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Thursday, March 31, 2022

Spring Training Game 13 - Phils Acquire Reliever Norwood

2022 Chachi New Additions #14
Tigers 7
, Phillies 1
Spring Training Game 13 - Wednesday Afternoon, March 30th in Clearwater
Record - 6-5-2

One Sentence Summary:  Kyle Gibson and Connor Brogdon both looked shaky in this spring training game, as the Phils fell to the Tigers, 7-1.

What It Means:  Reliever Jose Alvarado seems destined to start the season on the injured list, and given his performance in this game, I wouldn't be surprised to see Brogdon join him there.  Brogdon gave up three hits and two runs in his inning of work.

What Happened:  There wasn't much going on from the Phillies offense either.  Bryce Harper hit his third spring home run, with Mickey Moniak and Bryson Stott both adding to their hit totals.  Playing third base, Stott committed his first error of the spring.

Featured Card:  With a few holes left to fill in the bullpen, the Phillies acquired James Norwood (rhp) from the Padres for minor leaguer Kervin Pichardo (inf).  Norwood has appeared in 28 big league games with the Cubs and Padres dating back to 2018.  He pitched five scoreless innings for the Padres with three strikeouts in 2021.  Norwood's only mainstream baseball card appearance to date is in the 2019 Topps Heritage set, where he shares a Cubs Rookie Stars card with Duane Underwood, Jr.

Camp Head Count:  42 + 1 = 43

Wednesday, March 30, 2022

Spring Training Game 12 - Phils Deal Haseley to White Sox

2021 Topps #590
Yankees 14
, Phillies 2
Spring Training Game 12 - Tuesday Afternoon, March 29th in Tampa
Record - 6-4-2

One Sentence Summary:  Phillies pitchers took a beating in this 14-2 drubbing by the Yankees in Tampa.

What It Means:  I know this is a shortened exhibition season, and I've been on the couch sick for half these games, but I'm ready for spring training to end and for the regular season to begin.  Let's go.

What Happened:  Aaron Nola threw 60 pitches in his four innings of work, allowing four runs on five hits, including another home run.  Relievers Nick Duron and Brian Marconi combined to allow eight Yankees runs in the eighth inning.  The Phillies offense had six hits, including a Matt Vierling double.  Four of his six hits this spring are the extra-base variety.

Featured Card:  See below.

Camp Head Count:  43 - 1 = 42

Before the start of this game, the Phillies traded Adam Haseley (of) to the Chicago White Sox for minor leaguer McKinley Moore (rhp).  Haseley's departure is bittersweet as the former #1 pick never came close to reaching his potential while with the club and I'm hoping a fresh start in Chicago is just what he needs.  In parts of three seasons with the Phillies, Haseley appeared in 116 games and batted .264 with five home runs and 39 RBIs.  He was the team's opening day center fielder last season.

It doesn't appear as if Moore has appeared on any readily available baseball cards to date.


2021-2022 Offseason Departures

Date

Transaction

Jorge Bonifacio (of) 10/8/21 Released.

Archie Bradley (rhp) 11/3/21 Elected free agency, signed with the Los Angeles Angels, 3/18/22.

Freddy Galvis (inf) 11/3/21 Elected free agency, signed with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, 12/16/21.

Ian Kennedy (rhp) 11/3/21 Elected free agency, signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks, 3/16/22.

Brad Miller (inf) 11/3/21 Elected free agency, signed with the Texas Rangers, 3/17/22.

Matt Moore (lhp) 11/3/21 Elected free agency, signed with the Texas Rangers, 3/14/22.

Hector Neris (rhp) 11/3/21 Elected free agency, signed with the Houston Astros, 11/30/21.

Andrew McCutchen (of) 11/3/21 Club option declined, elected free agency, signed with the Milwaukee Brewers, 3/16/22.

JD Hammer (rhp) 11/5/21 Outrighted, elected free agency, signed with the Colorado Rockies, 3/13/22.

Travis Jankowski (of) 11/5/21 Outrighted, elected free agency, signed with the New York Mets, 3/17/22.

Andrew Knapp (c) 11/5/21 Outrighted, elected free agency, signed with the Cincinnati Reds, 12/1/21.

Ramon Rosso (rhp) 11/5/21 Outrighted, elected free agency, signed with the Detroit Tigers, 3/14/22.

Mauricio Llovera (rhp) 11/7/21 Elected free agency, signed with the San Francisco Giants, 12/3/21.

David Paulino (rhp) 11/7/21 Elected free agency.

Roman Quinn (of) 11/30/21 Non-tendered, elected free agency, signed with the Miami Marlins, 3/12/22.

Adonis Medina (rhp) 3/6/22 Claimed off waivers by the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Luke Williams (of) 3/27/22 Traded to the San Francisco Giants for Will Toffey (inf) and cash.

