The Phillies Room: February 2021

Sunday, February 28, 2021

2021 Phillies Want List

2021 Topps 1951 Topps
Major League All-Stars
Box Topper #51BT-19

As my collecting habits continue to evolve, I'm keeping this want list here as a reminder of which cards I'd eventually like to add to my collection. Gone are the days when I sought out every Phillies base card, insert, autograph and relic, and now I'm more focused on just the base cards and those Phillies inserts that I find interesting. (Blue means I've ordered the card and it's on its way.)

Bowman Heritage (February 2022)

Main Set - 7 Realmuto, 19 Bohm, 22 Harper, 132 Abel, 156 Rojas

Donruss

The Rookies - 7 Bohm/999

Topps Series 1

Base Variations - 244 S. Howard SP, 250 Harper SP, 250 Harper SSP, 277 Bohm SP, 277 Bohm SSP

1986 Topps Baseball Autographs - Specifically 86A-JKR Kruk, 86A-SR Rolen

1986 Topps Chrome Baseball Silver Pack Promo - 86BC-68 Bohm

Home Run Challenge - HRC-21 Harper

Topps Series 2
Base Variations - 431 McCutchen, 510 Medina, 537 Nola, 611 Realmuto, 622 Marchan

1986 Topps Chrome Baseball Silver Pack Promo - 86TC-36 Moniak, 86TC-51 Bohm, 86TC-68 Nola, 86TC-75 Schmidt, 86TC-86 McCutchen

DH Debuts - DHD-6 McCutchen

Platinum Players Die-Cuts - PDC-29 Schmidt, PDC-31 Harper, PDC-38 Carlton

Topps Archives

1989 Topps Big Minis - TBM-30 Harper, TBM-35 Bohm

1994 Topps Draft Picks - 94DP-3 Bohm, 94DP-13 Howard

Fan Favorite Autographs - FFA-GL Luzinski, FFA-JK Kruk

Topps 206

Main Set (All 10 Waves) - Abreu, R. Howard

Topps Allen & Ginter

Main Set - 306 Kruk

Boxloaders - BLC-3 Harper, BLC-11 Bohm

Topps Heritage

Base Variations - 11 Bohm (Action), 13 Harper (Action)

Baseball Posters - BPB-BH Harper

Venezuela Stamps - 14 Bohm, 21 Harper

Topps Heritage High Numbers

Venezuela Stamps - 45 McCutchen

Topps National Baseball Card Day

Stadium Giveaway - PHI-1 Nola, PHI-2 Wheeler, PHI-3 Gregorius, PHI-4 Realmuto, PHI-5 Harper

Topps Now Player's Choice Awards

Main Set - PCA-10 Harper

Topps Now Turn Back the Clock

Main Set - 50 Carlton

Topps Opening Day

Dugout Peeks - DP-11 Harper

Opening Day Origins - ODO-6 Hoskins

Topps Stadium Club

Beam Team- BT-4 Harper, BT-18 Bohm

Triumvirates - T-25 Bohm, T-26 Harper

Topps Throwback Thursday

Main Set - 114 Harper, 115 Nola

2020 Phillies Want List / 2022 Phillies Want List

Sunday, February 21, 2021

1956 Topps - 1st Series Phillies Alumni

Similar to what I did recently with the 1965 Topps set and the Phillies Alumni within that set's first series, I wanted to post a gallery of the Phillies within the first 100 cards of the 1956 Topps set. You can follow along as I document each card in the iconic 1956 Topps set here, and clicking on the links below each card will take you to that player's post.

Friday, February 19, 2021

The First Phillie of 2021: I'll Take What I Can Get

Routines we used to take for granted have gone by the wayside during the past year, so it makes sense I'd need to mix things up a bit in order to open a few packs of the year's first Topps baseball cards. Back in the day, a trip to Wawa would suffice and my Dad would return from his daily newspaper and cigarette run with a few fresh packs of new Topps, Donruss or Fleer cards in early spring. In recent years, I've relied on my wife Jenna to scan the baseball card aisle at Target in late January/early February for the first signs of the year's new cards. Trips inside Target are few and far between these days, and during the few stops Jenna has made, masked up, the baseball card aisle has been empty.

