By: Brandon Apter, contributor 
The Phillies minor league teams will be as popular as ever this season with a wealth of talent at each level. Philadelphia made a variety of trades to stock up their farm over the last couple of years and some of the prospects are bound to make a difference on the big league club in due time. Five out of the top 10 prospects and 14 of the top 30 in the Phils organization are from trades made within the past year, so there's a handful of new players for fans to see at each level. The main focus of the teams' trades was pitching. Reliable starting pitching is tough to find these days, so the Phils bulked up their pitching depth in the form of guys like Jake Thompson, Zach Eflin, Mark Appel and Vince Velasquez. Phillies fans in the Lehigh Valley area will get to see their fair share of pitching prospects this season, with Thompson and Appel both joining Triple-A. The Ironpigs released their rotation to open the season and it looks like a good one.
ICYMI: @IronPigs rotation: Thursday, Jake Thompson; Friday, Adam Morgan; Saturday, Zach Eflin; Sunday, Mark Appel, Monday, David Buchanan
— Tom Housenick (@TomHousenick) April 5, 2016
Obviously, there is a lot of top talent in this rotation, with three of the five ranked within the organization's top 10 prospects, according to MLB Pipeline.
Thompson, 22, comes into the 2016 season as the Phillies third ranked prospect after posting impressive numbers over seven starts with Double-A Reading last season. He went 5-1 with a 1.80 ERA, holding opposing hitters to a .217 average in 45 innings of work.
Adam Morgan will start the second game of the season for the Ironpigs after a strong spring training showing for the Phillies. Morgan allowed just two runs over nine innings this spring and went 5-7 with a 4.48 ERA last season with the Phillies. Despite his spring success, Philadelphia went with Vince Velasquez over Morgan as their fifth starter.
Zach Eflin, ranked as the teams' ninth overall prospect, went 8-6 with a 3.69 ERA last season with Double-A and showed some signs of potential during minor league spring training. Although he got roughed up in the first Futures Series matchup, Eflin has a really nice changeup and controls the pace of the game. If he makes strides with Triple-A in 2016, he could see some big league time in September.
Former first round pick Mark Appel, now the Phillies second best prospect, will get the nod as the Ironpigs fourth starter in the rotation. In 25 minor league starts, Appel is 10-3 with a 4.37 ERA and hasn't really lived up to his potential as a top-end starter. He has a good package of pitches, including a fastball that reaches 98mph, so a change of scenery could be what gets him back on track.
The final starter in the 'Pigs rotation will be David Buchanan. For a while, it seemed like Buchanan would be in the big league rotation, but since filling in for the injured Cliff Lee in 2014, he's regressed significantly. After going 6-8 with a 3.69 ERA in 2014, Buchanan went 2-9 with a 6.99 ERA in 15 starts for the Phillies last season. He has found success at the Triple-A level though. In 10 starts for the Ironpigs last season, he went 4-2 with a 2.80 ERA.
In other news, the Ironpigs have already made their first transaction of the season. RHP Ernesto Frieri has been released and RHP Reinier Roibal has been promoted from Double-A Reading, per Matt Provence of the Ironpigs.
