First baseman goes 4-for-4, slashes walk-off at Triple-A
ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Caleb Ricketts picked the right day to have the game of his life.
After walking into the batter’s box to lead off the bottom of the ninth already 3-for-3 on the day with a home run for Triple-A Lehigh Valley, Ricketts only needed two pitches to break the tie. The 25-year-old pulled an 86.9 mph cutter off Durham pitcher Cam Hill for a solo shot, the dagger in an 8-7 win for the IronPigs on Tuesday night.
“I’m glad I was able to help us win tonight,” Ricketts said. “We had a good team effort, glad it turned out that way.”
Ricketts has slowly but surely been finding his stride since being assigned to the IronPigs ahead of the 2026 season. The prospect has collected eight hits in the last four games, boosting his batting average from .189 to .254 on the year. Tuesday’s performance put the exclamation point on the hot streak, as he homered and doubled twice and drove in three runs from the nine-hole to put the offense on his back.
“Showing up and doing the same work I do every day, no matter the results at night,” said Ricketts, who endured an 0-for-13 drought prior to the four-game stretch. “Just trust in the work I put in earlier in the day to yield some good results come game time.”
Down 3-2 to lead off the third inning, Ricketts made the most of his first opportunity at the dish. After going down 1-2, he worked a full count and located a slider in the bottom inside corner of the zone, launching a 404-foot rocket over the right field wall to tie the game.
“Just looking for a good pitch over the plate,” Ricketts said. “Looking for a fastball at least timing wise, just getting ready to hit, and then I ended up being able to put the barrel to slider.”
Leading off again in the fifth — this time down 6-4 — Ricketts got on base with a right-field double off a changeup down the pipe. He would be driven in by a single from Steward Berroa shortly after, cutting the Bulls’ lead to one.
Another six-pitch at-bat in the seventh resulted in Ricketts’ second double of the contest, this time going opposite field to score Carter Kieboom, who reached on a leadoff walk. Sergio Alcántara followed suit with a single to drive in Ricketts, knotting the game at seven apiece and later setting up Rickett’s walk-off homer.
“It was the same the whole night,” Ricketts said about his approach at the plate in high-leverage situations. “Getting on time, getting a good pitch to hit over the heart of the plate, no matter what it was, and trying to drive the ball to a big part of the field.”
Ricketts was drafted by the Phillies in the seventh round of the 2022 MLB draft after playing four years of college ball at the University of California San Diego, where he split defensive reps between the outfield, catcher and first base. He spent the past three years bouncing around the Phillies’ minor league system, but earned consistent time at catcher for Double-A Reading across 2024 and 2025, accumulating a .236 batting average in 133 games for the Fightin Phils.
Ricketts has found equal opportunities both behind the plate and at first, making seven starts at each position thus far in 2026.
“I played there back in the day in college, so it’s fairly comfortable for me,” said Ricketts, who got the start at first base on Tuesday. “It’s been good to be able to get over there and get some reps there, as well as catching.”
Ricketts will continue to make adjustments as the year goes on, but for now, he’s loved every second of his first month with the IronPigs.
“It’s a really fun team, great group of guys, great facility,” he said “It’s been great support.”