Knowing that 2021 Topps cards were out there, and not wanting to wait any longer hoping Target would stock their shelves with new packs, I turned to eBay and overpaid for two blaster boxes. The boxes arrived on Thursday on a cold, snowy and dreary day and we waited until after virtual school and virtual work to open our first packs of the year. Our youngest son Ben had feigned interest last year, but this year he didn't even pretend to be interested, choosing instead to head back to his Roblox world with his friends. (I can't really blame him.) Our oldest son Doug was a good sport and let Jenna take a few pictures for posterity's sake of the first packs of 2021.

Doug landed the First Phillie in his first pack, coming across this Roman Quinn card. Yes, the card's design is way too busy for my liking but it is 2021 after all and I guess this is what a baseball card from 2021 looks like. Cards from the 1970s have bright colors, simple designs and easy to read player names. Cards from 2021 have multi-color diagonal lines with varying degrees of transparency, shadows and beveled edges, fading honeycombs on the borders, small white stripes up the side and along the top for no real reason, a silver foil logo and a teeny-tiny player's name. It's a step up from the 2020 Topps disaster in my opinion, and I'd even consider it a win if the player's name were a few font sizes larger.

I'm not going to rank the last 10 years' worth of Topps flagship designs like I did last year and I'll wait a few years before revisiting my rankings. In summary: busy design, tiny names, but new baseball cards are here nevertheless and that's a good thing. I'll take it.

Past First Phillies

2010 Topps #300 Chase Utley

2011 Topps #242 Brad Lidge

2012 Topps #98 Domonic Brown

2013 Topps #6 Ryan Howard
2014 Topps #90 Ethan Martin
2015 Topps #309 Maikel Franco
2016 Topps #15 Ryan Howard
2017 Topps #247 Hector Neris
2018 Topps #26 Cesar Hernandez
2019 Topps #303 Ranger Suarez
2020 Topps #190 Aaron Nola

2021 Topps #79 Roman Quinn

Thursday, February 18, 2021

Bamboo Brad Returns; Flurry of Ex-Phils Sign Elsewhere

2021 Chachi New Additions #10

2021 Chachi Departures #3

2021 Chachi Departures #4

2021 Chachi Departures #5

2021 Chachi Departures #6

On Wednesday, the official first day of spring training, the Phillies announced the return of popular super utility player Brad Miller, who had spent last season with the Cardinals. Miller's introduction of a lucky bamboo plant to the Phillies clubhouse during the summer of 2019 sparked a mini winning streak, and led to an increase in bamboo sales across the local area. To make room for Miller on the 40-man roster, reliever Seranthony Dominguez was placed on the 60-day IL as he continues his recovery from Tommy John surgery.

At this point, most of the ex-Phillies that made up the rogue's gallery of the 2020 team have found new homes, with the exceptions of relievers Jose Alvarez and David Robertson. The day will come when we no longer have to reflect back on the pain caused by the team's 2020 bullpen. Of the players listed below, I'm saddest to see the departure of Phil Gosselin and I hope The Phillies Room Favorite finds himself a steady job on the Angels' roster.

