The Philadelphia Phillies farm system consists of seven Minor League Baseball affiliates across the United States and in the Dominican Republic.
[2] Their newest affiliate is the Lehigh Valley IronPigs of the International League, which became the Phillies' Triple-A club in 2008.
[2] Geographically, the Phillies' closest domestic affiliate is the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, which play at Coca-Cola Park in Allentown, Pennsylvania, approximately 58 miles (93 km) north-northwest of Philadelphia.
[4] Prior to the 1963 season, Major League Baseball (MLB) initiated a reorganization of Minor League Baseball that resulted in a reduction from six classes to four (Triple-A, Double-A, Class A, and Rookie) in response to the general decline of the minors throughout the 1950s and early-1960s when leagues and teams folded due to shrinking attendance caused by baseball fans' preference for staying at home to watch MLB games on television.
[4] The current structure of Minor League Baseball is the result of an overall contraction of the system beginning with the 2021 season.