Adam Haseley (of) 3/29/22 Traded to the Chicago White Sox for McKinley Moore (rhp).


Coming Back





Cam Bedrosian (rhp) 11/3/21 Elected free agency, re-signed with Phillies (12/1/21).

Odubel Herrera (of) 11/5/21 Outrighted, elected free agency, re-signed with Phillies (3/16/22).

Ronald Torreyes (inf) 11/5/21 Outrighted, elected free agency, re-signed with Phillies (3/20/22).


2021-2022 Offseason Additions





Ryan Sherriff (lhp) 11/5/21 Claimed off waivers from the Tampa Bay Rays.

Kent Emanuel (lhp) 11/19/21 Claimed off waivers from the Houston Astros.

Nick Nelson (rhp) 11/19/21 Acquired from the New York Yankees for Joel Valdez (lhp) and T.J. Rumfield (1b)

Donny Sands (c) 11/19/21 --

Garrett Stubbs (c) 11/19/21 Acquired from the Houston Astros for Logan Cerny (of)

Scott Moss (lhp) 11/24/21 Claimed off waivers from the Cleveland Guardians.

Corey Knebel (rhp) 12/1/21 Signed as a free agent formerly with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Johan Camargo (inf) 12/1/21 Signed as a free agent formerly with the Atlanta Braves.

Jeurys Familia (rhp) 3/15/22 Signed as a free agent formerly with the New York Mets.

Brad Hand (lhp) 3/15/22 Signed as a free agent formerly with the New York Mets.

Kyle Schwarber (of) 3/20/22 Signed as a free agent formerly with the Boston Red Sox.

Nick Castellanos (of) 3/22/22 Signed as a free agent formerly with the Cincinnati Reds.

Tuesday, March 29, 2022

Spring Training Game 11 - Castellanos, Schwarbs Both Homer

2022 Topps Opening Day #178
Phillies 7
, Orioles 1
Spring Training Game 11 - Monday Afternoon, March 28th in Clearwater
Record - 6-3-2

One Sentence Summary:  Nick Castellanos and Kyle Schwarber both connected for their first home runs in a Phillies uniform, as the Phillies easily handled the Orioles in this 7-1 win.

What It Means:  Opening day is only 11 days away.

What Happened:  The Phillies pitching staff looked great against the Orioles, allowing just a run on a Tyler Nevin solo home run.  Cristopher Sanchez pitched three scoreless innings, allowing a hit while striking out three.  Matt Kroon and Garrett Stubbs also both homered for the Phillies while Bryson Stott collected three hits while raising his spring average to .533.  Mickey Moniak continued swinging a hot bat with a double.

Featured Card:  Both Castellanos and Schwarber have already received their first Phillies cards in the form of Topps Now cards, featuring them wearing the uniforms of their former teams, but announcing their signings with the Phillies.  Personally, I like the Chachi New Additions cards I created for the new sluggers much better.  Castellanos can be found in the recently released 2022 Topps Opening Day set as a member of the Reds.

Camp Head Count:  47 - 4 = 43

Following the game, the Phillies removed four players from the list of non-roster invitees, reassigning them to minor league camp:  Edgar Cabral (c), Joe Gatto (rhp), Justin Williams (of) and Austin Wynns (c).

Sunday, March 27, 2022

Spring Training Games 4 through 10 - The Phillies Room Flu Catch-Up

2022 Chachi New Additions #12
2022 Chachi New Additions #13

Yankees 5
, Phillies 2
Spring Training Game 4 - Monday Afternoon, March 21st in Tampa

Phillies 7Tigers 2
Spring Training Game 5 - Tuesday Afternoon, March 22nd in Clearwater

Phillies 8Blue Jays 7
Spring Training Game 6 - Wednesday Afternoon, March 23rd in Clearwater

Phillies 3Pirates 3 (5 Innings)
Spring Training Game 7 - Thursday Afternoon, March 24th in Bradenton

Phillies 6Yankees 5
Spring Training Game 8 - Friday Afternoon, March 25th in Clearwater

Tigers 14Phillies 8
Spring Training Game 9 - Saturday Afternoon, March 26th in Lakeland

Phillies 10Blue Jays 5
Spring Training Game 10 - Sunday Afternoon, March 27th in Dunedin
Record - 5-3-2

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies signed a pair of sluggers and overall the team enjoyed a successful week of spring training baseball.

What It Means:  It was a lost week for The Phillies Room as a vicious flu bug took hold on Sunday afternoon and finally seemed to be tapering off a week later.  I slept through entire games, went a few days without solid foods and I only vaguely recall select sound bites from the Schwarber and Castellanos introductory press conferences.  If this were the regular season, I'd publish a rapid fire series of seven posts to catch up.  But since these are exhibition games, I'm going to cheat and catch up with one massive post.  Assuming I still feel good tomorrow, regular game posts should resume.

