For a portion of the season, it seemed like the Philadelphia Phillies were more like the Philadelphia IronPigs with how many ‘Pigs littered the roster. From the pitching staff to the lineup, IronPigs abounded and made humongous impacts during the regular season. Now with the postseason here, various 2024 IronPigs have been named to the Phillies NLDS roster against the New York Mets. Let’s take a look at the familiar faces on the Phillies NLDS roster:

LHP Kolby Allard

Kolby Allard had a rollercoaster of a season that ultimately resulted in a spot on the NLDS roster for the Phillies. Allard struggled thru the first two months of the season, posting an 0-4 record and 10.71 ERA thru May 7^th. Allard hit the reset button after allowing seven runs on May 7^th, getting reassigned to Florida and then working his way back up to Lehigh Valley again, with a pit stop with double-A Reading along the way.

Allard returned to Lehigh Valley on June 6^th and was a completely different pitcher. From June 6^th to July 23^rd, Allard pitched to a 2.84 ERA in 44.1 innings, striking out 42

RHP Orion Kerkering (Rehab)

Orion Kerkering actually pitched for the IronPigs on rehab before he ever stepped foot on the mound for the Phillies this season! The flu kept Kerkering out for the majority of Spring Training, necessitating rehab appearances with the IronPigs to begin his season on March 30^th and April 9^th. Kerkering threw a combined two scoreless innings, striking out three. It was actually more appearances that what he made with the IronPigs in 2023, when he appeared in just one game in his rapid ascent to the big leagues.

RHP Jose Ruiz

Jose Ruiz was one of the early call-ups to the Phillies this season, making his way from Allentown to Philadelphia on May 3^rd and staying with the big league club the entire season. Ruiz appeared in 10 games for the IronPigs, going 1-0 with a 1.64 ERA, striking out 13 in 11 innings.

Ruiz turned into a stalwart member of the Phillies bullpen, finishing 5^th on the team in appearances with 52. He went 5-1 with a 3.71 ERA, striking out 52 in 51 innings. Across the board, Ruiz set numbers that he hadn’t reached since 2022 when he spent a full season in the Chicago White Sox bullpen.

INF Alec Bohm (Rehab)

Alec Bohm appeared in a game with the IronPigs for the first time since 2021 when he made a rehab appearance on September 14^th. Coming back from a left hand strain, Bohm was slated to play in two rehab games, but ultimately appeared in only one as he picked up two hits in his only game played, negating the need for the second day of rehab work.

INF Kody Clemens

Kody Clemens was an integral part of the Phillies and the IronPigs this season. Clemens filled in for Bryce Harper (paternity list) on April 22^nd for his first big league action this season, driving home three runs as he doubled and homered. Clemens had four different stints up in the majors this season, accumulating 44 games with the Phillies and 68 with the IronPigs. Clemens hit 13 homers with the ‘Pigs with an .811 OPS while swatting nine homers for the Phillies. He had his fair share of clutch moments as well for the Phillies, slugging a ninth inning game-tying homer against the Nationals on May 18^th and collecting a walk-off single against Tampa-Bay on September 9^th. Clemens even capped off the regular season by making a game-saving catch against the wall on the final day of the season.

OF Austin Hays (Rehab)

Traded from Baltimore at the trade deadline, Hays had two rehab stints with the IronPigs, once from August 20-22 for a hamstring strain and then another from September 21-23 for a kidney infection. Hays combined to go 3-for-14 during those games with the IronPigs and actually drew a walk during the raucous six-run ninth inning on the season’s final day to help spur a walk-off win that culminated in Darick Hall’s grand slam.

OF Johan Rojas

Rojas skipped over the IronPigs on his ascent to the big leagues in 2023, but ultimately made a quick pit stop in the Lehigh Valley in 2024. Rojas joined the IronPigs on June 18^th and ended up playing just nine games with the ‘Pigs as he was recalled on June 28^th. Rojas made a massive impact in his short time, going 13-for-34 with a .917 OPS. He had a four-hit game in his second game with the club, including a late game-tying solo homer.

INF Edmundo Sosa (Rehab)

Sosa rehabbed at the same time as Bohm, his only appearance to date with the IronPigs. Sosa was coming back from back spasms and played two games with the ‘Pigs on September 14^th and 15^th. Sosa went 1-for-9 with the ‘Pigs.

INF Weston Wilson

Wilson made his major league debut with the Phillies in 2023 but was back with the IronPigs to begin 2024. After an ice-cold start, Wilson socked a walk-off homer against Rochester on May 23^rd that started an absurd run of power. Including that game, Wilson homered five times in 10 games and that culminated in his first call-up of the season as he joined the Phillies for the London Series.

Although he was optioned back to Lehigh Valley in mid-June, Wilson’s power binge continued, as over the next month he homered 10 times in 20 games, hitting .315 with an OPS of 1.185. This earned him another call-up to the Phillies on July 12^th and he stayed with the big league club for the rest of the season. Wilson’s seminal moment came on August 15^th as he hit for the cycle against the Washington Nationals, the first cycle for the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park since David Bell in 2004.

Others Deserving Recognition

While they are not on the Phillies playoff roster at the moment, the contributions of some other 2024 IronPigs on the 2024 Phillies season deserve to be shouted out as well:

• Nobody will ever forget where they were for the Cal Stevenson Game ©
• He drew a walk to precede Kody Clemens’s walk-off single and then delived the big RBI double himself later that week, take a bow Buddy Kennedy!
• That same week as Stevenson and Kennedy’s contribution, Aramis Garcia threw out the tying-run at second base trying to steal in the ninth!
• Michael Mercado not only got to make his Major League debut in 2024, but got his first Major League win in his first start at Wrigley Field.
• The special run from Tyler Phillips, the hometown kid, culminating in a complete game shutout against Cleveland.
• Rafael Marchan filling in for an injured JT Realmuto, hitting .294 along the way.
• David Dahl homering in his first game as a Phillie and then going deep in London.
• Max Lazar going from a MiLB free agent signing and at double-A to his Major League debut in only three months’ time.
• Who could forget Ricardo Pinto driving all the way from Rochester to Philadelphia to join the Phillies in the middle of the game, suit up, take the mound, and then close it out!?
• Tyler Gilbert returns to the team that drafted him and makes his way back to Majors.
• Nick Nelson reinvents himself with a knuckleball and even picks up a punchout with it in a Major League game!
• Seth Johnson gets dealt at the deadline, comes over and shoves for the ‘Pigs and earns his Major League debut.