Spring Training Game 24 - 2021 Donruss #173 Bryce Harper

Phillies 13, Yankees 12
Spring Training Game 24 - Thursday Night, March 25th in Clearwater
Record - 11-12-1

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies prevailed in a slugfest against the Yankees in Clearwater, winning on a walk-off single from outfield prospect Johan Rojas.

What It Means:  There are only four more spring training games before the start of the regular season on Thursday afternoon, weather permitting.

What Happened:  Matt Moore looked shaky in this outing, allowing 5 runs on 6 hits over 3 2/3 innings.  He allowed long home runs to Aaron Judge and Gleyber Torres.  Jose Alvarado had his first rough outing of the spring, throwing three balls to the backstop and walking three before Joe Girardi mercifully ended to reliever's wild night.  And Enyel De Los Santos, who had also been solid all spring, got lit up for 6 runs in the ninth.  On the offensive side of things, Bryce Harper, J.T. Realmuto, Jean Segura and Rojas all had multi-hit games.  Didi Gregorius and Logan O'Hoppe both connected with three-run home runs.

Featured Card:  I had wanted to go with a Rojas card for this post, but I have yet to add any of his cards to my Phillies collection.  To date, he's only appeared on a few 2020 Panini releases.  I tend to generally stay away from the unlicensed Panini releases, but I do try to add a Donruss team set to my collection every year.  The 2021 Phillies team set arrived in my mailbox yesterday, and included two versions of Harper's card - this running version and another version with Harper at the plate.

2021 Chachi Almost #2

2021 Chachi Almost #3

Camp Head Count:  57 - 2 = 55.  Veteran pitchers Hector Rondon (rhp) and Ivan Nova (rhp) both requested and were granted their releases yesterday afternoon.  Nova was a contender for the 5th or 6th starting pitcher spot, but with Zach Eflin apparently ready to go, his services were most likely no longer needed.  He went 0-2 with a 7.30 ERA over 5 games and 12 1/3 innings pitched.  Rondon made it into 8 games and had an ERA of 7.71 over 7 innings pitched.

2021 Virtual Phillies Wall / 2021 Chachi Set Checklist