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| 2015 Topps #628 |
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| 2015 Topps Heritage #516 |
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| 2013 Topps #281 |
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| 2014 Topps Heritage #80 |
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In an unusual move, and a move that I suspect was designed by the Phillies solely to personally delight me, new players were assigned uniform numbers upon their arrivals beginning in mid-November. There was another update to roster numbers in early December and then one-off updates as additional non-roster invitees were added. In years past, the roster page on the Phillies website had the dreaded "--" in place of any uniform number for new arrivals until mid to late January.
As of this writing, there are still some corrections needed. The Phillies currently have assigned #78 to non-roster infielders Angelys Nina and
Brock Stassi. Similarly, #61 is currently assigned to both pitcher Greg Burke and assistant coach
Jorge Velandia. I'm sure these duplicate assignments will be fixed before pitchers and catchers officially report on February 18th. Finally, non-roster invitee
Cedric Hunter doesn't even appear on the Phillies website yet and he'll need a number once spring training starts.
As I've done in the past, here's a look at the new uniform numbers for the 2016 edition of the Phillies. (Buckle up, because this is quite the long list.)
New Players - Under 60 Division
#2 Tyler Goeddel - Both
Ben Revere and
Chase d'Arnaud wore this number last season. It's a good sign for Goeddel's chances of sticking with the Phillies that they assigned him such a low uniform number.
#15 Emmanuel Burriss - Burriss is going with the number last worn by
Jordan Danks, since the #16 he wore last season with the Nationals is currently occupied by
Cesar Hernandez.
#17 Peter Bourjos - Neither of Bourjos' prior numbers (#25 and #8) were available, so he takes over the number last worn by
Brian Bogusevic.
#19 J.P. Arencibia - The last Phillies player to wear #19 was
Tony Gwynn, Jr. in 2014.
#21 Ryan Jackson -
Adam Loewen wore this number last season.
#28 Vincent Velasquez - Both
Kevin Correia and
Erik Kratz wore #28 in 2015. Velasquez had worn #67 with the Astros last season.
#30 David Hernandez - Reliever
Justin De Fratus had worn this number for the past two seasons. Hernandez has worn this number with the Diamondbacks since 2011.
#31 Michael Mariot -
Jerome Williams wore #31 for the past two seasons. Mariot had previously worn #48 with the Royals.
#34 Brett Oberholtzer - Oberholtzer's more familiar #39 was unavailable, so he takes over the number last worn by
Aaron Harang. The pitcher first wore #65 in 2013 when he made his debut with the Astros.
#38 Andrew Bailey - Bailey had worn #38 last season for the Yankees.
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| 2012 Topps Update #US138 |
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| 2013 Topps #96 |
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| 2015 Topps #296 |
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| 2014 Topps Heritage #328 |
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#40 James Russell - Non-roster invitee Russell takes over the number he's worn during six seasons with the Cubs, which means the old #40,
Aaron Altherr, needs a new number. (See below.)
#41 Ernesto Frieri - Originally assigned #44, Frieri assumes Wall of Fame member
Charlie Manuel's number. No player or coach had been assigned Manuel's number since the former manager's firing in August 2013. The last Phillies player to wear this number was
Gavin Floyd in 2004. Frieri's switch to #41 was made after the Phillies had signed Edward Mujica.
#44 Edward Mujica - The often injured
Jonathan Pettibone was the last player to wear this number. Mujica last wore #44 as a member of the Cardinals in 2012 and 2013.
#47 Charlie Morton -
Sean O'Sullivan's old number went to Morton, whose more familiar #50 is currently occupied by
Hector Neris. Let's watch to see if a deal is struck for Neris' #50 given Morton's veteran status.
#53 Daniel Stumpf -
Ken Giles won't be needing #53 with the Phillies anymore, so his old number went to Stumpf.
#56 Frank Herrmann -
Nefi Ogando and
Cesar Jimenez both wore this number last season for the Phillies.
#58 Jeremy Hellickson - The franchise's all-time saves leader won't be needing #58 this season, so Hellickson takes over the number. Hellickson had previously worn this number with the Rays and Diamondbacks.
New Numbers
#23 Aaron Altherr - Altherr takes over the number last worn by departed manager
Ryne Sandberg. His old #40 went to non-roster invitee Russell.
New Coaches
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| 1997 SP #139 |
#9 John McLaren - McLaren takes over the number that had been assigned to
Domonic Brown since 2010.
#12 Mickey Morandini - In the least surprising number-related news, the new first base coach will wear the number he wore during his playing days with the Phillies. The departed assistant hitting coach
John Mizerock wore the number last season.
#33 Rick Kranitz - The new bullpen coach will wear the number last worn by
Cliff Lee.
Phillies in Number Only
#30 A.J. Achter - Achter was property of the Phillies for less than a month this offseason before his roster spot was needed by Morton. The roster page had assigned #30 to Achter before it ultimately went to David Hernandez.
#38 Dan Otero - Otero briefly assumed the number worn by
Chad Billingsley in 2015. The Giles trade required a roster opening and Otero was traded to the Indians for cash.
Highest number - Not counting
Dalier Hinojosa and his #94, catcher
Logan Moore wins the award this year with his #84 assignment.
Numbers available - The only real number under 60 currently available is the #3 worn by
Jeff Francoeur last season. As has been the case for the Phillies in recent years, they'll do everything to avoid assigning numbers of greats who have recently departed. For that reason #11 (
Jimmy Rollins), #26 (
Chase Utley) and #35 (
Cole Hamels) have yet to be reassigned and they most likely won't be in 2016.
If I had to guess, I'd say Hunter ends up with #3, Velandia switches to #62, and Nina and Stassi flip a coin to see who ends up with #76.
Memory Lane
