The inaugural season of the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs could not have gotten off to any worse of a  start, with the Pigs losing their entire initial roadtrip, ending it at 0-8.  Currently, the Pigs are in last place, already six full games out of first place in the Northern Division of the International league.  Upcoming this weekend is their home opener against the RIchmond Braves. There are very few Pigs among the league leaders however, Brandon Watson is 2nd in the league in hits (11), and Brian Mazone is second in the league in innings(13) and 4th in the league in strikeouts (12).

40 Man Roster Review–Each week I will update the statistics of the Iron Pigs currently on the Phillies 40 man roster.  Jason Jaramillo(C), is hitting .136, with 2 homers and 2 RBI’s.  TJ Bohn (OF), is also hitting .136, with no runs, homers, RBI’s or stolen bases.  JA Happ (P) is 0-2 with a 6.23 ERA, and has given up 6 walks while striking out 12 in his 8.2 innings.  Relief Pitcher Joe Bisenius has thrown 4 innings with a 2.25 ERA and has walked 3 and struck out 4.

Week in Review–The bright side of last Friday evening saw the Pigs score their first run in franchise history, a homer by 1B Andy Tracy. Unfortunately, that was all the Phils could muster, losing again to Scranton 2-1.   The offense struggled mightily with only four hits, however the games turning point was a passed ball by catcher Jason Jaramillo in the eighth inning which allowed the winning run to score. Scranton native Ron Chiavacci started and pitched well for Lehigh Valley going six innings and giving up only a run on six hits, while striking out four.  Vic Darensberg (0-1) took the loss in relief. The struggles with all facets of the game continued on Saturday during a 7-2 loss to Scranton which dropped the Pigs to 0-3. The Iron Pigs jumped out to an early 2-0 lead on a Chris Woodward double, however, Scranton came storming back taking a 5-2 lead after the 5th on their way to their third consecutive victory.  Chris Woodward had 2 costly errors and while he did pitch seven innings, Brian Mazone(0-1) gave up 5 runs on six hits during his mediocre outing. Through their 3rd game no iron Pig has had a multi hit game, or a stolen base. On Sunday, the Yankees completed their 4 game sweep of the Iron Pigs 3-2.  JD Durbin (0-1) couldnt get through the fourth inning, giving up 3 runs on 6 hits, while throwing 75 pitches. A two run single in the 8th inning by Mike Cervenek made the game close, however the Pigs were unable to complete the comeback.  Val Pascucci was 3-4 with a run and a double, and Brandon Watson was 2-4 for the Pigs.  The Pigs move on to Pawtucket in an attempt to gain their first victory.

The Pigs losing streak reached five games on Monday night with yet another loss, this time to Pawtucket 9-3.  The Pigs jumped to an early lead on a two run homer by Brennan King, however the bullpen imploded in the 6th and 7th innings leading to the trouncing, this time by the Red Sox.  Travis Blackley (0-1) started and went 5 innings, giving up 4 runs on 4 hits.  He walked one and struck out nine. Both Jason Anderson and John Ennis struggled mightily out of the bullpen leading to much of the destruction.  Chris Snelling and Brandon Watson enjoyed multi hit games, while Jason Jaramillo hit his first homer of the year. The losing streak continued on Tuesday afternoon with the Pigs losing their sixth in a row, and second straight against Pawtucket, 4-1. The Sox jumped to an early 2-0 lead and the Iron Pigs were unable to recover despite the first homer of the year by Casey Smith, who had 2 hits on the day.  J.A. Happ (0-2) was again, far from effective, going just 4.2 innings and giving up three runs on six hits.  He had control problems walking five, however, struck out eight.  Just 57 of the 105 pitches thrown by Happ were strikes. The seventh game of the season looked much like the first six, with another loss, the Pigs seventh straight, 2-0 to Pawtucket.  Wasted was a fine pitching performance by Ron Chiavacci who went 5.1 shutout innings, giving up four hits, while walking two and striking out three.  The offense was almost completely non existant, leaving another 13 runners on base and Vic Darensberg (0-2) gave up two runs in the eighth inning to take the loss.  After their eighth consecutive loss Thursday afternoon, 5-2, to Pawtucket, there is speculation that the Iron Pigs may actually go 0-144.  The offensive remained virtually non-existant, with Jason jaramillo’s second homer the only noteworthy accomplishment.  Brian Mazone (0-2) was adequate at best, giving up four runs over six innings of work.  His control was excellent, not walking a batter, while striking out ten.

Pulled Pork:– 18 of the 24 players on the opening day roster have major league experience.

–Of the 1000 people who were in the stands for the dreary game last Friday against Scranton, 45 were friends and family of Ron CHiavacci, a native of Scranton.

–The front office of the Pigs made the decision to travel to and from Scranton after each of the four games during last weekends series, possibly contributing to the lethargic play to start the season.  The players clearly deserve better.

—The combination of Casey Smith, Chris Snelling, Val Pascucci, and Jason Jaramillo were 0 for 33 in their first three games.

—The Iron Pigs as a team hit .148 against the Yankees.

—Boston Red Sox reliever Mike Timlin started the game against the Iron Pigs on Monday, going one inning and not giving up a run.

—In Monday’s loss against Pawtucket, the Pigs left 18 men on base, including seven by Val Pascucci.

—Brandon Watson hit safely in the first six games of the season.

—The first stolen base in franchise history went to Casey Smith.

—On the bright side…..it took Ottawa 27 games to hit their first homer last year, and this years Iron Pigs already have 5.

—The Iron Pigs are batting a horrific .093(4-43) with runners in scoring position.

—There are only two Iron Pigs hitting over .200 (Brandon Watson and Mike Cervenek)

—The Pigs have gotten literally no production out of their cleanup slot, with that lineup positon hitting well under .200 with zero RBI’s.

—The Phillies have signed veteran relief pitcher Steve Kline, a situational lefty to a minor league contract.  The Phillies website reports that Kline should join the Iron Pigs in about a week.