The game notes for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs exhibition game against the Reading Fightin Phils points out the greatness of opening day. In their section of the notes that looks at the 2014 season "by the numbers," they have the IronPigs listed as tied for first in both the Northern Division of the International League and in the league itself.

Hope springs eternal on Opening Day.This year's version of the IronPigs features a roster that is somewhat veteran laden, but still sprinkled with enough young prospects to keep things interesting. Adding up the numbers, 16 of the 25 players on the roster have major league experience with a number of them having substantial experience at baseball's highest level. Included in that group is Andres Blanco, Shawn Camp, Ronny Cedeno and Koyie Hill.The prospects don't get any better - at least from a Phillies point of view - than third baseman Maikel Franco. The 22-year old is on a Triple-A roster for the first time in his career and spent some time in Phillies camp battling with Phillies third baseman Cody Asche, trying to steal away Asche's job with the Phillies. The roster also includes pitching prospects David Buchanan and Jonathan Pettibone, who were in consideration for starting jobs with the Phillies and could still enter the mix at some point this season."As a Triple-A manager, you always love to have that nucleus of some younger guys mixed in with some older, veteran guys; you want that experience," noted second-year manager Dave Brundage. "You also look at the character of the club and where these guys come from and what their make-up is. Those are important intangibles to me."Things can always change, but on paper, I think we're going to be able to catch the ball and our starting rotation has taken on a different look in the last couple of weeks, so it's sort of up in the air how guys respond."Brundage is anxious to see Franco play this season and was impressed with what he saw during spring training from the young player and plans to keep an eye on him during his first season at Lehigh Valley. The Phillies want to be careful not to allow Franco to fall into any bad habits and Brundage and veterans like Blanco will help to make sure that he's given the right instruction. The guidance from Blanco started very early on."He [Franco] was late one day and I went to him and made sure he knew you don't do that. You respect your teammates, you respect the coaches and you respect the game," said Blanco. "He knows that was wrong and he's learning."Lehigh Valley opens with four games on the road against division rival Pawtucket. The home portion of the schedule starts Monday night with the first 5:05 starting time in team history, when the Buffalo Bisons - the top affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays - come to town to open a three-game series. The Rochester Red Wings then come in for four games before the team heads back out on the road. The Friday, Saturday and Sunday games will give fans the opportunity to see the IronPigs in their new alternate home uniforms that were unveiled over the winter.Last season, the IronPigs sent 22 players to the Phillies during the regular season and it will be interesting to see how many get the call inn 2014. The Phillies have a number of question marks and a door could open for both some veterans to see time in Philadelphia and for some of the prospects to move up for their first shot at playing in the majors."We have a lot of guys who I'm sure could help at the major league level now and a bunch of others who just need a little more time before they're ready to help up there," said Brundage. "You hope to keep your core guys here, but you also know that a lot of them will wind up somewhere else and could be helping the big league club and that's okay, too. Naturally, we want to win, but we also want to make sure guys are ready to produce at the next level."