I hope you were able to make it out to at least one IronPigs game during the final homestand that ended Sunday. If you did, you got a look at what may best be termed “Coming Attractions.” With the Double-A season ending a week before the IronPigs season ended, the Phillies brought some of the better players at Reading up to Lehigh Valley to take them for a test drive at the next level.

The two main attractions were shortstop Aidan Miller and outfielder Felix Reyes. Miller joined the team for their final road series in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre while Reyes waited the extra week. Both are among the top prospects in the organization, and it was good to see them on what is likely to te their home field next season.

Miller admittedly has some holes in his game – defense being perhaps the biggest – but the 21-year-old is figuring it all out and is not afraid of putting in the work to get better. He is one of eight Phillies prospects headed to the Arizona Fall League next month to get some added work. The highlight of Miller’s season was swiping 59 bases combined between Reading and Lehigh Valley.

“I think playing shortstop is just a matter of getting reps out there to keep learning the position. Learning where to be for cutoffs and relays, learning your first step, and which balls to cut off and which ones to stay back on,” said Miller. “I just think that the more time that I’m out there I will be able to get more comfortable and able to let my natural reactions take over.”

Reyes put in work with the Phillies Dominican Field Coordinator Manny Amador, last winter after playing in Columbia and was a different hitter. The pair worked to raise his hands slightly and the result was a .335 batting average that won the Eastern League batting title.

Cade Fergus started the season with Lehigh Valley and hit a walk-off home run early in the year, but he was just filling a temporary hole with Lehigh Valley and spent the rest of the season with Reading. Fergus, 25, hit 10 home runs at Reading, but batted just .148. In 10 Triple-A games, Fergus hit .333. Perhaps the Phillies challenge him to see what he can do in a season-long stint with the IronPigs.

On the mound, Griff McGarry and Gabe Mosser saved their best for last. McGarry, who won the Paul Owens Award as the Phillies Minor League Pitcher of the Year, made a final week start with Lehigh Valley after pitching all season for Reading. In 17 starts with Reading, McGarry posted a 3.25 start and then allowed just one run on one hit and two walks while striking out eight over five innings. If McGarry is not put on the 40-man roster, he would be exposed in the Rule 5 Draft, and it can just about be guaranteed that he would be taken.

“I think I got into a more consistent routine this year and I was able to compete all year. I got into a really consistent routine both on and off the field and that set me up. I was more thorough with my consistency this year than in the past and that made a big difference,” said McGarry after his one and only Triple-A start this season.

Mosser, the Parkland High School and Shippensburg University product, also pitched well in his finale after starting the season with Reading where he posted a 5.12 ERA in eight starts. In his first 16 starts with Lehigh Valley he posted a 5.35 ERA and in his final outing the righty lasted six innings, allowing three earned runs and showed much better command of his pitches, which could bode well for 2026.

Left-handed reliever Andrew Walling could also return after a brief stint with Lehigh Valley. Reading’s Jean Cabrera deserved to make at least one start with Lehigh Valley but was held back. He will likely be an IronPigs in 2026 and there are other Reading players who could also make the jump either to start the season or somewhere along the way.

It’s possible that others from the 2025 IronPigs will be back. On which end of the Northeast Extension do Justin Crawford and Andrew Painter wind up? Are veterans Are veterans Payton Henry, Christian Arroyo, Rodolfo Castro, Rafael Lantigua, Brewer Hicklen, Oscar Mercado, and Johan Rojas back? Remember pitcher Adonis Medina, and position players Keaton Anthony and Carson Taylor? They all finished the year on the IL, and all are likely to return next season. Gabriel Rincones Jr. made a run at making the Phillies out of spring training, could he cross that hurdle next spring? Has Otto Kemp, who was the Paul Owens Award winner as the Phillies top minor league position player this season, officially become a major leaguer or is he back to spend some time with the ‘Pigs?

BATTING CHAMPS TIMES TWO … Justin Crawford missed the final 15 games of the season with a concussion after a collision with Otto Kemp on September 4th. Nick Solak of the Indianapolis Indians (Pittsburgh Pirates) made a late season run to catch Crawford’s season batting average of .334, but fell short, finishing at .332 to give Crawford the International League batting championship. Felix Reyes played most of the season at Double-A Reading before joining the IronPigs to play six games, finished with a Double-A average of .335, which was not only the best in the Eastern League, but the best in all of Double-A baseball.

THREE-PEAT … For the third straight season, the IronPigs have taken the Minor League Baseball (MiLB) crown for total attendance. Also, for the second time in three seasons, the Pigs led all 120 MiLB teams not only in total attendance, but in average attendance. In 2025, Lehigh Valley averaged 8.242 fans per game for a season total of 585,167. No other minor league team averaged over 8,000 fans per game this season. Sunday’s attendance was 8,830 to close out the season. In 17 seasons, Lehigh Valley has led MiLB in either overall or average attendance.

THE BEST OF THE PIGS … Thursday night Lehigh Valley beat Syracuse 8-2 for their 86th win of the season, which sets a new franchise record for wins in a season, which they upped to 87 wins with another win in the series. The 2016 team had set the previous mark of 85 wins. In 2018, Lehigh Valley won 84 games and were Division Champions. The team also won 80 or more games in 2011 (80) and 2017 (80). The team won a total of 289 from 2016 to 2018 and reached the playoffs in each of those seasons with the most number of wins in any three-year stretch.