shutout innings against the Pittsburgh Pirates to earn his first career victory, striking out nine without issuing a walk as he outdueled Paul Skenes. Abel tied the Phillies franchise record for most strikeouts in a debut start with his performance. Adding in his Major League numbers, Abel went 4-0 in May, working to a 0.94 ERA in 28.2 innings, striking out 40. He held opponents to a .183 batting average and walked just 13. He struck out at least eight hitters in four of five starts during the month. Abel has not allowed more than one earned run in a start since April 17. He has allowed more than three earned runs in a start just once this season (his first start of the year).
GROWING INDIGINOUS MOSS: Gabe Mosser made his home debut last Thursday, earn- ing the win in front of numerous friends and family. Born in Allentown, Mosser attended Parkland High School and then Shippensburg University. Of the 1,507 players born in Pennsylvania to appear in an MLB game, only eight have been born in Allentown. The last to play in the Majors was reliever Tim Mayza.
PAINT ME LIKE ONE OF YOUR PROSPECTS: Andrew Painter is ranked as the no. 5 prospect in baseball per MLB Pipeline and is one of four Phillies top-30 prospect on the 'Pigs roster (Painter, Crawford, Rincones, Johnson). Painter missed all of 2023 & 2024 re- covering from Tommy John surgery. Painter becomes the highest rated pitching prospect to pitch for Lehigh Valley and the highest ranked prospect to play for the 'Pigs since Domonic Brown (#4, 2011).
TURN ON THE AC: Anthony Contreras returns to the IronPigs as manager for the 4th straight season, becoming just the second IronPig manager to man the bench for four years. AC comes into the year with 224 wins, trailing only Dave Brundage (286) for most in franchise history.