Lehigh Valley won 43 of its first 60 games this season, then things went south. South Pole south.
The IronPigs had a seven-game lead over the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp on June 5 for the International League’s first-half title. They lost 11 of their final 14 games of the half. They were 3-8 on the homestand, including 0-5 against the league’s worst team, the Rochester Red Wings – who entered the series with a 22-45 record and a minus-147 run differential.
Lehigh Valley had the best start to a season in its history. It then finished the first half being mentioned in the same breath as the 1964 Phillies, 2007 Mets, 2011 Red Sox and 2011 Braves, all of whom had epic flops.
Here are a few reasons why the IronPigs lost a chance to host the second-half champion in the IL’s best-of-3 playoff series in September and secure its first playoff berth since 2018:
1. Aaron Nola’s body finally failed him: Nola made 241 starts since May 21, 2017, a modern-day Iron Horse, before an ankle injury put him on the injured list. Nola then suffered a rib injury while rehabbing his ankle. There is no timetable for his return.
That meant Mick Abel pitching only twice for the IronPigs since May 10. Abel was the IL’s pitcher of the month in May.
The Phillies’ pitching depth has improved in recent years, but there is no replacing someone who was on track to be the IL’s pitcher of the year. Abel was 6-2 with a 2.21 ERA, 1.23 WHIP and 67 strikeouts in 57 innings across 10 Triple-A starts.
2. Bryce Harper’s wrist failed him again: Harper has not played for the Phillies since June 5 because of a balky wrist, one that bothered him last season. It has resulted in Otto Kemp staying on the Phillies roster longer than expected.
Kemp, who was the frontrunner for the IL’s player of the year, received his first major-league promotion on June 7. He was among the IL’s leaders in home runs, RBIs and extra-base hits, and still leads the league in slugging percentage, OPS and runs.
3. Christian Arroyo’s body continues to fail him: Nothing has changed for Arroyo in his first year in the Phillies organization. He is serving his second stint this season on the injured list. Arroyo spent parts of the previous seven seasons in the majors, but injuries limited him in nearly year.
He was slashing .324/.388/.519/.907 in 29 games this season with the IronPigs but has not played since June 6.
4. Bullpen woes: The IronPigs led the IL in runs, but couldn’t out-hit their bullpen without Kemp, Arroyo and, most recently, Buddy Kennedy, who was the IL’s player of the month for May and promoted late last week to Philadelphia. Lehigh Valley’s bullpen had a 7.65 ERA in its last eight losses.
5. Hitting with runners in scoring position: The IronPigs batted .067 (3 for 45) with runners in scoring position in the five losses to the Red Wings, who entered the series with the league’s worst pitching staff. Lehigh Valley hit .096 (7 for 73) with RISP in its last eight games overall.
The IronPigs also hit into 10 double plays in the five games against the Red Wings.
6. Base running blunders: There were several instances of mistakes on the base paths during the final homestand of the first half.
The most recent one came in the sixth inning of last Saturday’s series finale. Trailing 5-4, Lehigh Valley got a walk, single and a sacrifice bunt to put runners on second and third with one out. Rodolfo Castro then hit a swinging bunt in front of the plate. Rochester catcher Drew Millas fielded the ball on the grass and threw to first for the out. Cal Stevenson froze at third base until Millas released the ball. He then broke for home. Yohandy Morales then threw a strike to pitcher Jack Sinclair, who tagged out Stevenson at the plate.
In last Tuesday’s series opener, Lehigh Valley was tied at 1 in the home second and had the first two runners reach base before Matt Kroon was picked off second base. The IronPigs didn’t score in the inning — and for the rest of the game in a 3-1 loss.
Lehigh Valley’s second half starts Tuesday with the first of six games at Buffalo. The IronPigs return home for three games July 1-3, against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre before hitting the road for nine more games (three at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and six at Syracuse).
Morning Call senior writer Tom Housenick can be reached at thousenick@mcall.com