What Happened:  My attention span during the week was sporadic and short, but I recall Matt Vierling, Seranthony Dominguez and Mickey Moniak all having great performances.  Moniak finds himself with the team-lead with three home runs.  The biggest disappointment from the week was the loss of Phillies Room Favorite Luke Williams to the Giants.

Featured Cards:  Schwarber and Castellanos, seemingly the new left-field/designated hitter combo for the team join the Chachi New Additions insert set.

Camp Head Count:  Monday, March 21st - 60 - 3 = 57

Following the game, the Phillies reassigned Logan O'Hoppe (c) to minor league camp, and optioned Jhailyn Ortiz (of) to Reading and Luis Garcia (inf) to Jersey Shore.

Tuesday, March 22nd - 57 + 1 - 5 = 53

Following the game, the Phillies officially announced the signing of Nick Castellanos (of) to a five-year contract and Luke Williams (of-inf) was designated for assignment to make room for Castellanos on the 40-man roster.

Additionally, Hans Crouse (rhp) and Rafael Marchan (c) were optioned to minor league camp while Kyle Dohy (lhp) and Johan Rojas (of) were reassigned to minor league camp.

Wednesday, March 23rd - 53 - 1 = 52

Following the game, Francisco Morales (rhp) was optioned to the minor league camp.

Friday, March 25th - 52 - 5 = 47

Before the game, James McArthur (rhp) was optioned to minor league camp.  Tyler Cyr (rhp), Jake Newberry (rhp) and Scott Kingery (inf) were all reassigned to minor league camp.  Following the game, Simon Muzziotti was also optioned to minor league camp.

Sunday, March 27th - 47

During the game, the trade of Williams to the Giants for Will Toffey (inf) and cash was announced.  Toffey has spent time in the Athletics, Mets and Giants systems over the past five seasons.  He batted .270 in 31 games for the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats last year, and he appears in the 2020 Bowman Prospect Autographs insert set.

Monday, March 21, 2022

Spring Training Game 3 - Schwarber Officially Signs

2021 Topps Living Set #439
Braves 5
, Phillies 1
Spring Training Game 3 - Sunday Afternoon, March 20th in North Port
Record - 1-1-1

One Sentence Summary:  The Braves scored five runs in a nightmare eighth inning, as the club lost their first spring game, 5-1.

What It Means:  The Phillies will not finish their shortened Grapefruit League season undefeated.

What Happened:  Kyle Gibson made his spring debut with two scoreless innings of work, striking out three.  The lone Phillies run came in the fifth inning when Simon Muzziotti singled home Darick Hall.  Reliever James Marvel took the brunt of the beating in the eighth, although a few misplays by left fielder Drew Maggi didn't help him.  Marvel allowed five runs on four hits and a walk.

Featured Card:  There wasn't much to be excited about on the field, so here's a card of the newest slugger added to the Phillies line-up (see below).  After Kyle Schwarber's signing was officially announced, he met up with current hitting coach Kevin Long and former Phillies manager Charlie Manuel.

Camp Head Count:  58 + 3 - 1 = 60

Before this game, the Phillies (finally) officially announced additional non-roster invitees Dillon Maples (rhp) and Austin Wynns (c) along with an additional non-roster invitee, and Phillies Room favorite, Ronald Torreyes (inf).  The team also (again, finally) officially announced the signing of Schwarber (of) to a four-year contract.  We'll have to wait a few more days for the official announcement for Nick Castellanos.

To make room on the 40-man roster for Schwarber, Kent Emanuel (lhp) was placed on the 60-day injured list with an elbow injury.


2021-2022 Offseason Departures

Date

Transaction

Jorge Bonifacio (of) 10/8/21 Released.

Archie Bradley (rhp) 11/3/21 Elected free agency, signed with the Los Angeles Angels, 3/18/22.

Freddy Galvis (inf) 11/3/21 Elected free agency, signed with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, 12/16/21.

Ian Kennedy (rhp) 11/3/21 Elected free agency, signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks, 3/16/22.

Brad Miller (inf) 11/3/21 Elected free agency, signed with the Texas Rangers, 3/17/22.

Matt Moore (lhp) 11/3/21 Elected free agency, signed with the Texas Rangers, 3/14/22.

Hector Neris (rhp) 11/3/21 Elected free agency, signed with the Houston Astros, 11/30/21.

Andrew McCutchen (of) 11/3/21 Club option declined, elected free agency, signed with the Milwaukee Brewers, 3/16/22.

JD Hammer (rhp) 11/5/21 Outrighted, elected free agency, signed with the Colorado Rockies, 3/13/22.

Travis Jankowski (of) 11/5/21 Outrighted, elected free agency, signed with the New York Mets, 3/17/22.

