1995 Collector's Choice #364 Fernando Valenzuela

Rays 15, Phillies 7
Spring Training Game 15 - Saturday Afternoon, March 9th in Clearwater
Record - 6-8-1

One Sentence Summary:  Shaky defense and a shaky bullpen again led to another spring loss as the Rays dismantled the Phillies, 15-7.

What It Means:  It was a sloppy game that got completely out of hand by the time the bullpen entered the picture.

What Went Wrong:  B.J. Rosenberg had the toughest day, allowing four earned runs in a third of an inning and raising his spring ERA to 24.30.  On the bright side, Ryan Howard hit his fourth home run and Ben Revere enjoyed a three-hit day.

Featured Card:  I thought this picture tweeted by Dale Murphy was cool as it featured Murphy and fellow former Phillie Fernando Valenzuela throwing out the ceremonial first pitches before Friday night's USA/Mexico World Baseball Classic game.  Murphy and Valenzeula are both serving as coaches for their respective teams.

Valenzuela actually received a decent share of Phillies cards in 1994 and 1995, including this card from the 1995 Collector's Choice set.

Camp Head Count:  59 minus 2 and then another 6 = 51.  The first cuts of the spring came before the game today as outfielder Joe Mather was released and pitching prospect Adam Morgan was reassigned to minor league camp.  Mather went 1 for 11 in 8 games this spring, and he was going to have a tough time cracking the starting line-up of the Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs.

After the game, the Phils made several more cuts.  Pitchers J.C. Ramirez and Kyle Simon, catcher Tommy Joseph, infielders Cody Asche and Michael Martinez were all reassigned to minor league camp while reliever Joe Savery was optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley.  Todd Zolecki also tweeted that pitchers Jonathan Pettibone and Ethan Martin, along with outfielder Zach Collier will be optioned out on Monday.