During the annual Phillies caravan this past January, Dalton Guthrie was looking forward to heading to spring training with the possibility of making the team out of camp rather than having to wait.

His first taste of the majors came last September and went well, with Guthrie hitting .333 in 14 games with Philadelphia.

When he was asked about some pundits predicting that he would wind up sharing the starting job in the Phillies center field slot, he seemed almost embarrassed.

“I’ve seen a few of those things, but I don’t know how legitimate they are,” said Guthrie. “I don’t feel like anything is guaranteed just because I played in Philadelphia for a month last season. I have to go in there and fight for a job, whether it would be as part of a platoon or as a guy coming off the bench. All I can do is go out, play, and hope that the guys that make those decisions like what they see.”

Guthrie’s spring with the Phillies was not exactly what he was hoping for statistically. He had more strikeouts (12) than hits (11) in 19 games, but was still hanging around late in camp. When final cuts were made, Guthrie was not among them because the higher ups liked his energy and the way he approached the game.

Technically, Guthrie did start the season with the team but only because Cristian Pache - who the Phillies acquired right before the opening bell rang - had not yet made it to town. When Pache met up with the team in Texas and was ready to go for the second game of the year, Guthrie was optioned out to Lehigh Valley.

The fact that the Phillies were looking for another outfielder was no surprise. It was widely rumored that was the case from the minute they dealt Matt Vierling to the Detroit Tigers in the trade that brought reliever Gregory Soto to town. Having players like Guthrie allowed them to make the trade, but having a veteran outfielder to pair with incumbent Brandon Marsh would be nice, as Guthrie had exactly one season of center field experience, and one month of major league experience to draw from.

“You just have to deal with what happens and go with it. Everybody wants to be playing in the majors, but now that I am her, I’ll just keep playing the game the way I always have and go out have some fun and look to win games,” said Guthrie shortly after arriving from Philly. “If I am needed in Philadelphia, they’ll let me know. For now, I am an IronPig and I am still playing baseball.”

FINALLY, SOME NEW FACES ... The IronPigs make their first trip to Jacksonville to play the Jumbo Shrimp - the Triple-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins. After six games there, they travel to Syracuse (New York Mets) for six more before returning home. When they do, fans will get a look at a team they have yet to see play in the Lehigh Valley, the Memphis Redbirds - the Triple-A farm team of the St. Louis Cardinals. The Jumbo Shrimp are the only other team to make their first trip in and that is not until mid-August.

HOT AND NOT ... Among hitters with enough plate appearances to qualify on the minor league leaderboards, Simon Muzziotti leads the ‘Pigs in hitting with a .328 average in 17 games. Guthrie is second at .286. Weston Wilson leads the team with five home runs. In 18 games, Jim Haley is batting just .218 for Lehigh Valley. Among pitchers, the only two who have enough innings pitched to qualify are T.J. Zeuch (5.68 ERA) and Michael Plassmeyer (6.23 ERA), who both have made four starts. Jesus Cruz has allowed just two earned runs over nine innings of work for a 2.00 ERA and Hans Crouse has a 2.89 ERA over 9 1/3 innings.

STANDINGS ... Lehigh Valley is 9-11 this season, six games behind Norfolk (Baltimore Orioles) in the International League East.