Andrew Knapp (c) 11/5/21 Outrighted, elected free agency, signed with the Cincinnati Reds, 12/1/21.

Ramon Rosso (rhp) 11/5/21 Outrighted, elected free agency, signed with the Detroit Tigers, 3/14/22.

Ronald Torreyes (inf) 11/5/21 Outrighted, elected free agency.

Mauricio Llovera (rhp) 11/7/21 Elected free agency, signed with the San Francisco Giants, 12/3/21.

David Paulino (rhp) 11/7/21 Elected free agency.

Roman Quinn (of) 11/30/21 Non-tendered, elected free agency, signed with the Miami Marlins, 3/12/22.

Adonis Medina (rhp) 3/6/22 Claimed off waivers by the Pittsburgh Pirates.


Coming Back





Cam Bedrosian (rhp) 11/3/21 Elected free agency, re-signed with Phillies (12/1/21).

Odubel Herrera (of) 11/5/21 Outrighted, elected free agency, re-signed with Phillies (3/16/22).

Ronald Torreyes (inf) 11/5/21 Outrighted, elected free agency, re-signed with Phillies (3/20/22).


2021-2022 Offseason Additions





Ryan Sherriff (lhp) 11/5/21 Claimed off waivers from the Tampa Bay Rays.

Kent Emanuel (lhp) 11/19/21 Claimed off waivers from the Houston Astros.

Nick Nelson (rhp) 11/19/21 Acquired from the New York Yankees for Joel Valdez (lhp) and T.J. Rumfield (1b)

Donny Sands (c) 11/19/21 --

Garrett Stubbs (c) 11/19/21 Acquired from the Houston Astros for Logan Cerny (of)

Scott Moss (lhp) 11/24/21 Claimed off waivers from the Cleveland Guardians.

Corey Knebel (rhp) 12/1/21 Signed as a free agent formerly with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Johan Camargo (inf) 12/1/21 Signed as a free agent formerly with the Atlanta Braves.

Jeurys Familia (rhp) 3/15/22 Signed as a free agent formerly with the New York Mets.

Brad Hand (lhp) 3/15/22 Signed as a free agent formerly with the New York Mets.

Kyle Schwarber (of) 3/20/22 Signed as a free agent formerly with the Boston Red Sox.

Sunday, March 20, 2022

Spring Training Game 2 - As there's a drive into deep left field by . . .

2018 Topps Update #US274
Phillies 3
, Blue Jays 2
Spring Training Game 2 - Saturday Afternoon, March 19th in Clearwater
Record - 1-0-1

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies opened their shortened Clearwater spring season with a 3-2 win over the Blue Jays.

What It Means:  Late Friday night/early Saturday morning, the Phillies reportedly agreed to a five-year deal with outfielder Nick Castellanos.  Understandably, a lot of the buzz on Saturday was around that reported signing and not Aaron Nola's first start of the spring.  Also, the deal with slugger Kyle Schwarber will apparently be officially announced on Sunday.

What Happened:  Nola went two innings, striking out five, and allowing a pair of impressive home runs to Vladmir Guerrero, Jr. and Orelvis Martinez.  J.T. Realmuto doubled home Jean Segura in the first to tie the score after Guerrero's bomb.  Luke Williams singled home Johan Camargo in the second to re-tie the game after Martinez's home run.  Seven Phillies relievers held the Blue Jays scoreless after Nola departed.

Featured Card:  In the bottom of the seventh, non-roster invitee Yairo Munoz singled home Jhailyn Ortiz to give the Phillies a 3-2 lead.  Camargo is most likely going to win the infield bench spot, but Munoz provides another potential option.  He's appeared in the 2018 Topps Update and 2019 Topps flagship releases.

Camp Head Count:  58 + 1 = 59

Following the game, Matt Gelb reported via Twitter the Phillies had added another catcher to the list of non-roster invitees with the signing of Austin Wynns, formerly with the Orioles.  I also wanted to add Dillon Maples to the list below as he was signed to a minor league deal on March 15th with an invite to big league camp.


