Tracking the Ex-Phillies

Each spring, I'll spend time reviewing every team's roster, list of non-roster invitees and their coaching staff.  There are always a few ex-Phillies that I'm surprised to see still around with Tyler Cloyd (Rays) and Cameron Perkins (Dodgers) catching my eye this year.

Here's a list of each team's Phillies alumni representation, and I've only included players, coaches and managers who actually suited up for the team.  Players who passed through the Phillies minor league system but never made the big club aren't represented here.

Special mention goes to Tommy Joseph, who signed with the LG Twins in Korea over the offseason, and Ty Kelly, who signed a minor league deal with the Angels but doesn't appear to be a non-roster invitee.

N.L. East
Atlanta Braves:  Andres Blanco - inf (NRI), Pedro Florimon - inf (NRI), Rick Kranitz - pitching coach, San Fasano - catching coach
Miami Marlins:  Jorge Alfaro - c, Brian Schneider - catching coach
New York Mets:  Wilson Ramos - c, Luis Avilan - lhp (NRI)
Washington Nationals:  Jeremy Hellickson - rhp, Howie Kendrick - of, Henderson Alvarez - rhp (NRI)

N.L. Central
Chicago Cubs:  Cole Hamels - lhp, Mike Zagurski - lhp (NRI)
Cincinnati Reds:  David Hernandez - rhp, David Bell - manager, Turner Ward - hitting coach
Milwaukee Brewers:  Erik Kratz - c
Pittsburgh Pirates:  Tom Prince - bench coach
St. Louis Cardinals:  Mike Maddux - pitching coach

N.L. West
Arizona Diamondbacks:  Torey Lovullo - manager, Humberto Quintero - bullpen catcher
Colorado Rockies:  Michael Saunders - of (NRI)
Los Angeles Dodgers:  Ezequiel Carrera - of (NRI), Cameron Perkins - of (NRI)
San Diego Padres:  Aaron Loup - lhp, Rod Barajas - bench coach
San Francisco Giants:  Rick Schu - assistant hitting coach


A.L. East
Baltimore Orioles:  Jose David Flores - third base coach
Boston Red Sox:  Ron Roenicke - bench coach
New York Yankees:  J.A. Happ - lhp, Drew Hutchison - rhp (NRI)
Tampa Bay Rays:  Charlie Morton - rhp, Tyler Cloyd - rhp (NRI), Hoby Milner - lhp (NRI), Ricardo Pinto - rhp (NRI)
Toronto Blue Jays:  Clay Buchholz - rhp, Ken Giles - rhp, Freddy Galvis - inf, Mark Leiter Jr. - rhp (NRI)

A.L. Central
Chicago White Sox:  None
Cleveland Indians:  Carlos Santana - inf, Terry Francona - manager, Brad Mills - bench coach
Detroit Tigers:  Daniel Stumpf - lhp, Cameron Rupp - c (NRI, and recently traded from the Giants)
Kansas City Royals:  Jake Diekman - lhp, Ben Lively - rhp, Dale Sveum - bench coach
Minnesota Twins:  None

A.L. West
Houston Astros:  A.J. Hinch - manager
Los Angeles Angels:  Luis Garcia - rhp, JC Ramirez - rhp, Justin Bour - inf, Peter Bourjos - of (NRI), Shawn Wooten - assistant hitting coach, Andrew Bailey - bullpen coach
Oakland Athletics:  None
Seattle Mariners:  J.P. Crawford - inf
Texas Rangers:  Asdrubal Cabrera - inf, Zac Curtis - lhp (NRI), Jeanmar Gomez - rhp (NRI), Chase d'Arnaud -inf (NRI), Hunter Pence - of (NRI), Ben Revere - of (NRI)

Final Look at Offseason Moves (Late May Edition)

2018 Chachi Departures #14

2018 Chachi Departures #13

I almost deleted this post from my draft folder, but then I decided it would be amusing to look back at the players who appeared with the Phillies last season and have since moved on.  I know "it's still early," but to think back to where the club was last year compared to where they are this year makes me hopeful that better things will continue to come.

This post also serves as a final "Departure" tribute to catcher Cameron Rupp, and to a lesser extent, reliever Ricardo Pinto.  As of Friday night, Rupp was hitting .257 with 7 home runs for the Triple-A Round Rock Express.  His final Phillies baseball cards can be found within both Series One of the Topps flagship release as well as the Topps Phillies retail team set.

