The season closed in the dreariest possible way for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs.

First, a loss to Worcester (Boston) on Thursday, combined with a win by Durham eliminated the Pigs from the playoffs, leaving them three games behind with three games to play.

Technically, they could have still tied the Bulls for the top spot, but the tiebreaker would have gone to Durham (Tampa Bay). They came out Friday and lost again, before the weather and unplayable field conditions wiped out their games on both Saturday and Sunday.

Lehigh Valley finished the season three games behind second-half champion Durham, who play at Norfolk to decide the International League championship with the winning team heading to Las Vegas to play for the Triple-A championship against the winner of the series between Oklahoma City (LA Dodgers) and Round Rock (Texas), which determines the Pacific Coast League champion.

As for team leaders, Jake Cave (.346) led the Pigs in batting with Matt Kroon hitting an impressive .386 - but in only 15 games. Weston Wilson set a franchise record with 31 home runs, besting the 29 hit by Rhys Hoskins in 2017. Wilson also led the team in runs (90), RBIs (86), walks (75), and stolen bases (32).

On the mound, Noah Skirrow led the team with eight wins, and Bailey Falter was first among the team’s starters in ERA at 4.21. Falter had just 11 starts prior to being dealt to the Pirates at the trade deadline. Nick Nelson - who led the team with 20 starts, - was next in starter’s ERA with a 4.35 mark. Among relievers, Andrew Bellatti had a 2.42 ERA in 27 relief appearances. Ben Bowden led the team with 49 relief appearances.

The end of the Triple-A season likely meant the end of the road for Scott Kingery in the Phillies organization. Kingery’s history is well known, and his six-year, $24-million contract ran out at the end of the season. The Phillies do have three option seasons on the deal but won’t pick up any of those years, and will instead allow Kingery to become a free agent.

Kingery turns 30 next April, and hit 13 home runs with 47 RBIs and a .244 average with Lehigh Valley this season.

The Phillies also have an interesting decision facing them on Darick Hall. While he didn’t put up the numbers as he had in 2022, Hall still quietly had a good minor league season (18-57-.311) but has not shown the ability to hit at the major league level, hitting just .167 in 18 games with the Phillies. With Rhys Hoskins going down for the season early in the year, Hall could have taken over the first base job in Philadelphia, but instead was demoted to Lehigh Valley while Cave, Alec Bohm, and Bryce Harper shared the first base duties with the Phillies.

Top catching prospect Rafael Marchan had a tough season that was marred by injuries and inconsistency. Marchan still hit .297 and drove in 30 runs in 51 games, but his defense took a slight step backward. It will be interesting to see how they approach the future with Marchan.

Pitching was a big letdown. Top prospect Andrew Painter was lost for the season during spring training, and No. 2 prospect Mick Abel made it to Triple-A for just one start after going 5-5, 4.14 in 22 starts at Double-A Reading. The problem was consistency, as Abel would look dominating for a few starts, only to regress and derail his opportunity for a promotion. In his one start at Lehigh Valley, the 22-year-old righty threw 4 2/3 innings, giving up five hits and three walks while striking out six against Worcester.

Griff McGarry - who came in as the No. 3 prospect this season, - took a giant leap backward. McGarry was injured to open the year, and didn’t make his first start with Reading until May 11. From there, he started 13 games and had a 3.13 ERA, before making three ill-fated starts for Lehigh Valley that saw him walk 14 batters in just 4 1/3 innings with a 41.54 ERA. The Phillies shut him down at the end of August, leaving his future with somewhat of a question mark behind it.

PAUL OWENS AWARD … Pitcher Orion Kerkering pitched at four minor league levels this season and posted a 4-1, 1.59 mark in 49 games. Last week, Kerkering was brought to Philly so they can get a look at him as a potential addition to the playoff roster. In his first MLB outing, he threw a perfect inning, striking out two New York Mets batters on Sunday. Johan Rojas has been with the Phillies since July 15, but had a good enough run with Double-A Reading prior to that to be the Phillies Paul Owens Award winner among hitters. Rojas hit 9-45-.306 with the Fightins and swiped 30 bases. The Phillies skipped him past LV to bring him to the majors, where he is batting .324 in 19 games.