A new manager, a new starting rotation and a new urinal game are the 2013 features in Allentown as the IronPigs opened the 2013 season, with a fairly miserable week during which they went 2-4 and played very sloppy baseball.  Lehigh Valley stands at 2-4 after Week One, three games behind division leading Pawtucket.  They conclude their first home stand of the season tonight against Pawtucket and then hit the road for 8 games against Syracuse and Pawtucket.

‘Pigs Leaders-Hitting–Cesar Hernandez is 5th in AB’s (25),7th in OBP (.500); 4th in avg (.462);  leads the league in hits (12) , is tied for 4th in doubles (3) Darin Ruf is 6th in AB’s (25), is tied for 4th in doubles (4); Cody Asche 7th in strikeouts (7); Leandro Castro is tied for 4th in SB’s (2).

Pitching–Jon Pettibone is tied for 2nd worst ERA (10.13); Tyler CLoyd is tied for 2nd worst ERA (10.13), 2nd in HR allowed (3), 6th in strikeouts (10) and has the worst WHIP (2.25); Joe Savery is 4th in WHIP (0.43).

‘Pigs Prospects–With a number of legitimate major league prospects on the team, we alternate looking at a group every other week.  This week:

Tommy Joseph–Had a very rough week behind the plate defensively and wasn’t much better with the bat, absent one good game.  Joseph had 6 passed balls, 2 errors and several throws that were nowhere near the geography of second base.  With the stick, Joseph hit .200 with a HR and 5 RBI’s in his 20 AB’s, striking out in 7 of his 21 plate appearances (33%).

Cody Asche–Rough Beginnings for Asche as well who hit .174 in his 23 AB’s this week, striking out in 9 of his 26 plate appearances (35%). He did hit his first HR and the year and had 5 RBI’s.  His defense was solid in the 4 games that I watched.

Tyson Gillies–An awful start for Gillies who is hitting .043 after his first 21 AB’s.  He has struggled to get the ball out of the infield and his use as the proposed catalyst on the Lehigh Valley offense has been lost as a result.  Defensively, Gillies covers a ton of ground and has done a good job.

Adam Morgan–Had a very good first start of the season, throwing seven good innings and getting the win.  ALot to be excited about with Morgan who showed poise beyond his years, along with very good stuff.

Ethan Martin–Struggled through his first start of the year giving up 4 runs, in 4.1 innings and walking 4.  The base on balls had been what traditionally has haunted Martin, so this is worth paying attention to.

Mike Stutes–Made three appearances and gave up 1 run in four innings of work, walking four (2 in one game) and striking out five.  I would think with a solid April and early May, Stutes may end up quickly back in Philadelphia with the big clubs middle relief issues.

Jake Diekman–Was wildly inconsistent in his 3 outings.  His struggles with his control which has gotten him in trouble.  3 hits and 4 walks in his 3 innings of work will need to improve drastically.

Next update will look at Hernandez, Ruf, Castro, Pettibone, DeFratus, CLoyd, along with anyone else who is playing themself on the Phils radar screen.

Transactions–There were no transactions this week.