Cameron Rupp Complete Chachi Checklist
2013 Chachi #63
2014 Chachi #53
2015 Chachi #10
2016 Chachi #10
2016 Chachi #43 HL - Rupp Hangs On
2016 Chachi Archives #7
2016 Chachi Photo Day #34
2017 Chachi #7
2017 Chachi Phillies Phestival #11
2017 Chachi Archives #4
2017 Chachi Photo Night #28 (with Clay Buchholz and Andrew Knapp)
2017 Chachi Photo Night #29 (with Iggy)
2018 Chachi Fly Eagles Fly #3
2018 Chachi Departures #14

Ricardo Pinto Complete Chachi Checklist
2017 Chachi #42
2017 Chachi Photo Night #14
2018 Chachi Departures #13

Moving On - 2017-2018 Offseason

• Henderson Alvarez - rhp (10/4/17) - Outrighted off 40-man roster, elected free agency and signed with Tigres de Quintana Roo of the Mexican League, 3/16/18.
• Ty Kelly - 2b-of (10/4/17) - Outrighted off 40-man roster, elected free agency and signed as a minor league free agent with the New York Mets, 1/22/18.
• Kevin Siegrist - lhp (10/4/17) - Outrighted off 40-man roster, elected free agency and signed as a minor league free agent with the Pittsburgh Pirates, 2/24/18.
• Andres Blanco - inf (11/2/17) - Elected free agency and signed as a minor league free agent with the San Francisco Giants, 1/30/18.
• Clay Buchholz - rhp (11/2/17) - Elected free agency and signed as a minor league free agent
  with the Kansas City Royals, 3/20/18.
• Hyun Soo Kim - of (11/2/17) - Elected free agency, signed with the LG Twins of the Korea Baseball Organization, 12/18/17.
• Daniel Nava - of (11/2/17) - Elected free agency, signed as a minor league free agent with the Pittsburgh Pirates, 2/6/18.
• Jesen Therrien - rhp (11/6/17) - Outrighted off 40-man roster and elected free agency, signed as a minor league free agent with the Los Angeles Dodgers, 11/29/17.
• Michael Mariot - rhp (11/6/17) - Elected free agency, signed as a minor league free agent with the San Diego Padres, 11/29/17.
• Colton Murray - rhp (11/6/17) - Elected free agency, signed as a minor league free agent with the Tampa Bay Rays, 12/14/17.
• Brock Stassi - 1b (11/6/17) - Elected free agency, signed as a minor league free agent with the Minnesota Twins, 12/7/17.
• Cameron Perkins - of (12/11/17) - Claimed off waivers by the Seattle Mariners.
• Freddy Galvis - ss (12/15/17) - Traded to the San Diego Padres for Enyel De Los Santos.
• Tommy Joseph - 1b (3/19/18) - Claimed off waivers by the Texas Rangers.
• Cameron Rupp - c (3/26/18) - Released and signed as a minor league free agent with the Texas Rangers, 4/3/18.
• Ricardo Pinto - rhp (3/27/18) - Traded to the Chicago White Sox for future considerations.

Coming Back - 2017-2018 Offseason

• Pedro Florimon - inf-of (11/13/17) - Signed to a minor league contract.

New Additions - 2017-2018 Offseason

• Engelb Vielma - inf (11/20/17) - Claimed off waivers from the San Francisco Giants.
• Pat Neshek - rhp (12/15/17) - Signed as a free agent formerly with the Colorado Rockies.
• Tommy Hunter - rhp (12/15/17) - Signed as a free agent formerly with the Tampa Bay Rays.
• Carlos Santana - 1b (12/20/17) - Signed as a free agent formerly with the Cleveland Indians.
• Drew Hutchison - rhp (2/15/18) - Signed as a minor league free agent formerly with the Pittsburgh Pirates organization.
• Jake Arrieta - rhp (3/12/18) - Signed as a free agent formerly with the Chicago Cubs.

Already Gone - 2017-2018 Offseason

• Engelb Vielma - inf (12/11/17) - Claimed off waivers by the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Grapefruit Game 31 - 2017 Bowman Draft #BD-114 Scott Kingery

Orioles 6, Phillies 5
Spring Training Game 31 - Sunday Afternoon, March 25th in Clearwater
Record - 12-17-2

One Sentence Summary:  Roster moves and a blockbuster contract for Scott Kingery overshadowed this final weekend game in Clearwater as the Phillies lost to the Orioles, 6-5.

What It Means:  I always anxiously await the start of spring training, but then after a few weeks, I can't wait for it to be over.  The television broadcast today, along with all of social media, was dominated by talk of who will make the final 25-man roster and Kingery's big contract (see below).

What Happened:  In the game, Nick Pivetta threw three scoreless innings.  Rhys Hoskins hit his 5th home run and Maikel Franco added his 6th home run.  Aaron Altherr had a pair of hits.

Featured Card:  It had to be Kingery.  For the record, I'm extremely excited for this season to start.

