Paul McIntosh was one of those guys whose career was affected by COVID.

The Angels drafted him in the 34th round of the 2018 Draft, and McIntosh felt he could do better by not signing and continuing his education instead.

So, McIntosh set off to play at West Virginia, which made him eligible again in 2020. The onset of COVID saw Major League Baseball cut the draft down to just five rounds.

McIntosh had risen in the eyes of scouts since 2018, but not enough to go in the top five rounds.

McIntosh didn’t hear his name called on Draft Day and waited for the phone to ring after the draft, but there was no immediate call from a team.

“At that moment, I didn’t really have any representation, so I had woken up after the draft was over and got nothing. And then two or three days after the draft is when I finally heard something and I thought I was going back to college,” McIntosh recalled. “The scout that actually signed me was Alex Smith, and he called me and said, ‘Hey, you want to come play baseball for the Miami Marlins?’ I was, like, yeah, I think I could do that. I’ll go back home and play some baseball.”

Last winter, the Phillies were looking for pitching and engaged in talks with the Marlins about Jesus Luzardo. The two teams agreed on a swap of Phillies minor leaguers Emaarion Boyd and shortstop Starlyn Caba for Luzardo and McIntosh.

The Phillies started McIntosh at Double-A Reading this season where he hit .267 with eight home runs and 35 RBIs before joining the IronPigs in the final week of August.

“We were playing at home, and they didn’t tell me anything before I had left the ballpark. Then, as I’m getting ready to wind down and go to bed, I hear a knock at my door, probably at like 11:25 or closer to midnight. My manager Al Pedrique said, ‘Hey, sorry for the late notice, but I just want to let you know you’re going to Triple-A.’ From there, I was off to meet the team in Omaha,” said McIntosh.

Even with the exit of Garrett Stubbs, Lehigh Valley has three catchers in McIntosh, Payton Henry and Josh Breaux. Manager Anthony Contreras has split playing time, and also uses the DH spot to get playing time for all three players.

ALL IN THE FAMILY … It wasn’t a surprise that Stubbs was recalled by the Phillies when rosters expanded on Sept. 1. He wasn’t the only member of the Stubbs family to get the call. His younger brother, C.J., who visited Coca-Cola Park last month with the Rochester Red Wings, was recalled by the Nationals and made his MLB debut that night. C.J. Stubbs went 0-for-3 in the game, and the next day was optioned back to Rochester when the Nationals signed former IronPig Jorge Alfaro to a major league contract.

IS THERE A DENTIST IN THE HOUSE? ... In the first inning of Thursday night’s game, which was later suspended and finished on Friday, a pop fly down the third base line led to a scary moment for Lehigh Valley. Justin Crawford came flying in from his left field spot and third baseman Otto Kemp raced back with both players focused on the ball and not on each other. The two players collided, with Kemp’s shoulder going directly into Crawford’s mouth. The result was a pair of chipped teeth and a concussion for Crawford, while Kemp got up and was fine. Lehigh Valley placed Crawford on the IL officially on Sunday, so he will be out at least a week. The hope is that he is back for the final home series of the season against Syracuse.

HERE WE GO AGAIN … Lehigh Valley lost key players to the Phillies late in the first half of the season, which led to a collapse and Jacksonville winning the first-half championship. Now, with a slim chance of the playoffs in sight again, it’s happening again. In addition to losing Crawford, the Pigs lost Kemp and infielder Donovan Walton to the Phillies when the big league club lost the entire left side of their infield to injuries. Trea Turner went on the IL with a hamstring strain, and Alec Bohm has a shore shoulder.

FERROUS BUEHLER … If you’ve seen the movie Ferris Buehler’s Day Off, you know part of the movie takes place at a Chicago Cubs game. Veteran Walker Buehler came to town Friday and presumably met Ferrous, the Pigs mascot. Buehler pitched Saturday night in a tune-up with mixed results. Buehler made it through just three innings and allowed five hits and walked three. He only allowed one earned run, though, and also added five strikeouts. The plan calls for him to make his Phillies debut Friday night against Kansas City.

SO, YOU’RE SAYING THERE’S A CHANCE … The second-half winner travels to Jacksonville to play the Jumbo Shrimp (Marlins) in a best-of-three series to determine who will play the Pacific Coast League champion in Las Vegas later this month. With 12 games left to play, Lehigh Valley is 7 ½ games out in the International League’s second-half standings. The problem is there are four teams – Indianapolis (7 GB), Toledo (6 GB), Syracuse (4 GB), and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (0 GB) – that it needs to pass. The IronPigs took four of their six games against Toledo (Tigers) last week, travel to Scranton (Yankees) this week, and host Syracuse for the final home series next week.