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MLB The Triple-A Iron Pigs celebrated Zack Wheeler's rehab start with a quirky promotion. Charlotte Varnes / The Athletic ALLENTOWN, Pa. — On a night when Phillies ace Zack Wheeler took center stage in Lehigh Valley, a barbecue sauce-soaked mascot tried to steal the show. Wheeler, who had a rib removed during thoracic outlet decompression surgery in September, exited his first rehab outing to a standing ovation on Saturday. The mascot race began soon after he entered the dugout following the third inning — much earlier than the Triple-A Iron Pigs would normally hold it. Advertisement The five pork-themed mascots took off, with Ribbie — an anthropomorphic set of barbecue ribs that has participated in the race since 2018 — in the lead. He ran past the dugout, still leading, when a man wielding a giant (fake) knife appeared, pretended to stab Ribbie, then dragged him away. It was silly. It was theatrical. It was a welcome distraction from the frigid weather. It was minor-league baseball at its best, as the Iron Pigs celebrated a rehab start the only way they know how: with a quirky promotional deal, which also included an all-you-can-eat ribs buffet at the Tiki Terrace in left field, all developed in the span of a few days. Welcome to Rehab Ribs Night, everyone. “That’s what’s great about minor-league baseball, ” Iron Pigs general manager Kurt Landes said, “is there’s less bureaucracy, less red tape. If we have a fun, goofy, quirky idea, we can have it up and running in a couple of hours. … I mean, our mascot’s an iron pig. You can’t take yourselves too seriously. ” The Iron Pigs, like any minor-league team, love a fun promotion. They typically have the calendar set months in advance, knowing what they will work on throughout the season. But in making Rehab Ribs Night come to life, the Iron Pigs did not have weeks. They had a few days, and those few days fell ahead of Opening Day, one of the busiest days on the baseball calendar. The Iron Pigs, however, saw a marketing opportunity to pair alongside one of the biggest rehab starts in Allentown in recent years. They were going to make it work. “In the moment, I was like, ‘We’ve got to do this quick, ’” Ryan Hines, Lehigh Valley’s senior director of group sales, said. “‘Is it worth it? Can we do it? Do we have enough time? ’ But that’s what minor-league baseball is all about. It’s being fun and quirky, and we have the ability to do stuff on the fly. ” It all began with an X post from The Athletic’s Matt Gelb on Monday afternoon. Just putting this out there for @Iron Pigs: Free Spare Rib Night? — Matt Gelb (@Matt Gelb) March 23, 2026 Owen Lapp, the Iron Pigs’ digital media manager, saw Gelb’s post. He posed the question to others in the front office: What if they actually did it? Advertisement Everyone knew it would be a challenge. The food and beverage team had already set a taco menu for the Tiki Terrace. But Hines pushed to make rib night a reality with the help of others across the front office. The Iron Pigs’ food and beverage team operates in-house — an unusual situation in a sport where teams often rely on big vendors like Aramark and Levy. This allowed the Iron Pigs to change the menu when Hines asked only a few days before the game. Matt Bari, the Iron Pigs’ vice president of marketing, sent emails to their marketing base. The ticketing department figured out a price point for the buffet. Merchandise director Mike Luciano worked with Hines to do a special on Ribbie plush dolls in the team store. And Lapp promoted the event and Wheeler’s rehab start by posting memes on the Iron Pigs’ X account. Don't miss the BBQ ribs buffet on Saturday: https: //t. co/LP1Kna PNQb pic. twitter. com/3q BBq99PNO — Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs (@Iron Pigs) March 27, 2026 There was no grand brainstorming session. No big meeting. Once word spread, the front office acted. This kind of collaboration is in their blood, Hines said. It’s why, as soon as he asked Landes about making it happen, he said ‘yes’ right away. “Our team has done funeral giveaways, ” Landes said. “Our team has done urinal video games. We’ve put the dead version of ourselves on a cap, and it led minor-league baseball in sales — the dead version of ourselves being bacon. Who else takes your mascot, turns it into the dead food processed version, and has success with it like we did? ” The link for tickets to the ribs buffet went live on Wednesday afternoon, giving fans about 72 hours to buy them before the game. Zero tickets had been sold to the Tiki Terrace, a premium seating area, prior to the promotion. The Iron Pigs sold 50, the maximum amount, within a few days of announcing the deal — part of the 2, 500 tickets they sold (6, 500 total two hours before first pitch) in the week after the Phillies announced Wheeler’s rehab start. Advertisement Setting up a new promotion during Opening Week was not easy. Still, it was an opportune time, the Lehigh Valley front office felt. USA Today had named Coca-Cola Park America’s top minor-league ballpark earlier in the week. There could be plenty of people learning about the Iron Pigs for the first time, whether through that list or seeing social media posts about the ribs special. It might not yield returns right away, Landes thought at the time, especially with the low temperatures. “But they’ve heard about the Iron Pigs, ” he said. “They’ve heard about us before with our goofy promotions on (sports radio) WIP or wherever else, and they think to themselves, ‘I’ve got to get to that place. ’ On top of that, they’ve also heard within the same 24 hours (that) this is the No. 1 ballpark in minor-league baseball. So, you’re giving people reasons to come out — even if they’re not a baseball fan, this is a fun place. ” Fans in the Tiki Terrace were treated to Ribbie bobbleheads, 90 pounds of ribs, lots of comfort food, heating towers and a perfect view of Wheeler warming in the bullpen below them. Those on the concourse could buy discounted Ribbie plushies at the team store and take in the spectacle of the mascot race. Wheeler, who was asked about the promotion, joked that it made his bone hurt and “it’s not even there, ” as he, of course, had the removed rib preserved before storing it in his closet. “Whatever can help these guys out, ” Wheeler said. Seemingly a good time was had by all Saturday. Wheeler pitched well. Fans dug into ribs as they watched him. Perhaps the only loser was Ribbie himself, stabbed with a cartoonishly large knife, dragged to the side and forced to abandon his beloved race. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle Charlotte Varnes is a staff writer covering the Philadelphia Phillies for The Athletic. She previously covered sports for Indy Star and the A’s final season in Oakland as an intern at the San Francisco Chronicle. She grew up on Florida’s Space Coast and graduated from Northwestern University. Follow Charlotte on Twitter @charlottevarnes