2017 Phillies Team Issue Update

Number of Cards:  14
Card Size:  4" x 6"
Description:  Given the heavy roster turnover experienced by the 2017 Phillies, the team wisely decided to issue a late season update set featuring players and prospects who had recently joined the club.  The set has a completely different design than the main team issued photo card set, featuring gray borders with the player's name, number and position at the bottom.  The horizontal card backs feature biographical information and complete career statistics.

How Distributed:  The set first went on sale on September 12th, with just 16 home games remaining in the season.  Sets can be purchased for $5, and they're bundled with a complete set of the (seemingly over produced and under sold) regular team issued set.  Red hot prospect Rhys Hoskins is featured at the front of the 14-card set.

Complete Standard Checklist:  The cards are unnumbered, but I've presented them below ordered by uniform number.

5 - Nick Williams 15 - Ty Kelly 17 - Rhys Hoskins 30 - Cameron Perkins 31 - Hyun Soo Kim 38 - Jorge Alfaro 43 - Nick Pivetta

44 - Jake Thompson 46 - Jesen Therrien 49 - Ben Lively 51 - Ricardo Pinto 55 - Hoby Milner 56 - Zach Eflin 59 - Mark Leiter, Jr.

One and Done (2):  Kim, Therrien
First Appearances (9):  Alfaro, Hoskins, Kelly, Kim, Lively, Milner, Perkins, Pinto, Thompson, Williams
Returning Players (3):  Eflin, Leiter, Pivetta

As of now, there's no one in the One and Done category as everyone in the set is still currently with the Phillies but this could change as soon as the season ends.  This marks the first Phillies baseball card appearance for Kim, Milner, Pinto and Therrien.  (Kelly was featured on a Topps Now card earlier in the season.)

(Update, 4/14/18 - This set features the only Phillies baseball cards issued for Kim and Therrien.)

My one small quibble with the checklist is the omission of Pedro Florimon, who was lost for the season with an ankle injury on September 2nd.  J.P. Crawford, Yacksel Rios and Kevin Siegrist all must have missed the cut-off date for inclusion in the set as well.  While Rios and Siegrist would have been long-shots for the set, including Crawford would have made sense.  Victor Arano, Zac Curtis and Henderson Alvarez all joined the club after the release of the set.

The First Appearance designation is for players who have never before appeared within a Phillies team issued set. These players may have already appeared on other Phillies baseball cards.  Eflin, Leiter and Pivetta had cards issued in the style of the main 2017 team issued photo card set for the Phillies Phestival held in May.

Update, 6/21/18:  At the 2018 ALS Phillies Phestival, J.P. Crawford was signing a photo card in the style of this set.  Thanks to fellow collector Steve F. for letting me know about this new card.  I would have easily walked right past it if not for his head's up.

• 2 - J.P. Crawford