Friday, September 8, 2017

2017 Topps Now Road to Opening Day #OD-274 Cesar Hernandez

Mets 6, Phillies 3 (6)
Game 139 - Wednesday Night, September 6th in Flushing
Record - 53-86, 5th place, 32 games behind the Nationals

One Sentence Summary:  The Phils dropped a rain-shortened game, as the Mets scored early and often against Nick Pivetta.

What It Means:  If the Phillies had more depth in starting pitching, I have to believe that Pivetta would have been shut down at this point.  His ERA continues to grow, as it's now up to 6.49 after allowing six more runs in five innings.

What Happened:  On the bright side, Nick Williams hit a two-run home run (9) in the sixth.

Featured Card:  Cesar Hernandez has quietly had another nice season, and he had three hits in this game.  It will be interesting to see what the starting infield looks like in 2018 with Hernandez, J.P. Crawford, Freddy Galvis, Maikel Franco and Scott Kingery all battling for three spots.  Hernandez doesn't receive much cardboard appreciation, with his only mainstream baseball card appearances this season coming in the Topps flagship and Topps Heritage sets.  This is his card from the Topps Now Road to Opening Day set.

Transaction:  Juan Nicasio, we hardly knew you.  Selected off waivers from the Pirates on Thursday, Nicasio appeared in two games for the Phillies, pitching a perfect 1 1/3 innings with one strikeout.  Less than a week later, on Wednesday afternoon, he was dealt to the Cardinals for infield prospect Eliezer Alvarez.  Alvarez appered in 54 games this season for the Double-A Springfield Cardinals.  His baseball card appearances so far have been limited to minor league sets.

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