2024-25 Offseason - Pre-Thanksgiving Notes

2024 Choice Reading Fightin Phils (3rd Edition) #37

2024 Choice Lehigh Valley IronPigs #15

2022 Choice Delmarva Shorebirds #18

2024 Choice Jersey Shore BlueClaws #7

Here's a look at a few recent Phillies-related news items as we head towards one of the best holidays of the year - Thanksgiving.

Lowy Joins Coaching Staff:  It looks as if the only turnover on manager Rob Thomson's coaching staff will be the assistant pitching coach.  Brian Kaplan recently left that role, taking the primary pitching coach position with the Diamondbacks.  He appeared on a few hard to find Phillies team-issued photo cards in 2022 and 2023, and I don't believe there are too many of those in the wild.

Replacing Kaplan is Mark Lowy.  Lowy joined the Phillies' organization in 2021 and has served as a backroom pitching analyst since then.  He played college baseball at Gettysburg College and has no baseball cards (yet) to his name.

Painter Wins Award:  On the road to recovery following Tommy John surgery, Andrew Painter (rhp) was named as the Arizona Fall League's Pitcher of the Year.  He was 2-0 with a 2.30 ERA in six starts, striking out 18 and walking four over 15 2/3 innings.  I would expect to see Painter hopefully pitching in Philly at some point in 2025.

40-Man Roster Moves:  On Tuesday, the Phillies added pitching prospects Mick Abel (rhp), Jean Cabrera (rhp) and Moises Chace (rhp) to their 40-man roster, protecting them from the upcoming rule 5 draft.  John McMillon, claimed off waivers from the Marlins on November 4th, cleared waivers and was outrighted to the IronPigs.  The Phillies currently have 39 spaces filled on their 40-man roster.

Spring Training Game 6 - Painter Impresses as Phils Tie Twins

2022 R-Phils Phillies
Top 25 Prospects #3

Phillies 4, Twins 4
Spring Training Game 6 - Wednesday Afternoon, March 1st in Fort Myers
Record - 4-1-1

One Sentence Summary:  Top pitching prospect Andrew Painter made his much-anticipated spring debut and the Phillies played to a tie against the Twins in Fort Myers.

What It Means:  I'm ready for the season to start.

What Happened:  Painter gave up a run on three hits in his two innings of work, touching 99 on the radar and striking out Max Kepler looking.  Not a bad start for the 19-year-old who could be the Phillies' fifth starter to start the season.  All the Phillies runs came on home runs.  Jake Cave hit a two-run homer in the second and Darick Hall hit a two-run homer that banged off the center field batter's eye in the fifth.  The Twins tied it up in the ninth on a wild pitch by Phillies pitcher Braden Zarbnisky followed by a throwing error from catcher Aramis Garcia.

Scott Kingery and Cave both had multiple hits for the Phillies.

Featured Card:  I fully expect to be inundated with Painter baseball cards once he makes his debut, but for now I have a grand total of just six of his cards in my Phillies collection.  This is the first card of his I added, back in April 2022 from the Reading Fightin Phils Top 25 Prospects set.  Painter was #3 on that list last year, and he's since made the climb to #1.

Camp Head Count:  65

Phillies Add 21 Non-Roster Invitees to Spring Camp

2022 Topps Pro Debut #PD-8

2022 Choice Jersey Shore BlueClaws #5

2022 Choice Reading Fightin Phils Update #17

2022 Reading Fightin Phils Top 10 Prospects

2022  Choice Lehigh Valley IronPigs #35

I've faithfully tracked the Phillies' non-roster invitee announcements on this blog since 2010, and this is the latest year ever we've received news of the team's invitees.  Adding to the intrigue, the list came all at once instead of in dribs and drabs.  For comparison purposes, the fist seven invitees to 2022 spring training were announced on December 14, 2021.  Here's a look at the 21 players who will show up to Clearwater in a few weeks, along with their 2022 organization and last major baseball card appearance, if any.

Player (position) - 2022 Organization - Last Major Baseball Card

1. Mick Abel (rhp) - Phillies - 2022 Topps Heritage Minor League #173 (Phillies)
2. Mark Appel (rhp) - Phillies - 2022 Topps Now #433 (Phillies)
3. Andrew Baker (rhp) - Phillies - N/A
4. Jon Duplantier (rhp) - Dodgers - 2021 Donruss Retro 1987 Signatures #87S-JO (Diamondbacks)
5. Louis Head (rhp) - Marlins / Orioles - N/A
6. Jake Jewell (rhp) - Guardians / Twins - N/A
7. Griff McGarry (rhp) - Phillies - N/A
8. Francisco Morales (rhp) - Phillies - 2022 Topps Update #US318 (Phillies)
9. McKinley Moore (rhp) - Phillies - N/A
10. Andrew Painter (rhp) - Phillies - 2022 Topps Pro Debut #PD-48 (Phillies)
11. Billy Sullivan (rhp) - Phillies - N/A
12. Jeremy Walker (rhp) - Giants / Rays - 2020 Topps Total #777 (Braves)
13. Ben Bowden (lhp) - Rockies / Rays / Giants - 2021 Topps Update #US298 (Rockies)
14. Jim Haley (inf) - Rays - N/A
15. Scott Kingery (inf) - Phillies - 2022 Topps Opening Day Luck of the Irish #LI-3 (Phillies)
16. Vimael Machin (inf) - Athletics - 2021 Topps Heritage #502 (Athletics)
17. Will Toffey (inf) - Phillies - 2020 Bowman Prospect Autographs #PA-WT (Mets)
18. Weston Wilson (inf) - Brewers - N/A
19. Vito Friscia (c) - Phillies - N/A
20. John Hicks (c) - Cubs - 2019 Topps #593 (Tigers)
21. Max McDowell (c) - Yankees - N/A

Phils Select High School Pitcher Painter as 13th Overall Pick

On the Sunday night before the All-Star Game, Major League Baseball held its annual amateur player draft, purposely moving the draft back to coincide with the All-Star festivities.  With the 13th overall pick in the draft, the Phillies selected right-handed pitcher Andrew Painter from Calvary Christian Academy in Florida.  The hope is that Painter and last year's top draft pick, Mick Abel, also a high schooler, rise through the Phillies minor league system together to form a formidable one-two punch in the Phillies pitching rotation for years to come.

The last time the Phillies selected back-to-back high school pitchers in the draft was 2001 and 2002 when they picked Gavin Floyd followed by Cole Hamels.  Former Phillies pitcher Pedro Martinez had some high praise for Painter on draft night in the video embedded below.

That's some high praise from @45PedroMartinez on our No. 13 overall pick @Andypainterr! #MLBDraft | #RingTheBell pic.twitter.com/s3VBs4JI4z

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) July 12, 2021

As I've done every year since 2014, I wanted to create a card to commemorate Painter's selection and listed below are links to the prior seven Phillies top draft picks.

Memory Lane
2014 Draft - Aaron Nola (rhp)
2015 Draft - Cornelius Randolph (ss)
2016 Draft - Mickey Moniak (of)
2017 Draft - Adam Haseley (of)
2018 Draft - Alec Bohm (3b)
2019 Draft - Bryson Stott (ss)
2020 Draft - Mick Abel (rhp)

2021 Draft - Andrew Painter (rhp)