Series Preview - Phillies at Marlins: May 24th to May 27th

2021 Chachi 1986 Topps Missing Links #5

2021 Chachi Fan Favorites #5

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday 6:40, Thursday 12:10
loanDepot park - Miami, FL

At the Ballpark:  There aren't any giveaways scheduled for this four-game series, and I'm bummed the Marlins won't be wearing their City Connect uniforms which are far superior to their regular bland uniforms in my opinion.  Here's an article with more information on the uniforms.

Phillies 23-24
Tied for 2nd Place in the N.L. East, 1 1/2 games behind the Mets

Phillies Probables
Zach Eflin (2-3, 3.77)
Vince Velasquez (1-0, 3.52)
Aaron Nola (3-4, 3.94)
Spencer Howard (0-1, 7.36)

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Bryce Harper - .274
Runs:  Rhys Hoskins - 28
Home Runs:  Rhys Hoskins - 9
RBIs:  Rhys Hoskins - 26
Stolen Bases:  Bryce Harper and Roman Quinn - 4

Wins:  Connor Brogdon and Zack Wheeler - 4
ERA:  Zack Wheeler - 2.38
Strikeouts:  Zack Wheeler - 78
Saves:  Hector Neris - 7

Marlins 22-24
4th Place in the N.L. East, 2 games behind the Mets

Marlins Probables
Trevor Rogers (6-2, 1.74)
Sandy Alcantara (2-3, 3.63)
TBA
Pablo Lopez (1-3, 2.73)

Marlins Leaders
Average:  Miguel Rojas - .280
Runs:  Miguel Rojas - 30
Home Runs:  Jesus Aguilar - 9
RBIs:  Jesus Aguilar - 33
Stolen Bases:  Jazz Chisolm, Jr. - 8

Wins:  Trevor Rogers - 6
ERA:  Trevor Rogers - 1.74
Strikeouts:  Trevor Rogers - 65
Saves:  Yimi Garcia - 8

2021 Virtual Phillies Wall / 2021 Season Summary Index / 2021 Chachi Set Checklist

8 File for Free Agency; Pirela Released

2020 Chachi Departures #4

2020 Chachi #23

2020 Chachi Departures #5

2020 Chachi Departures #6

2020 Chachi Departures #7

On Halloween, the day after the conclusion of the World Series, eight Phillies filed for free agency.  Of the eight, I could see Brad Miller returning to fill a bench role and Drew Smyly might provide some depth at Triple-A.  It would be great to see Corey Dickerson return, but it's not clear how he would fit in to an already crowded outfield.

In a paper move only, outfielder Odubel Herrera was activated from the restricted list where he has languished since mid-May due to his arrest for domestic violence.

2020 Chachi Departures #8

2020 Chachi Departures #9

2020 Chachi Departures #10

2020 Chachi Departures #11

Finally, outfielder Jose Pirela was released as he'll pursue an opportunity to play in Japan.  In 12 games for the Phillies, Pirela hit .235 (4 for 17) with a home run and two RBIs.  He leaves having appeared on zero Phillies baseball cards, making him a prime candidate for a future Phillies Missing Links custom set.

I'm showing off some of the 2020 Chachi cards I created for these departed players above.  As I've done in the past, I'll also create a variation card for each player with whatever new team they land with.  I have to say I'm enjoying working with the 1991 Topps template more than I thought I would, and I'm looking forward to spending all next season with this design.

Moving On - 2019-2020 Offseason

• Rob Brantly - c (9/30/19) - Elected free agency.
• Fernando Salas - rhp (9/30/19) - Elected free agency.
• Corey Dickerson - of (10/31/19) - Elected free agency.
• Tommy Hunter - rhp (10/31/19) - Elected free agency.
• Brad Miller - inf (10/31/19) - Elected free agency.
• Logan Morrison - 1b (10/31/19) - Elected free agency.
• Juan Nicasio - rhp (10/31/19) - Elected free agency.
• Sean Rodriguez - inf-of (10/31/19) - Elected free agency.
• Drew Smyly - lhp (10/31/19) - Elected free agency.
• Nick Vincent - rhp (10/31/19) - Elected free agency.
• Jose Pirela - of (11/1/19) - Released.