Player (position) Date 2021 Organization Last Major Baseball Card Appearance
1 Cam Bedrosian (rhp) 12/14/21 Reds / Athletics / Phillies 2020 Topps Total #706 - Angels
2 Kyle Dohy (lhp) 12/14/21 Phillies N/A
3 Andrew Bellatti (rhp) 12/14/21 Marlins 2009 Bowman Draft Prospects #BDPP37 - Rays
4 Tyler Cyr (rhp) 12/14/21 Giants N/A
5 Joe Gatto (rhp) 12/14/21 Rangers 2016 Bowman Turn Two #TT-NE - Angels
6 Michael Kelly (rhp) 12/14/21 Astros N/A
7 Jake Newberry (rhp) 12/14/21 Royals 2020 Topps Update #U-105 - Royals
8 Edgar Cabral (c) 3/12/22 Phillies 2018 Bowman Prospect Autographs #PA-EC - Phillies
9 Nick Duron (rhp) 3/12/22 Mariners N/A
10 Darick Hall (inf) 3/12/22 Phillies 2019 Bowman Talent Pipeline #TP-PHI - Phillies
11 Scott Kingery (inf) 3/12/22 Phillies 2022 Topps Opening Day Luck of the Irish #LI-3 - Phillies
12 Yairo Munoz (inf) 3/12/22 Red Sox 2020 Topps Total #324 - Red Sox
13 Braeden Ogle (lhp) 3/12/22 Pirates / Phillies N/A
14 Logan O'Hoppe (c) 3/12/22 Phillies 2020 Bowman Chrome Prospect Autographs #CPA-LOH - Phillies
15 Johan Rojas (of) 3/12/22 Phillies 2020 Bowman Chrome Prospect Autographs #CPA-JR - Phillies
16 Bryson Stott (inf) 3/12/22 Phillies 2021 Bowman Prospects #BP-17 - Phillies
17 Justin Williams (of) 3/12/22 Cardinals 2021 Topps Update #US68 - Cardinals
18 Dillon Maples (rhp) 3/15/22 Cubs 2019 Topps Total #568 - Cubs
19 Austin Wynns (c) 3/19/22 Orioles 2020 Topps Total #699 - Orioles

Saturday, March 19, 2022

Spring Training Game 1 - Baseball is Back!

2021 Choice Lehigh Valley
IronPigs Update #14
Phillies 6
, Tigers 6
Spring Training Game 1 - Friday Afternoon, March 18th in Lakeland
Record - 0-0-1

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies received home runs from Darick Hall and Matt Kroon as they played to a tie against the Tigers in Lakeland.

What It Means:  After another long offseason, which included a 99-day lock-out by the owners, baseball is back!  Spring training games this year will be played over only three weeks, and the start of the regular season will be pushed back a week as a residual effect of the lock-out.  I'm thrilled to be able to compose these daily game summary posts for another year.

What Happened:  None of the team's veterans made the trip for this game, which featured quite a few prospects and non-roster invitees.  Michael Kelly received the start for the Phillies and he pitched two scoreless innings.  The offense had 12 hits, including a pair from Justin Williams.

Featured Card:  I'd love to see Hall got a shot with the Phillies at some point.  He's collected 98 minor league home runs with the organization since his professional debut back in 2016.

First pitch of the spring to Jhailyn Ortiz
Camp Head Count:  58

The Phillies' official website has gotten progressively worse over the years in updating its roster and transactions pages.  Memorialized below are the 58 players in camp with the club as Grapefruit League action began.  New acquisition Kyle Schwarber has yet to be added to the 40-man roster.

Right-handed pitchers (21) - Cam Bedrosian*, Andrew Bellatti*, Connor Brogdon, Sam Coonrod, Tyler Cyr*, Nick Duron*, Joe Gatto*, Hans Crouse, Seranthony Dominguez, Zach Eflin, Jeurys Familia, Kyle Gibson, Michael Kelly*, Corey Knebel, Dillon Maples*, James McArthur, Francisco Morales, Nick Nelson, Jake Newberry*, Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler

Left-handed pitchers (10) - Jose Alvarado, Kyle Dohy*, Kent Emanuel, Bailey Falter, Brad Hand, Damon Jones, Braeden Ogle*, Cristopher Sanchez, Ryan Sherriff, Ranger Suarez

Catchers (6) - Edgar Cabral*, Rafael Marchan, Logan O'Hoppe*, J.T. Realmuto, Donny Sands, Garrett Stubbs

Infielders (11) - Alec Bohm, Johan Camargo, Luis Garcia, Didi Gregorius, Darick Hall*, Rhys Hoskins, Scott Kingery*, Nick Maton, Yairo Munoz*, Jean Segura, Bryson Stott*

Outfielders (10) - Bryce Harper, Adam Haseley, Odubel Herrera, Mickey Moniak, Simon Muzziotti, Jhailyn Ortiz, Johan Rojas*, Matt Vierling, Justin Williams*, Luke Williams

JoJo Romero (lhp) is on the 60-day injured list, recovering from Tommy John surgery.  On Friday, Yoan Lopez (rhp) was claimed by the Marlins off waivers after being designated for assignment to make room for Odubel Herrera (of), resigned to a one-year contract.