2018 Topps #308

Camp Head Count:  35 - 2 = 33.  On Sunday morning, veteran catcher Cameron Rupp was designated for assignment and the Phillies selected the contract of pitcher Drew Hutchison.  Hutchison's role will most likely be long reliever in the Phillies bullpen to start the season.  It was a tough break for Rupp, who like Freddy Galvis and Tommy Joseph before him, found himself without a clear role on this younger team.  Rupp could end up back with the IronPigs to start the season if he doesn't latch on with another team.

During the game, the major announcement came that not only had Kingery made the opening day roster, the Phillies had signed him to six-year, $24 million contract extension with club options for 2024, 2025 and 2026.  It's the longest and richest contract ever for a player yet to play a major league game.  Kingery is expected to serve in a super utility role, getting starts at every infield and outfield position.  Long-term, he'll eventually settle in as the team's regular second or third baseman.  All that remains to be determined at this point is what number Kingery will switch to from his current #80.

Reliever Ricardo Pinto was designated for assignment to clear room on the 40-man roster for Kingery.  Jesmuel Valentin was optioned to Triple-A, although his solid spring makes him a likely candidate to be recalled at some point this season.

#FlyEaglesFly #SuperBowl

2018 Chachi Fly Eagles Fly #1

2018 Chachi Fly Eagles Fly #2

2018 Chachi Fly Eagles Fly #3

In honor of the Eagles playing in Super Bowl LII tonight, I created three ultra-rare insert cards featuring a former Phillie, a current Phillie and a future Phillie.

Let's go Eagles!

New Williams Team-Issued Card Surfaces

Of interest to probably just a few of us collectors (I'm looking at you, Rick and Steve), I recently (and surprisingly) added a new Nick Williams team-issued photo card to my collection.  The card is in the style of the regular 2017 team-issued photo card set but with a blank back.  Williams was not included in the early season release of the original 40-card set, but he'd appear in the late season 14-card update set.  This update set used a completely different design from the 40-card set.

We already knew of the existence of cards for Zach Eflin, Mark Leiter Jr. and Nick Pivetta bearing this design, as these cards were made available at the Phillies Phestival held in May.  But now I can add the Williams card to the list of set rarities as well.

So how did this card come into my collection?  My wife and I recently attended the 40th Anniversary Gala of the Philadelphia ALS Association.  The Phillies are a huge sponsor for this terrific organization, and the team had contributed several items to the silent and live auctions that were part of the event.  We were fortunate to bid on and win a Phillies prize package thanks to the astute bidding skills of my wife Jenna.  One of the items we won was an autographed bat from Nick Williams.  The bat was shipped to our house last week and this card was included within the box, seemingly to help the winner identify the signer of the bat.

I had to negotiate with our older son Doug to keep this card in my collection, and he agreed in exchange for getting to display the Williams bat in his room.  Our younger son Ben found a place of prominence in his room for the autographed Rhys Hoskins baseball, and I'm trying to figure out how to display the autographed catcher's mitt.  (The mitt is autographed by Cameron Rupp and not Jorge Alfaro.)

The moral of the story is when you support an amazing charitable organization, doing great work for ALS patients and their families in the Philadelphia region, you may end up inadvertently adding a rare Phillies team-issued photo card to your collection!

2017 Topps #352 Cameron Rupp

Phillies 3, Rockies 2
Game 109 - Sunday Afternoon, August 6th in Denver
Record - 40-69, 5th place, 25 games behind the Nationals

One Sentence Summary:  Cameron Rupp hit a clutch, two-run double in the ninth off Rockies closer Greg Holland to give the Phillies a 3-2 win.

What It Means:  The Phillies will rest up on Monday before a quick two-game series with the Braves in Atlanta beginning on Tuesday night.

What Happened:  Aaron Nola turned in another impressive outing, allowing two runs on six hits while striking out seven.  A questionable ball call in the seventh preceded a double from Charlie Blackmon to give the Rockies a 2-1 lead.  Maikel Franco started the scoring for the Phillies with a solo home run (17) in the second.

Featured Card:  It's been a rough year so far for Rupp, as evidenced by the fact this is the first time one of his baseball cards has been featured in a game summary post this season.

Photo Night Highlights! (Part Three)

2017 Chachi Photo Night #23

2017 Chachi Photo Night #29

2017 Chachi Photo Night #24

With all the trades happening recently, I had completely forgotten to post the final set of extremely limited edition Chachi insert cards from the team's recent Photo Night.  Here are the final nine cards and you can look back at Part One and Part Two of this series of posts for the other cards in the set.

We didn't recognize Clay Buchholz at first, but that's only because he hadn't pitched with the team since very early in the season.  Kudos to him for coming out for the event.

