It was a tale of two seasons for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs and Reading Fightins, the Philadelphia Phillies top two minor league affiliates.
The IronPigs won their first four games, six of their first seven despite missing four prominent position players because of injury or suspension.
They finished 67-81 overall and near the bottom in many team statistical categories in the 20-team Triple-A International League.
The Fightins started slowly and lost prominent position players for much of the summer due to injury, but rebounded with a 40-28 second half and a 4-0 playoff record to capture their first Double-A Eastern League championship in 31 years.
Reading swept best-of-3 playoff series over Richmond and Erie to win the organization’s fourth title (1995, 1973, 1968) and had a shot at the 2001 championship but 9/11 halted the postseason.
Lehigh Valley has never won an International League title since its inception in 2008.
Here are the highs and lows from this season for the IronPigs and Fightins:
High: Pitcher Brian Keller made his major league debut for the Phillies 10 years after being a 39th-round draft pick of the Yankees and suffering three major arm injuries that cost him most of the last three seasons. He allowed one run in three innings of a July 25 game against the Yankees:
Low: The IronPigs pitching staff finished 18th (of 20) in ERA and strikeouts, 17th in holds. Its defense was 15th in fielding percentage. Its offense was 17th in batting average, 16th in stolen bases, 14th in runs, 13th in home runs and 12th in doubles.
High: Fans flocked to the last season of Coca-Cola Park. It will become Jefferson Park starting in 2027. The IronPigs led all of Minor League baseball with an average attendance of 7,772 fans per home date in 2026. It is the 10th time the franchise led MiLB in either overall or average attendance in the 18 season on the field. Lehigh Valley is the first franchise to lead MiLB in attendance for four consecutive seasons. The IronPigs also were the most attended team this season across MiLB for home and road games combined (961,416).
Low: Top position prospect Aidan Miller’s back cost him all but eight games to end the season. The spring training setback kept the 22-year-old rehabbing in Clearwater for almost all of 2026. He contributed to Reading’s playoff run with a 4 for 14 mark at the plate with three runs, three RBIs and six walks. Miller was expected to start the season in Triple-A, where he finished the last week in 2025.
High: Pitcher Kirby Snead, a 10th-round pick of the Mariners in 2016 who spent parts of the 2021-24 seasons in the majors, rebounded from spending all of 2025 in independent ball with a stellar Triple-A season out of the IronPigs bullpen. He was 6-3 with three saves and a 2.76 ERA in 34 outings.
Low: Keaton Anthony (foot), Gabriel Rincones (knee), Miller (back), Johan Rojas (suspension) missed significant time to start the season. Rincones eventually made his MLB debut and played in 29 games with the Phillies. Anthony slashed .282/.363/.458 in 78 games with the IronPigs. Rojas suffered an injury during his rehab and never played in a game this season.
High: Several Phillies prospects had solid seasons in Double-A. Bryan Rincon, the Phillies’ 2022 14th-round pick out of Shaler High School in the Pittsburgh area, was named the organization’s Paul Owens Award winner as the top minor league position player after slashing .267/.410/.517 with 24 doubles, two triples, 26 home runs, 30 stolen bases and 67 RBIs for Reading. He also scored 92 runs and walked 95 times.
Top prospect and 2025 first-round pick Gage Wood had a 4.72 ERA and 1.30 WHIP in 17 starts with the Fightins.
Second baseman Aroon Escobar, 21, had 31 extra-base hits, drove in 69 runs, stole 27 bases and walked 67 times while playing stellar defense for Reading.
Outfielder Dante Nori, 21, spent a chunk of time in the summer on the injured list but showed flashes of his skill set late in the year and the postseason. He had three hits and scored three times in the EL championship clincher against Erie.
Infielder Carson DeMartini was 5 for 10 in the playoffs with eight runs, five walks and drove in five runs in Tuesday’s championship series finale.
Wen-Hui Pan pitched to a 3.52 ERA in 23 games with Reading after missing all of last season because of injury.
Mavis Graves made a successful midseason transition from starting pitcher to reliever. The 22-year-old lefty was 1-7 with a 4.78 ERA in 16 starts to begin 2026 for high-A Jersey Shore. After being promoted to Reading and moved to the bullpen, the Phillies’ 2022 sixth-round pick allowed two runs on four walks and a hit in two innings of his first relief outing. He followed that up with a 0.00 ERA in 16 appearances with a 3-0 record with one save, .123 batting average against, .164 slugging average against and 33 strikeouts in 21 1/3 innings.
Low: The IronPigs won only eight of their final 27 games and were shut out four times in that stretch.
High: Lehigh Valley bench coach Tank Adamson took over as manager when Anthony Contreras was promoted to be the Phillies’ third base coach after the Phillies shook up their staff including the firing of Rob Thomson on April 28 after a 9-19 start. Adamson, a likeable and entertaining Australian, is under contract for 2027.
High: Many of Reading’s bright spots should find their way to Triple-A next season, giving MiLB’s top fan base plenty to watch.
High: Lou Trivino became a father for the second time and proved he can still pitch at age 34. After a couple MLB hiccups, he had a 3-1 record with eight saves and a 2.64 ERA in 37 games with Lehigh Valley.
High: Alex McFarlane was called up by the Phillies from Double-A early in the year but didn’t pitch in the one game he was there. He went back to Reading, then Lehigh Valley. He now is a back-end bullpen guy for Philadelphia, which is fighting for National League wild-card position. The organization’s Paul Owens Award winner as the top minor league pitcher is 4-1 with a 2.12 ERA in 17 MLB games through Tuesday.
High: Veteran outfielder Bryan De La Cruz is slashing .303/.351/.439 in 30 games with the Phillies. After a less-than-stellar start with the IronPigs, he batted .391 in his final 13 Triple-A games before his call-up. He has stayed since.
Senior writer Tom Housenick can be reached at thousenick@mcall.com