*Non-roster invitee

Wednesday, March 16, 2022

Phils Add a Pair of Veteran Relievers

2022 Chachi New Additions #10
2022 Chachi New Additions #11

The Phillies jumped in with their first official significant signings on Tuesday, inking righty reliever Jeurys Familia and lefty reliever Brad Hand to a one-year contracts each worth $6 million.  I'm not a fan of the Familia signing, especially since I've witnessed several of his meltdowns firsthand, courtesy of his new team.  He'll fill the role vacated by Archie Bradley.  Familia is a veteran of ten major league seasons with the Mets and Athletics, with a lifetime record of 32-25, a 3.28 ERA and 125 saves.  His last major baseball card appearance came back in 2020 in the Topps Total set.

Brad Hand has been around since 2011, and he was an All-Star with the Padres in 2017 and the Indians in 2019.  Hand has pitched with the Marlins (2011-2015), Padres (2016-2018), Indians (2018-2020); Nationals (2021), Blue Jays (2021) and Mets (2021).  He's 32-50 with 464 career games with a 3.68 ERA and 126 saves, one more than Familia.  Hand was in the 2021 Topps Series One set.

In case you forgot, and I certainly did, here's the updated list of offseason transactions to date and I'm sure this list could be outdated by the time I post this.


2021-2022 Offseason Departures

Date

Transaction

Jorge Bonifacio (of) 10/8/21 Released.

Archie Bradley (rhp) 11/3/21 Elected free agency.

Freddy Galvis (inf) 11/3/21 Elected free agency, signed with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, 12/12/21.

Ian Kennedy (rhp) 11/3/21 Elected free agency, signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Brad Miller (inf) 11/3/21 Elected free agency.

Matt Moore (lhp) 11/3/21 Elected free agency, signed with the Texas Rangers, 3/14/22.

Hector Neris (rhp) 11/3/21 Elected free agency, signed with the Houston Astros, 11/30/21.

Andrew McCutchen (of) 11/3/21 Club option declined, elected free agency, signed with the Milwaukee Brewers.

JD Hammer (rhp) 11/5/21 Outrighted, elected free agency, signed with the Colorado Rockies, 3/13/22.

Odubel Herrera (of) 11/5/21 Outrighted, elected free agency.

Travis Jankowski (of) 11/5/21 Outrighted, elected free agency.

Andrew Knapp (c) 11/5/21 Outrighted, elected free agency, signed with the Cincinnati Reds, 12/1/21.

Ramon Rosso (rhp) 11/5/21 Outrighted, elected free agency, signed with the Detroit Tigers, 3/14/22.

Ronald Torreyes (inf) 11/5/21 Outrighted, elected free agency.

Mauricio Llovera (rhp) 11/7/21 Elected free agency, signed with the San Francisco Giants, 12/3/21.

David Paulino (rhp) 11/7/21 Elected free agency.

Roman Quinn (of) 11/30/21 Non-tendered, elected free agency, signed with the Miami Marlins.


Coming Back





Cam Bedrosian (rhp) 11/3/21 Elected free agency, re-signed with Phillies (12/1/21)


2021-2022 Offseason Additions





Ryan Sherriff (lhp) 11/5/21 Claimed off waivers from the Tampa Bay Rays.

Kent Emanuel (lhp) 11/19/21 Claimed off waivers from the Houston Astros.

Nick Nelson (rhp) 11/19/21 Acquired from the New York Yankees for Joel Valdez (lhp) and T.J. Rumfield (1b)

Donny Sands (c) 11/19/21 --

Garrett Stubbs (c) 11/19/21 Acquired from the Houston Astros for Logan Cerny (of)

Scott Moss (lhp) 11/24/21 Claimed off waivers from the Cleveland Guardians.

Yoan Lopez (rhp) 11/29/21 Claimed off waivers from the Atlanta Braves.

Corey Knebel (rhp) 12/1/21 Signed as a free agent formerly with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Jeurys Familia (rhp) 3/15/22 Signed as a free agent formerly with the New York Mets.

Brad Hand (lhp) 3/15/22 Signed as a free agent formerly with the New York Mets.

Tuesday, March 15, 2022

The First* Phillie of 2022: Well Done, Topps


*I'm cheating here.  The first Phillie of 2022 was technically the Kyle Gibson card, as that was the first live 2022 Topps baseball card I saw as it was on the top of the team set I purchased earlier this month.  Since shortly after the start of the pandemic, Jenna has resorted to curbside pick-up for our groceries or an occasional home delivery.  This means neither of us have set foot inside a Target or Walmart in about two years, and I'm thoroughly OK with this.  This also means the days of buying random blasters of new baseball cards is pretty much gone.  I ordered the Phillies team set from an eBay seller in early March, the set arrived recently, and I've already posted a gallery of Phillies cards from Series One of the set.

But for the purpose of tradition . . . Doug pulled the first Phillie this year, the Zack Wheeler card out of the first pack of 2022 Topps he opened.  Ben was a few seconds behind him with the Matt Vierling card.  Since we don't venture inside stores anymore, Jenna ordered two blasters of 2022 Topps Series One from Target with the small box delivered on Sunday afternoon.