New Arrivals - 2019-2020 Offseason

• Robert Stock - rhp (10/30/19) - Claimed off waivers from the San Diego Padres.

Game 130 - 2019 Phillies Team Issue 2 #13 Sean Rodriguez

Phillies 6, Pirates 5 (11)
Game 130 - Monday Night, August 26th in Philadelphia
Record - 68-62, 3rd place, 10 1/2 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  Sean Rodriguez was the surprising hero in this game, hitting an 11th inning walk-off solo home run to send the Phillies to a 6-5 win.

What It Means:  Somehow, the Phillies are just a game behind the Cubs for the second N.L. Wild Card.

What Happened:  Trailing 4-2, the Phillies took a 5-4 lead in the eighth courtesy of home runs from Bryce Harper (28) and Corey Dickerson (8).  Hector Neris, who had been pitching extremely well, allowed a ninth inning home run to Josh Bell, resulting in the need for extra innings.

Brad Miller had homered (5) earlier in the game.  Jason Vargas turned in a fine pitching performance, allowing just a run through six innings before getting hit around in the seventh.

Featured Card:  Rodriguez made some unfortunate comments after the game, criticizing the booing Phillies fans and referring to the fanbase as "entitled."  He's appeared in both team-issued photo card sets this year and I had his second photo card signed at this year's ALS Phestival.

Rodriguez was granted a Topps Now card for his heroics, giving him his first standard-size Phillies baseball card.

Field Report:  Doug and I took my Mom and our cousin Clara to this game.  Clara is visiting the U.S. for the first time from Germany and I wanted to make sure she experienced the sights and sounds of the ballpark.  After a few Tony Luke's cheesesteaks, we took a tour of the ballpark and then settled into our seats to watch a mostly boring game (at least until the later innings).

Before the game, Doug successfully added a Rhys Hoskins autograph to his collection along with another signature from coach Dusty Wathan.

Transactions:  Harper returned from the paternity list and Maikel Franco was sent back down to the IronPigs.

Highlights from the 2019 Phillies Phestival (Part 1) #StrikeOutALS

2019 Chachi Phillies Phestival #1

2019 Chachi Phillies Phestival #19

2019 Chachi Phillies Phestival #16

On Thursday afternoon, we attended the annual Phillies Phestival, which raises money in the fight against ALS.  One of my collecting regrets (and a regret as a lifelong Phillies fan) is that we never even considered going to this event until three years ago.  As rookies in 2017, we meandered through the ballpark using our pre-assigned autograph tickets and paying cash for autographs when the lines died down.  In 2018, I attended the event on behalf of my employer, which unbeknownst to me, had been a long-time sponsor of the Phestival.  I became involved with the Philadelphia ALS Chapter over the past few years partly in tribute to our friend Bob who passed away in January 2019 after a courageous battle with the disease.  I'm looking forward to continuing (and increasing) my involvement in the coming years.

This year, we again attended as sponsors and it's the first year we were fully prepared to collect autographs as efficiently as possible while still having fun.  Sponsors are given a button to wear, which allows us to stand in any autograph line.  Within the sponsors packet were explicit instructions informing us we couldn't go to the front of any line, which makes complete sense, and that we couldn't go to the Bryce Harper photo booth.

2019 Chachi Phillies Phestival #2

2019 Chachi Phillies Phestival #5

2019 Chachi Phillies Phestival #7

2019 Chachi Phillies Phestival #8

2019 Chachi Phillies Phestival #14

Similar to the past two years, I created a special set of Chachi cards to commemorate our day and the autographs we hunted down.  Here's a summary of what and how we did:

• The sponsors assemble in the Diamond Club and my company's name was called around 2:45.  We made our way down to the field to meet with Phil Gosselin and Jay Bruce who would be signing autographs at our designated station.  I let Bruce know it was great not to boo him this season, and my son Doug talked to Gosselin about their mutual history with the All-Star Baseball Academy.  Gosselin is an alumni and Doug is currently on one of their travel teams.

