2014 Stadium Club #39 Chase Utley

Phillies 9, Braves 2
Spring Training Game 30 - Wednesday Afternoon, April 1st in Clearwater
Record - 12-16-2

One Sentence Summary:  Chase Utley hit two more home runs in a 9-2 win against the Braves.

What It Means:  Utley is locked in and ready for the start of the regular season.

What Happened:  Four of Utley's last five plate appearances have resulted in home runs.  That's pretty good.  Freddy Galvis and Rene Garcia also hit back-to-back home runs for the Phillies in the fourth.  Cole Hamels pitched six strong innings, allowing just one earned run.

Featured Cards:  Stadium Club returned in 2014 after a six year absence, but the set arrived in October after the close of the Phillies season.  This is Utley's card from that set and I continue to relish every opportunity I get to post one of Utley's cards in these game summary posts.  I'm going to enjoy it while I still can.

2014 Choice Lehigh Valley
IronPigs #1

Camp Head Count:  34 - 2 = 32.  Prior to the game, pitcher Phillippe Aumont was outrighted and outfielder Brian Bogusevic was reassigned to minor league camp.  Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez was also outrighted, meaning that both he and Aumont had cleared waivers and are no longer on the team's 40-man roster.  Let me be clear about that last sentence . . . the Phillies put both Aumont and Gonzalez on waivers and none of the other 29 teams wanted either of them.

Without sounding too bitter, Aumont and Gonzalez are two of the franchise's biggest pitching flops of the past few years . . . and that's saying something.