After finishing the 2014 season at 66-78, last in the North Division of the International League, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs are looking to move up this season. The team features a number of veteran players, but also has a good mix of young players hoping to find their way to Philadelphia in the not-too-distant future.

As it was last season, the big name is third baseman Mikael Franco, one of the young players who figures to see time in Philadelphia. Franco, a notoriously slow starter, had a tough go of it in camp with the Phillies in Clearwater and was among one of the first cuts that were made.Franco's slow start wasn't the only reason for the demotion, though, since there really isn't room for him to break into the lineup in Philadelphia with former IronPigs third baseman Cody Asche now handling that spot for the Phillies and Ryan Howard at first."I wasn't too surprised," said Franco of being sent back to Lehigh Valley. "I have to work on being better, more consistent. They have good players and I have to win a spot and deserve to be in Philadelphia. For now, I'm happy to be back here."Russ Canzler, a somewhat local product from Berwick, is at Lehigh Valley for his first full season. The Phillies signed him last summer after the Yankees released him, dropping him from the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre roster. While Franco was among the early cuts, Canzler was among the last cuts made by the Phillies."I thought there was a good chance that I would stick with them," said Cranzler, who may miss the first couple games of the season for the birth of his third child. "I kept running through scenarios in my head and trying to figure out what could happen. I never wish for another player to not do well or to get hurt or anything, that's not how you should face these things. So when I looked around, I knew there were other good options that they had, but I also thought I had shown enough offensively to open in Philly."Among other young players on the roster are pitchers Severino Gonzalez, Adam Morgan, Hector Neris and Sean O'Sullivan. Gonzalez had a one-game cameo with the big league club and pitched well in spring training. Morgan, who is coming off shoulder surgery that cost him the entire 2014 season, opened in camp with the Phillies, but expects to be back at Lehigh Valley."I'm feeling great," said Morgan. "I'm not feeling anything at all, and I think that's why I'm here, with a team and playing. If there was any doubt in anybody's mind, I feel like I'd be down there in extended spring training, but I'm doing great."Another player coming off a myriad of injuries, including a rash of concussions, is catcher Tommy Joseph. There were concerns not only about Joseph's ability to continue playing as a catcher, but the number of concussions also raised concerns about continuing his career in baseball. Joseph played just 27 games last season, primarily at double-A Reading, where he hit five home runs, with a .282 average in 21 games. Like Morgan, Joseph is feeling great and just wants 2015 to be a full season for him."I don't have any fears about getting another concussion any more," he said. "When I played winter ball this year and I would take a hard hit or something, I would sort of take a minute to see if I was okay and I'd realize that I was. Now, I'm more confident that I can handle being behind the plate and just want to stay healthy."Throughout the season, there are always additions and subtractions to the roster and all eyes will be watching for additions to the team from Reading.Reading has six of the top eight prospects in the organization, including all five starting pitchers.The other top prospect is center fielder Roman Quinn. Among the pitching prospects are last year's first round pick Aaron Nola and former top prospect Jesse Biddle, who is also coming off of a season full of injuries, including a concussion suffered when he was hit in the head by a large piece of hail during a violent storm in Reading last summer.One major change coming to minor league baseball at both the triple-A and double-A levels this season are pace of the game changes. Pitchers will now have just 20 seconds to throw a pitch from the time they get the ball back from the catcher. Both the pitcher and batter will have to be ready to go on a faster pace than in the past."There's going to be some questions surrounding how it's all going to work," said manager Dave Brundage. "Did the pitcher step off? Was the batter really ready? There will be some bugs to it. I'm sure I'll get ejected a couple times arguing over it, but then we'll get it straightened out and it will all be okay."