2017 Chachi Photo Night #25

2017 Chachi Photo Night #26

2017 Chachi Photo Night #28

2017 Chachi Photo Night #27

2017 Chachi Photo Night #30

2017 Chachi Photo Night #31

Righteous! 2017 Chachi Archives Cards . . . with a Twist!

Phillies 7, Padres 1
Game 87 - Sunday Afternoon, July 9th in Philadelphia
Record - 29-58, 5th place, 22 1/2 games behind the Nationals

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies blasted six (!) home runs in this 7-1 win over the Padres as Jerad Eickhoff notched his first win of the season.

What It Means:  The first half of the 2017 season is thankfully in the books for the Phillies.

What Happened:  Eickhoff had it easy in this game, getting plenty of run support on the way to his first victory.  He struck out eight in his five innings.  Home runs came from Nick Williams (his first), Cameron Rupp (6), two from Freddy Galvis (9 and 10), Odubel Herrera (6) and Aaron Altherr (14). It was the first time the Phillies had six home runs in a game since August 11, 2004.  Homering that day were Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, Jim Thome (2) and pitcher Randy Wolf (2).

Featured Card:  This is a first for my custom Chachi series of cards, and I'm not sure what took me so long.  Since my custom card sets' inception in 2005, every card I've created has featured a past Topps design.  I wanted to use a 1983 baseball card design for this weekend's retro uniform games, but I didn't like the way the 1983 Topps customs were looking.  The big picture was fine, but the small portrait picture looked silly with the modern "P" on the player's hats.  (And I had already produced a full "set" of Chachi cards back in 2011 using this design.)

So I went with another option from 1983, the design of the 1983 Donruss set.  Using the photos from Friday night and Sunday afternoon that I could find from the game, I created an 11-card limited edition Chachi Archives set.  Now that a non-Topps set has made its debut within the Chachi family of cards, perhaps I'll branch out to other years and brands with future creations.

Transaction:  Ben Lively was optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley to make room for the activated Eickhoff.

2017 Phillies Want List

2017 Topps Heritage Blue Borders #38

Bowman
Chrome Prospect Autographs - CPA-MM Moniak

Bowman Chrome
Chrome Prospect Autographs - CPA-ATI Tirado, CPA-CS Stobbe, CPA-SS Sanchez
Chrome Rookie Autographs - BCAR-JT Thompson

Donruss
Back to the Future Materials - 14 Pence
Diamond Collection Relics - 2 Nola, 84 Schmidt
New Breed Autographs - 1 Eickhoff
Promising Pros Materials - Eickhoff, Kim
Promising Pros Materials Signatures - 21 Thompson
Signature Series - 17 Thompson, 20 Alfaro, 35 Quinn, 49 Schmidt

Topps Series One and Two
SSP Variations - 340 Nola
1987 Topps Baseball Autographs - 1987A-AN Nola
Independence Day - ID-25 Franco
Salute Autographs - TSA-RQ Quinn

Topps Archives
Fan Favorites Autographs - FFA-RO Oswalt

Topps Heritage & Topps Heritage High Numbers
Throwback Uniform Variations - 247 Herrera, 705 Velasquez
1968 Topps Game Rookies - 5 Alfaro
Real One Autographs - ROA-JA Alfaro, ROA-JT Thompson

Topps Heritage Minor League
Clubhouse Collection Relics - CCR-DC Cozens, CCR-JC Crawford
Fantastic Feats Autographs - FFA-DC Cozens
Real One Autographs - ROA-DC Cozens

Topps Opening Day
Opening Day Autographs - ODA-AN Nola
Stadium Signatures - SS-17 Franco

Topps Pro Debut
Autographs - 1 Moniak, 108 Cozens
Pennant Patches - PP-JC Crawford, PP-MM Moniak

2016 Phillies Want List / 2018 Phillies Want List

Highlights from the 2017 Phillies Phestival (Part 2) #StrikeOutALS

Here are the remaining 13 cards from the very limited edition Chachi set from Thursday's Phillies Phestival to benefit ALS reasearch.  Part 1 can be found here.

If you've never gone to this event before, try to make every effort to come out to it in 2018.

2017 Chachi Phillies Phestival #11

2017 Chachi Phillies Phestival #12

2017 Chachi Phillies Phestival #13

2017 Chachi Phillies Phestival #16

2017 Chachi Phillies Phestival #17

2017 Chachi Phillies Phestival #18

2017 Chachi Phillies Phestival #19

2017 Chachi Phillies Phestival #21

2017 Chachi Phillies Phestival #22

2017 Chachi Phillies Phestival #14

2017 Chachi Phillies Phestival #15

2017 Chachi Phillies Phestival #20

2017 Chachi Phillies Phestival #23