2019 Chachi Phillies Phestival #3

2019 Chachi Phillies Phestival #4

2019 Chachi Phillies Phestival #6

• We had a plan.  Doug and I took the left side of the ballpark while Jenna and Ben took the right side.  Doug and I started in the Hall of Fame Club, where the lines were very short to start and some of the tables had no lines.  We walked right into the suite where Gabe Kapler was signing and had two people in front of us.  Kapler's a fascinating guy.  Very intense, very polite, very engaging and he made his hat work.

• Jenna and Ben made Aaron Nola their first target, so they had a longer wait to get started.  Doug and I had cleared four tables by the time they were getting Nola's autographs.

• All the players were engaging and friendly, and even though there was a loose "no posed photographs" policy in place this year, pretty much everyone stopped to look and smile while we were taking pictures.  Rhys Hoskins said he remembered being in our Christmas card, although he may have just been being polite.

• Ben's highlight was getting Maikel Franco to sign the back of his favorite Franco t-shirt.  He also talked to the broadcast team for awhile.  When he asked why they didn't have any cards to sign, Scott Franzke said it was because the Phillies couldn't get them all together at the same time.  He was then invited by Ben Davis to sign their table cloth, and he obliged.

• Larry Andersen had run out of photo cards by the time we got to his station (with John Kruk and Mickey Morandini) so he offered Doug a cookie instead of an autograph.  Doug took him up on the offer.

• I was bummed that none of the newer Phillies players had any photo cards produced for them to sign.  I had come prepared with a list of potential exclusive photo cards - Bruce, Edgar Garcia, JD Hammer, Adam Haseley and Ranger Suarez - but there were no new cards to be had.  Bruce and Gosselin had what looked like regular paper at their station with their names printed at the top.

2019 Chachi Phillies Phestival #9

2019 Chachi Phillies Phestival #10

2019 Chachi Phillies Phestival #11

• When the autograph session time expired, we had visited all but three tables - J.T. Realmuto (by choice since we had already received his autographs in May), Charlie Manual (since we forgot to bring anything for him to sign) and Pat Neshek/Jim Gott.  The Neshek/Gott omission was a symptom of simply running out of time.  The only table we doubled up on was Scott Kingery's as we both had time to visit with him as the clock was ticking down.

• We met up with fellow collector Steve and his son in time to stand in line for our mystery grab bags.  Our five bag haul was decent, with baseballs signed by Roman Quinn (two), Nick Pivetta, and Hector Neris.  We received a pair of Raul Ibanez bobble heads, three solar Liberty Bells, a Jimmy Rollins World Series ring and Jenna got her Mother's Day fleece she had wanted from the May giveaway.

We had a blast, the Phillies raised over $768,000 to aid in the fight against ALS, and we're already making our plans for next year's Phestival!  I've share Part 2 with the rest of the cards from the event in a post coming soon.

The almost completed checklist

Our grab bag haul

Phillies Phestival Memory Lane

2017 Part 1 and Part 2

2018 Part 1 and Part 2
2019 Part 1 and Part 2

2019 Chachi #37 Sean Rodriguez

#13
Sean John Rodriguez
Infield/Outfield

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  200
Opening Day Age:  33
Born:  April 26, 1985, Miami, FL
Drafted:  Selected by the Anaheim Angels in the 3rd round of the June 2003 draft
Teams:  Los Angeles Angels 2008-2009; Tampa Bay Rays 2010-2014; Pittsburgh Pirates 2015-2016; Atlanta Braves 2017; Pittsburgh Pirates 2017-2018; Phillies 2019
Acquired:  Signed as a minor league free agent formerly with the Pittsburgh Pirates, February 8, 2019
Contract Status:  Free agent in 2020

2008 Topps Update #UH315

First Topps Flagship Base Card:  2008 Topps Update #UH315
First Phillies Card:  2019 Phillies Team Issue #13
First Phillies Team Issued Card:  2019 Phillies Team Issue #13
First Phillies Minor League Card:  N/A
First Topps Phillies Flagship Base Card:  N/A
Newest Card Added:  2019 Phillies Team Issue #13

2019 Phillies Team Issue #13

1 - Rodriguez baseball card in my collection per The Phillies Room Checklist as of 5/13/19.

