Minor league baseball: Reading Fightin Phils returning to playoffs

The Reading Fightin Phils have clinched their first postseason berth since 2019 with an 11-10 win over the Erie SeaWolves on Thursday night.

Tied 6-6 going into the bottom of the sixth inning, an RBI single to right field from OF Dante Nori and a two-run RBI double from Aidan Miller gave the Fightins a 9-6 lead, one they'd hold on to despite a three-run ninth inning from the SeaWolves.

Reliever Evan Gates earned the win, while Daniel Harper got the save, ending the game on a 4-6-3 double play to break the playoff drought in Baseballtown and earn the Eastern League Northeast second-half championship.

"Definitely it's been fun. We're very happy that right now we're having a good, strong second half, and fans are really enjoying it," manager Al Pedrique said. "The fans of Reading deserve that, and we're hoping that we continue playing well and give them good baseball."

The Fightin Phils, the Philllies Double-A affiliate, will open their first postseason series on Tuesday against the Hartford Yard Goats, Double-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies , at FirstEnergy Stadium in a three-game series, while their regular season will conclude Sunday against the SeaWolves.

The Yard Goats won the first-half championship with a record of 39-29 but slowed down in the later summer months with a 26-40 record.

Similarly, it's been a tale of two halves for Reading (68-66), as they finished 30-39, 9.5 games behind first place in the Eastern League Division with a -14 run differential in the first half of the season, which spanned from April 2 to June 26.

Since their last playoff bid, the Fightin Phils have struggled in the first halves of seasons, which ultimately bleeds into the rest of the season, but in 2026, that was different.

"I think we learned a lot from our mistakes that we made in the first half," Pedrique said. "I'm very happy that a lot of these guys made some adjustments for what they did in the first half, and I think it's showing the second half as a team we're playing real well."

"Individually, they know what the job is, and that's the one thing they have learned throughout the season that we need to approach it one day at a time and go from there."

That statement holds true, as a switch was flipped in the second half. The Fightins hold a 38-27 record, a +25 run differential and a 23-15 record against .500 or better ballclubs.

It's no secret that Reading has had talent over the course of their playoff drought, with players such as former Eastern League MVP OF Felix Reyes, OF Otto Kemp , OF Johan Rojas and P Mick Abel .

But in 2026, they were able to put it all together, with a lot of exciting young talent that many see contributing in Philadelphia for years to come.

Highlighting this year's group is Phillies No. 1 prospect pitcher Gage Wood, recently No. 2 SS Aidan Miller, No. 5 SS Bryan Rincon, No. 6 2B Aroon Escobar and No. 7 OF Dante Nori.

Wood, MLB's No. 33 overall prospect, was called up from Clearwater in mid-May, and the 2025 first-round selection has played as advertised, racking up 99 strikeouts in 68.2 innings pitched. He'll likely be the Game 1 starter come Tuesday.

Miller, MLB's No. 61 overall prospect, returned from a season-long back injury on Tuesday. Many people, including himself, did not think he'd have a chance to return in 2026, but he has immediately contributed to the ballclub. Miller spent 108 games in Reading last season.

"Just playing to win and having something in line is so fun. That's what we're all here to do. " Miller said prior to his Reading debut on Tuesday. "Eventually, get up to Philadelphia and play for a World Series, so the fact that we're playing baseball for something, it's bigger than all of ourselves. It's going to be really fun."

Another exciting prospect that fans should become familiar with is SS Bryan Rincon.

The 22-year-old has blasted 24 homers, driven in 62 runs, stolen 29 bases and leads the ballclub with a .906 OPS.

The spark of youth, which is consistent for almost all teams in the minor leagues, just has a different fire to it this year for the Fightins.

Pedrique, in his fourth season in Reading, gave credit to the young ballclub for changing their fortunes around.

"Since the season started, we've had good chemistry in the clubhouse. We got a bunch of good guys that play together well. They play hard. They compete, and that's what they've done the whole year … They know the way we're going to approach this is one pitch at a time and one game at a time."

Leading the team in home runs (26) and RBIs (78) is first baseman Alex Binelas, who was recently called up to Lehigh Valley to begin the month of September. But RF Raylin Heredia has put up similar numbers in a breakout season for the 22-year-old.

In his first season in Reading, Heredia, a Dominican Republic native, has 23 homers, 74 RBIs, 22 doubles and a .280 BA.

In the Fightin Phils' past three postseason appearances, they fell in the first round in 2019 and 2016 but did reach the league championship in 2015.

The 2026 ballclub is eager to make some noise come Tuesday against the Hartford Yard Goats, who they've split four series with at a record of 12-12. After the first game in Reading, they'll travel to Connecticut to play the final two games of the series on Thursday and Friday, Sept. 17 and 18.