The Phillies didn’t worry too much when starting pitcher Taijuan Walker went down with an injury. First, the injury was little more than a blister on a finger that prevented him from throwing his breaking pitch effectively and second, Spencer Turnbull, who had taken Walker’s place in the rotation earlier in the season could step into the starting rotation once again and all would be good. Instead of recalling a starter from Lehigh Valley, the Phillies recalled Michael Mercado, who would be making his major league debut, and planned on using him out of the bullpen.

Then, in his first start back in the rotation, Turnbull went down with an injury that is going to keep him out for an extended period. Some figured that even though his numbers with Lehigh Valley were not impressive, top prospect Mick Abel would be recalled and would make his MLB debut. Instead, the Phillies recalled reliever Yunior Marte, who had himself just come off the IL and been optioned to Lehigh Valley. The plan appears to be to put Mercado into the rotation where he was with the IronPigs.

The Phillies won’t say it out loud, but there is some concern about Abel. The Phillies have worked with him and have not seen results. The lowest that Abel’s ERA has been all season is 5.40, which is where it was after his first start of the season and after watching it climb, Abel worked to get it back down to that mark after he allowed three earned runs in six innings against Norfolk in mid-May. Each month, Abel’s numbers have taken a backward step with his ERA going from 5.60 in the month of April to 6.75 for May and ballooning to 8.00 for the month of June.

In a time where the Phillies were not contenders, they may have given Abel a shot to see if the challenge would have kick started him. Now, there is too much on the line to elevate the 22-year-old. Is the opposite true? Would the Phillies demote Abel to Double-A Reading in an attempt to get him back on track? That’s not likely either. Young pitchers can have fragile egos and a demotion could have the opposite effect and add more pressure to the lefty.

Meanwhile, Mercado will make his major league debut as a starter against the Cubs at historic Wrigley Field. Mercado made his official debut last Monday when he threw a perfect inning against the Tigers in Detroit. Impress your friends with Michael Mercado trivia years from now by remembering that his first strikeout victim was catcher Carson Kelly.

THERE HE IS… The real Weston Wilson has shown up lately for Lehigh Valley. Wilson, who set a franchise record for home runs in a season last year with the Pigs, was hitting .199 as recently as late May. June was good for the 29-year-old utility man as he hit .377 with 10 home runs and 20 RBI, which upped his numbers to a more Wilson-like 16-51-.243 on the season. The final week of the month was especially good for Wilson who helped lead the IronPigs to a series win over the Durham Bulls. Wilson played in all six games during the series, going 10-for-24, slashing .417/.500/.917 for a 1.417 OPS. He launched four home runs and drove in six runs, and scoring 10 times. Wilson also walked four times and stole three bases. Wilson is the first IronPigs player to win the weekly award since Jake Cave was honored for his performance during the week of May 22-28, 2023.

ALUMNI UPDATE… Righty Hans Crouse had an ill-fated tenure with the IronPigs thanks to injuries. He became a minor league free agent following the 2023 season and signed a minor league contract with the Angels. That deal was turned into a major league deal when the Angels selected his contract and brought him to the majors. In his four relief appearances, Crouse has thrown five innings without allowing a hit while giving up two walks and striking out seven. Crouse credits his resurgence to a different approach, claiming that he now has the attitude of “just throw the ball over the plate as many times as you can and see what happens,” he told The Orange County Register.

SCHEDULE QUIRK, NUMBER 527… The International League has a rule that every team must be home on either July 3rd or 4th. They also have a rule that Mondays are a day off. That means that teams had to either play on Monday July 1st or do some sort of double-header on the second or third to get their three games in before everyone travels around. Of the 20 teams in the IL, 16 of them played on Monday while four – including the IronPigs – kept their day off. The IronPigs and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre will do a day/night double-header on Wednesday before going up the Turnpike for three in Scranton. Then, there’s Gwinnett and St. Paul. The two teams were off Monday and will play a regular schedule going Tuesday through Sunday with all of the games in St. Paul. Because of either playing on Monday or doing a double-header, every other team in the league will be off on Sunday.