Complete Chachi Checklist
2019 Chachi #37

2019 Chachi Set Checklist
Virtual Phillies Wall - Featuring Current Active Roster

Game 25 - 2019 Phillies Team Issue #13 Sean Rodriguez

Marlins 3, Phillies 1 (10)
Game 25 - Thursday Night, April 25th in Philadelphia
Record - 13-12, 2nd place, 1/2 game behind the Mets

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies' offensive slump continued and the Marlins won this game when Starlin Castro hit a two-run home run off Hector Neris in the 10th.

What It Means:  Since starting the season hot at 4-0, the Phillies are 9-12.  The loss dropped the team back into second place behind the Mets.

What Happened:  Aaron Nola showed improvement, pitching into the seventh inning and allowing a run on seven hits.  Unfortunately, the offense couldn't solve Marlins starting pitcher Caleb Smith, or the Marlins' bullpen, generating four hits and going 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position.

Featured Card:  Sean Rodriguez homered for the Phillies in the second inning.  He became the fourth starting shortstop used by the club so far in 2019, after Jean Segura and Scott Kingery both went down with injuries.  Phil Gosselin has also seen time at short.

Rodriguez, an 11-year veteran, received his first (and only?) Phillies card in the team-issued photo card set.

Transactions:  Roman Quinn injured his groin running out a bunt base hit in Wednesday night's game, landing him on the Injured List for the second time this season.  Dylan Cozens was recalled to take his place on the roster.

Rodriguez is Non-Roster Invitee #21

2018 Topps Update #US108

While the Phillies continue to circle around free agents Bryce Harper and Manny Machado, they're also still tinkering with a potential supporting cast, adding infielder Sean Rodriguez to their list of non-roster spring training invitees.  It's going to be crowded in Clearwater, as Rodriguez brings the list of current players heading to camp to 60.

Rodriguez is an 11-year big league veteran, and he appeared in 66 games last season for the Pirates.  He's played with the Angels (2008-2009), Rays (2010-2014), Pirates (2015-2016, 2017-2018) and Braves (2017).  He appeared in a career-high 140 games for the Pirates in 2016, spending time at every position except catcher and pitcher.

Player (position) - 2018 Organization - Last Major Baseball Card Appearance*
1.  Jeremy Bleich (lhp) - Athletics - 2010 Topps Pro Debut #35 (Yankees)
2.  Rob Brantly (c) - Braves/Indians - 2013 Topps Gypsy Queen #33 (Marlins)
3.  Phil Gosselin (inf) - Reds/Braves - 2017 Topps Heritage #135 (Diamondbacks)
4.  Josh Martin (rhp) - Indians - 2012 Bowman Draft Picks #BDPP160 (Indians)
5.  Matt McBride (c-1b) - Phillies - 2007 Bowman Sterling Prospects #MM (Indians)
6.  Gregorio Petit (inf) - Twins - 2015 Topps Heritage #667 (Yankees)
7.  Shane Robinson (of) - Yankees - 2014 Topps #483 (Cardinals)
8.  Gift Ngoepe (inf) - Blue Jays - 2018 Topps Heritage #579 (Blue Jays)
9.  Edward Paredes (lhp) - Dodgers - N/A
10.  Andrew Romine (inf) - Mariners - 2018 Topps Heritage #641 (Mariners)
11.  Malquin Canelo (inf) - Phillies - N/A
12.  Tyler Gilbert (lhp) - Phillies - N/A
13.  Deivi Grullon (c) - Phillies - 2013 Bowman Chrome #BCP128 (Phillies)
14.  Adam Haseley (of) - Phillies - 2018 Topps Heritage Minor League #131 (Phillies)
15.  Cole Irvin (lhp) - Phillies - 2016 Bowman Draft Chrome #BDC-4 (Phillies)
16.  Austin Listi (inf-of) - Phillies - N/A
17.  Mickey Moniak (of) - Phillies - 2018 Topps Heritage Minor League #261 (Phillies)
18.  JoJo Romero (lhp) - Phillies - 2018 Topps Heritage Minor League #92 (Phillies)
19.  Lane Adams (of) - Cubs/Braves - 2018 Topps Now Road to Opening Day #OD-241 (Braves)
20.  Drew Butera (c) - Royals/Rockies - 2018 Topps Royals #KR7 (Royals)
21.  Sean Rodriguez (inf) - Pirates - 2018 Topps Update #US108 (Pirates)