It's a great design this year.  It looks like a Topps flagship set should look - clean, relatively plain - but it also looks like a baseball card design from the year 2022.  Well done, Topps.  The player's names are easy to read, the photography is great, the player's position is on the front of the card, and I've always preferred a card with the team's logo on the front.  The more I look at the design, the more I like it, and it's easily the best design of the past ten years - ahead of the 2015 and 2019 Topps sets in my opinion.

The backs are fine too.  Clean, with an easy to read card number, and I appreciate the Series One indicator below the card number as well.  The team logo shows up again on the back, which again, I appreciate.  My only small complaint is the orientation of the back of the cards seem to go both ways.  This would drive me nuts if I had planned on binder-ing this set, but since I'll purchase a factory set at the end of year and binder-ing these days is reserved for vintage sets, I'll never notice this quirk.

Monday, March 14, 2022

Where Were We?

2021 Choice Lehigh Valley
IronPigs #3
2018 Topps Heritage #592
 
2021 Choice
Clearwater Threshers #18
2021 Choice Reading
Fightin Phils #1
2021 Topps Update #US68
 

And we're back!  After a 99-day owner-imposed lock-out, Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Player's Association came to an agreement on Thursday afternoon.  The transaction freeze ended that night and we've already seen several free agent signings and a few trades.  We're still waiting for official word of any Phillies signings (Kris Bryant would be nice) but the club did issue a press release on Saturday evening announcing their 17 non-roster invitees to spring training.  The first seven were announced back in December, and I've added the final (?) ten below to the list.


Player (position) Date 2021 Organization Last Major Baseball Card Appearance
1 Cam Bedrosian (rhp) 12/14/21 Reds / Athletics / Phillies 2020 Topps Total #706 - Angels
2 Kyle Dohy (lhp) 12/14/21 Phillies N/A
3 Andrew Bellatti (rhp) 12/14/21 Marlins 2009 Bowman Draft Prospects #BDPP37 - Rays
4 Tyler Cyr (rhp) 12/14/21 Giants N/A
5 Joe Gatto (rhp) 12/14/21 Rangers 2016 Bowman Turn Two #TT-NE - Angels
6 Michael Kelly (rhp) 12/14/21 Astros N/A
7 Jake Newberry (rhp) 12/14/21 Royals 2020 Topps Update #U-105 - Royals
8 Edgar Cabral (c) 3/12/22 Phillies 2018 Bowman Prospect Autographs #PA-EC - Phillies
9 Nick Duron (rhp) 3/12/22 Mariners N/A
10 Darick Hall (inf) 3/12/22 Phillies 2019 Bowman Talent Pipeline #TP-PHI - Phillies
11 Scott Kingery (inf) 3/12/22 Phillies 2022 Topps Opening Day Luck of the Irish #LI-3 - Phillies
12 Yairo Munoz (inf) 3/12/22 Red Sox 2020 Topps Total #324 - Red Sox
13 Braeden Ogle (lhp) 3/12/22 Pirates / Phillies N/A
14 Logan O'Hoppe (c) 3/12/22 Phillies 2020 Bowman Chrome Prospect Autographs #CPA-LOH - Phillies
15 Johan Rojas (of) 3/12/22 Phillies 2020 Bowman Chrome Prospect Autographs #CPA-JR - Phillies
16 Bryson Stott (inf) 3/12/22 Phillies 2021 Bowman Prospects #BP-17 - Phillies
17 Justin Williams (of) 3/12/22 Cardinals 2021 Topps Update #US68 - Cardinals

Friday, March 11, 2022

2022 Topps Phillies Team Set - Series One

#321 Bryce Harper / Andrew Knapp CPC
#59 Bryce Harper LL
#127 Zack Wheeler LL
#10 Archie Bradley
#179 Zach Eflin
#67 Freddy Galvis
#57 Kyle Gibson
#44 Didi Gregorius
#250 Bryce Harper
#102 Ian Kennedy
#180 J.T. Realmuto
#178 Jean Segura
#316 Matt Vierling
#249 Zack Wheeler
#62 Luke Williams

Monday, March 7, 2022

Philly Baseball Card Show Report - Focus on 1965 Topps Set


Doug and I attended the Philly Show this past weekend, or the Philadelphia Sports Collectors Show, as it's officially known, held once again in the Valley Forge Casino Resort in King of Prussia.  Having been somewhat overwhelmed by the Saturday crowd when we attended the show in December, we decided to mix it up a little and go on a Sunday.  It was the right call.