Departures - 2020-2021 Offseason

Deolis Guerra - rhp (10/14/20) - Elected free agency, signed a minor league contract with the Oakland Athletics (2/2/21).
Trevor Kelley - rhp (10/14/20) - Elected free agency, signed a minor league contract with the Chicago Cubs (12/14/20).
Jose Alvarez - lhp (10/28/20) - Elected free agency.
Jake Arrieta - rhp (10/28/20) - Elected free agency, signed with the Chicago Cubs (2/17/21).
Jay Bruce - of (10/28/20) - Elected free agency, signed a minor league contract with the New York Yankees (2/12/21).
Tommy Hunter - rhp (10/28/20) - Elected free agency, signed a minor league contract with the New York Mets (2/14/21).
Brandon Workman - rhp (10/28/20) - Elected free agency.
Phil Gosselin - inf (10/30/20) - Outrighted off 40-man roster, elected free agency, signed a minor league contract with the Los Angeles Angels (2/11/21).
Heath Hembree - rhp (10/30/20) - Outrighted off 40-man roster, elected free agency, singed a minor league contract with the Cleveland Indians (2/5/21).
Adam Morgan - lhp (10/30/20) - Outrighted off 40-man roster, elected free agency, signed a minor league contract with the Chicago Cubs (2/12/21).
Blake Parker - rhp (10/30/20) - Outrighted off 40-man roster, elected free agency, signed a minor league contract with the Cleveland Indians (2/16/21).
David Phelps - rhp (10/30/20) - Club option declined, elected free agency, signed with the Toronto Blue Jays (2/11/21).
David Robertson - rhp (10/30/20) - Club option declined, elected free agency.
Reggie McClain - rhp (12/10/20) - Selected by the Yankees in the minor league portion of the annual rule 5 draft.
Garrett Cleavinger - lhp (12/29/20) - Traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers with the Phillies receiving Jose Alvarado in exchange from the Tampa Bay Rays.
Kyle Garlick - of (1/22/21) - Claimed off waivers by the Atlanta Braves.
Victor Arano - rhp (1/22/21) - Claimed off waivers by the Atlanta Braves.
Cole Irvin - lhp (1/30/21) - Traded to the Oakland Athletics for cash considerations.

2021 Chachi Departures #7

2021 Chachi Departures #8

2021 Chachi Departures #9

2021 Chachi Departures #10

2021 Chachi Departures #11

Coming Back - 2020-2021 Offseason

Ronald Torreyes - inf (10/15/20) - Elected free agency, re-signed with the Phillies as a minor league free agent (1/4/21).
J.T. Realmuto - c (10/28/20) - Elected free agency, re-signed with the Phillies (1/29/21).
Didi Gregorius - ss (10/28/20) - Elected free agency, re-signed with the Phillies (2/10/21).

New Additions - 2020-2021 Offseason

Johan Quezada - rhp (10/30/20) - Claimed off waivers from the Miami Marlins.
Ian Hamilton - rhp (12/7/20) Claimed off waivers from the Seattle Mariners.
Kyle Holder - inf (12/10/20) - Selected from the Yankees in the annual rule 5 draft.
Jose Alvarado - lhp (12/29/20) - Acquired from the Tampa Bay Rays with the Dodgers receiving Garrett Cleavinger in exchange.
Sam Coonrod - rhp (1/9/21) - Acquired from the San Francisco Giants for Carson Ragsdale.
Archie Bradley - rhp (1/18/21) - Signed as a free agent formerly with the Cincinnati Reds.
C.J. Chatham - inf (1/18/21) - Acquired from the Boston Red Sox for a player to be named later.
Matt Moore -lhp (2/3/21) - Signed as a free agent formerly with the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks.
Chase Anderson - rhp (2/8/21) - Signed as a free agent formerly with the Toronto Blue Jays.
Brad Miller - inf (2/17/21) - Signed as a free agent formerly with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Already Gone - 2020-2021 Offseason

Kyle Holder - inf (1/30/21) - Traded to the Cincinnati Reds for cash considerations.
Ian Hamilton - rhp (2/5/21) - Claimed off waivers by the Minnesota Twins.
Johan Quezada - rhp (2/10/21) - Traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for cash considerations.

