Uniform Number Update - 2018 Edition

2014 Topps #502

1993 Topps #418

2009 Topps #232

2012 Topps #625

A sure sign that spring training is approaching is the appearance of new uniform numbers on the Phillies website's roster page, usually in mid-January.  New players and coaches have had the dreaded "--" in front of their names all offseason and the Phillies only updated their website for the new uniform number assignments this past week.  Here's a look at the new number assignments and a few number changes.

This is a longer post than in prior years given the complete overhaul of the coaching staff.

New Players (Under 60/Over 90 Division)

• #4 Ryan Flaherty - Flaherty takes over the number that Andres Blanco wore the past four seasons.
• #9 Adam Rosales - Bullpen coach John McLaren wore this number for the Phillies in 2017.
• #12 Will Middlebrooks - Middlebrooks assumes the number associated with former Phillies coach Mickey Morandini.
• #21 Collin Cowgill - Clay Buchholz briefly wore this number last season.
• #30 Matt McBride - Cameron Perkins most recently wore this number last season.
• #33 Drew Hutchison - This number opened up when pitching coach Rick Kranitz switched to #39.
• #40 Tommy Hunter - Former hitting coach Matt Stairs wore this number in 2017.
• #41 Carlos Santana - Santana has worn this number his entire career and with Brock Stassi headed to the Twins, there wasn't even a need to negotiate for it.
• #93 Pat Neshek - If Neshek has explained his reasoning for his new high number, I've missed it so far.  He wore #17 during his stint last season with the club before being traded to the Rockies.  He's the first person in franchise history to wear #93.

New Coaches

• #3 Jose Flores - Oddly enough, this number was vacant all last season.  David Lough last wore the number in 2016.
• #8 John Mallee - New hitting coach Mallee takes over the number that rightfully only belongs to Juan Samuel.
• #22 Gabe Kapler - Bob McClure wore this number the past four seasons.  Interestingly enough, Kapler never wore the number during his 12-year big league career.
• #35 Jim Gott - Gott becomes the first person to wear #35 since Cole Hamels departed for the Rangers in mid-2015.
• #45 Chris Young - The new assistant pitching coach takes over Pete Mackanin's old number.
• #58 Pedro Guerrero - Jeremy Hellickson's number goes to the new assistant hitting coach.
• #59 Rob Thomson - This number became available when Mark Leiter, Jr. switched to #31.
• #62 Dusty Wathan - Patrick Schuster briefly wore this number in 2016.

Number Swaps

1998 Phillies Team Issue #31

• #15 Andrew Knapp - Knapp wore #34 last season and the Phillies announced that no one would wear that number in 2018 in honor of Roy Halladay.
• #31 Mark Leiter, Jr. - This is kind of cool.  Leiter assumes the number his father wore for the Phillies in 1997 and 1998.  Hyun Soo Kim sported the number last season.
• #39 Rick Kranitz - Kranitz swapped the #33 he's worn the past two season for #39.
• #46 Adam Morgan - Morgan had worn #39, but he's now switched to #46.  Jesen Therrien and Jeanmar Gomez wore #46 last season.

Highest Number
If not for Neshek, non-roster invitee Nick Rickles would win the honors with his #86.

Numbers Available - Unofficially Retired Division
The Phillies have a cool, yet unofficial policy of not handing out the uniform number of recently departed players (or coaches) who had been with the team for a while, and left a significant legacy with the franchise.  I'm including #25 on the list below as this may be the Phillies paying tribute to recent Hall of Fame inductee Jim Thome.

#6 Ryan Howard
#10 Larry Bowa and Darren Daulton
#11 Jimmy Rollins
#13 Freddy Galvis
#25 Jim Thome (no offense to Daniel Nava, who wore the number in 2017)
#26 Chase Utley
#34 Roy Halladay

Number Available - Up for Grabs Division
And then there is the one stray number that just hasn't found a new home yet.  #54 was worn by both Casey Fien and Kevin Siegrist last season and it's the only number between 1 and 60, and not unofficially retired, currently up for grabs.  Non-roster invitee Fernando Abad may end up wearing #54, as he's currently numberless on the Phillies website.

Don't Forget Us
The Phillies went the extra mile and list out the following additional coaches/staff on the Coaches portion of their website - #81 Craig Driver (bullpen catcher/receiving coach), #82 Bob Stumpo (bullpen catcher/catching coach), #87 Sam Fuld (Major League player information coordinator) and #95 Mike Calitri (manager, advanced scouting)

Memory Lane

2012 New Numbers

2013 New Numbers
2014 New Numbers - Part One and Part Two
2015 New Numbers
2016 New Numbers - Part One and Part Two
2017 New Numbers
2018 New Numbers