After covering every season of IronPigs baseball, there are certain things that you take note of; it’s the minor league equivalent of tipping pitches. When a Triple-A starter is scratched from his scheduled start at the last minute, something is very likely to be going on. It could be anything from a trade, to a major league injury, or even a migraine!

Saturday, Alan Rangel, who has had a couple cups of major league coffee with the Phillies was scratched from his start about a half-an-hour prior to the game. At that point, media is not allowed in the clubhouse, so that’s not an option. You also know that the Lehigh Valley IronPigs PR staff may or may not – most likely may not – know anything about it either. It’s something that’s on a need-to-know basis. Someone who would be in the loop would of course be Lehigh Valley manager Tank Adamson. The local TV “sideline” reporter caught up to him and asked. To his credit, Adamson gave him a very honest answer, which is refreshing: “You know I can’t tell you that, mate.” (Adamson is Australian.)

As it turned out, there were no trades, no injuries, and not even a migraine. This was a new one. A source confirmed that the Phillies were concerned that Aaron Nola would get knocked out of the game early and wanted to be able to recall Rangel for Sunday if they needed someone to eat some innings in relief. After all, Jesus Luzardo and Andrew Painter had given the Phillies back-to-back duds in terms of starts and the bullpen was putting in overtime.

In case Nola had gotten hurt or not pitched well and given the Phillies a third straight short outing, Rangel would have been called to Philly and added to the roster for Sunday’s game to give them a fresh arm out of the bullpen. Nola only gave the Phillies 4.2 innings, but apparently that was enough and Adamson was given word from Philly that he could go to Rangel, if he so chose to do so.

Rangel warmed up and entered the game in the fifth inning. Whether it was being thrown out of his routine or something else, Rangel threw five innings, but allowed eight hits and three earned runs, but the IronPigs had a healthy lead in the game, so it didn’t matter. He also struck out seven hitters in the game.

The move indicates how little confidence the Phillies have in Nola. There was a time not too long ago when the initial phone call to hold Rangel back from the start would have never been made. Nola was the guy that the Phillies relied on to stop such a trend of rough starts. Now, instead of being part of the solution, he’s part of the problem.

The situation is made even more interesting when you realize that Nola was coming off of his best outing of the season, six shutout innings in Miami. The Phillies knew they had Cristopher Sanchez going on Sunday, and counted on him to provide a longer outing rather than figuring that Nola would pitch well for a second straight game.

To quote John Lennon: “Strange days, indeed.”