Wednesday, February 17, 2021

Updated (and Final?) Non-Roster Invitees, Part 2

2020 Topps Total #170

In an attempt to keep up with the Phillies' roster moves, I wanted to update my post from earlier today with the 13th (and final?) non-roster invitee to camp. Lefty reliever Tony Watson was signed on Wednesday morning, and he'll get strong consideration for a bullpen spot with the club. Watson spent the last three seasons with the Giants, where he was 7-8 with a 3.20 ERA over 138 innings pitched. He was an All-Star with the Pirates back in 2014, a year in which he led the league with 78 appearances.

Watson has been an incredibly durable reliever over his 10 big league seasons, and he's currently ranked second all-time in the Holds category. In fact, with 227 career holds entering the 2021 season, he's got a chance this year to take the all-time top spot currently occupied by former Phillie Arthur Rhodes, who had 231 holds.

The Phillies made one additional move on Wednesday, bringing back the popular Brad Miller on a one-year contract. I'll update the offseason comings and goings with the Miller addition in an upcoming post.

I can't wait to actually watch a live Phillies baseball game on TV, especially after the all-around monumental disappointment of the 2020 season.

Non-Roster Invitees (position) - 2020 Organization - Last Major Baseball Card Appearance

1. Christian Bethancourt (c) - N/A - 2017 Topps #697 (Padres)

2. Ronald Torreyes (inf) - Phillies - 2019 Topps #537 (Twins)

3. Michael Ynoa (rhp) - N/A - 2016 Topps Heritage High Numbers #632 (White Sox)

4. Neftali Feliz (rhp) - N/A - 2017 Topps Update #US117 (Royals)

5. Ivan Nova (rhp) - Tigers - 2020 Topps Heritage High Numbers #704 (Tigers)

6. Bryan Mitchell (rhp) - White Sox - 2015 Topps #224 (Yankees)

7. Hector Rondon (rhp) - Diamondbacks - 2020 Topps Total #600 (Diamondbacks)

8. Brandon Kintzler (rhp) - Marlins - 2020 Topps Heritage High Numbers #679

9. Matt Joyce (of) - Marlins - 2020 Topps Heritage High Numbers #636

10. Travis Jankowski (of) - Reds - 2020 Topps Total #591 (Reds)

11. Rodolfo Duran (c) - Phillies - N/A

12. Jeff Mathis (c) - Rangers - 2020 Topps Heritage High Numbers #690 (Rangers)

13. Tony Watson (lhp) - Giants - 2020 Topps Total #170 (Giants)

Updated (and Final?) Non-Roster Invitees and Mini-Camp Invitees

2020 Topps #645

2020 Topps Total #591

2020 Topps Total #895

2020 Topps Total #739

2019 Grandstand
Clearwater Threshers #19

The Phillies threw us a curveball on Tuesday afternoon, finalizing their list of 12 non-roster invitees and adding 19 more players as what they're calling mini-camp invitees. A byproduct of our pandemic era is that the club needs to limit the number of players in camp, so we get this new wrinkle for who we'll see in Clearwater beginning tomorrow. If you're keeping score at home, there's 40 players on the big league roster, 12 non-roster invitees and 19 mini-camp invitees, for a total of 71 players suiting up. That's the same number of players the Phillies started with in Clearwater last February. The mini campers will train with the big club but report to the minor league clubhouse.

New additions to non-roster invitee list since my last update are outfielder Travis Jankowski along with catchers Rodolfo Duran and Jeff Mathis. Jankowski is a six-year big league veteran and he appeared in 16 games last year with the Reds. He's a career .238 hitter and can play all three outfield positions. Mathis is a 16-year veteran having spent the last two seasons with the Rangers. A back-up for much of his career, Mathis has played with the Angels (2005-2011), Blue Jays (2012), Marlins (2013-2016), Diamondbacks (2017-2018) and Rangers (2019-2020).

Notable below is that David Paulino has been seemingly demoted from the non-roster invitee list to the mini-camp invitee list. Pitchers Enyel De Los Santos and JD Hammer, along with outfielder Odubel Herrera, all of whom haven't played with the Phillies since 2019, are also on the mini-camp invitee list. Play ball!