After a smooth drive with no traffic, we arrived at the show right after the doors had opened at 9am and walked in with a few other families.  There were no lines and the crowd was fairly thin for the first few hours of the show, allowing us to actually browse tables and talk with some of the dealers.  I know the dealers obviously prefer a larger crowd, but I felt I probably spent more since I never felt rushed and I spent more time looking through binders and studying display cases than I usually would.  The autograph guests for the day were all Eagles players, and most of them weren't set to arrive until after lunch.  It seemed the general vibe of the show for those early Sunday hours was take your time, find stuff you like, purchase, repeat.

While Doug set out to acquire a few cool J.T. Realmuto cards (mission accomplished - see above) I had my focus on acquiring as many of the remaining 114 cards needed for our 1965 Topps set as possible.  After an unexpected detour where I added four cards to my slowly progressing 1934-36 Diamond Stars set, I started looking for dealers with 1965 Topps commons binders.  My search netted 102 cards from primarily three dealers - America's Pastime, Uncle Dick's (again) and Sports Cards Plus.  I'll continue to chronicle each card acquired for our set over on my 1965 Topps blog.

Funds depleted, dents made to our want lists, we left the show early and were home by lunch.  Doug's new Realmuto treasures along with a few other pick-ups are already proudly displayed in his room, while I have another huge stack of cards to checklist and sort and I'm thrilled to know a 1965 Topps complete set is well within reach.  Just need to track down reasonably priced Mantle and Koufax cards . . .


Memory Lane
Valley Forge 1 - September 2010 - Thinking of my Dad
Valley Forge 2 - October 2012 - Doug's first baseball card show
Valley Forge 3 - September 2014 - Meeting Darren Daulton
Oaks 1 - October 2015 - Meeting Pete Rose and Steve Carlton
Valley Forge 4 - September 2016 - Phillies acquisitions and 4 Phillies Legends
Valley Forge 5 - December 2016 - Meeting Don Money
Valley Forge 6 - September 2017 - Doug's big day
Valley Forge 7 - December 2017 - Ben's first baseball card show with Mike Schmidt and Rhys Hoskins!
Oaks 2 - December 2018 - Meeting Matt Stairs and Cole Hamels
Valley Forge 8 - March 2019 - 5 Phillies Autographs and Vintage Phillies Additions
Valley Forge 9 - September 2019 - Closing in on 1971 Topps set and Andrew McCutchen
Valley Forge 10 - December 2019 - Finishing 1971 Topps set, Starting 1965 Topps set, adding key autographs from Ryan Howard and Brad Lidge
Valley Forge 11 - February 2020 - More 1965 Topps cards, Jimmy Rollins, Mike Lieberthal and Jim Kaat
Valley Forge 12 - December 2021 - Huge haul of 1965 Topps, Jim Thome
Valley Forge 13 - March 2022 - Easy like Sunday morning, close to completing 1965 Topps

Tuesday, March 1, 2022

2022 Phillies Want List

2022 Topps #321


Bowman (May 2022)
Prospect Autographs - PPA-NF Fassnacht

Topps 206 
(Ongoing)
Wave 2 - Realmuto, Thome
Wave 3 - Dykstra, Marsh, Realmuto, Schwarber
Wave 5 - Nola, Segura, Syndergaard

Topps Series One (February 2022)
Home Field Advantage - HA-3 Harper

Topps Series Two (June 2022)
Home Run Challenge - HRC-5 Harper

Topps Archives (October 2022)
Main Set - 340 Stott
1988 Topps Big Minis - 88BM-24 Schmidt
Fan Favorites Autographs - 60FF-AR Rowand
Topps Postcards - PC-3 Harper

Topps Heritage (March 2022)
1973 Topps Venezuelan Stamps - 11 Harper
Real One Autographs - ROA-LW Williams, ROA-MV Vierling

Topps Heritage High Numbers (December 2022)
1973 Topps Candy Lids - HN12 Castellanos

Topps Now (Ongoing)
MLB Network Top 100 Players - T-5 Harper, T-36 Castellanos, T-80 Schwarber

Topps Opening Day (March 2022)
Dugout Peeks - DP-18 Harper
Luck of the Irish - LI-1 Harper, LI-2 Wheeler, LI-3 Kingery, LI-4 Williams, LI-14 Bohm
Walk This Way - WTW-1 Realmuto, WTW-20 McCutchen

Topps Stadium Club (December 2022)
1991 Design Variation - 300 Harper
1992 Rookie Design Variation - 71 Stott, 203 Vierling, 260 Crouse
Beam Team - BT-2 Harper
Dynasty and Destiny - 1A Harper
Instavision - IV-BH Harper
Power Zone - PZ-2 Harper

Topps Throwback Thursday (Ongoing)
Main Set - 34 Bohm

Topps Update (October 2022)
Main Set - US275 Mercado
Image Variations - US224 Stott
Stars of MLB - SMLB-83 Stott

Coming Soon

Bowman Heritage (TBA)