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| 2024 Chachi Almost #1 |
Phillies 2, Blue Jays 0
Spring Training Game 30 - Sunday Afternoon, March 24th in Clearwater
Record - 9-14-7
One Sentence Summary: Aaron Nola looked ready for the regular season in his final spring tune-up, as the Phillies held on to defeat the Blue Jays, 2-0.
What It Means: There's one more exhibition game on Monday and then the Phillies will head north to prepare for the 2024 season opener on Thursday afternoon against the Braves.
What Happened: Nola threw 79 pitches, going 5 2/3 innings and allowing a pair of hits while striking out four. Matt Strahm, signed to a contract extension before the game, finished the sixth and pitched a scoreless seventh inning. The Phillies scored their runs on an RBI single from Trea Turner followed by an RBI double from Alec Bohm in the first inning.
Featured Card: I didn't plan for the 2024 Chachi set to debut this way, as I usually dedicate a post to each year's selection process, but this seems like an opportune time to announce which vintage Topps flagship set I'll be spending the year mimicking. I've put off using the 1984 Topps design for my Chachi custom cards as it's never been a favorite of mine, and Topps seems to have run the design into the ground in its recent releases. (Not as bad as 1987 or 1989 Topps, but it still feels like we've seen the 1984 Topps design way more than we should.)
What It Means: There's one more exhibition game on Monday and then the Phillies will head north to prepare for the 2024 season opener on Thursday afternoon against the Braves.
What Happened: Nola threw 79 pitches, going 5 2/3 innings and allowing a pair of hits while striking out four. Matt Strahm, signed to a contract extension before the game, finished the sixth and pitched a scoreless seventh inning. The Phillies scored their runs on an RBI single from Trea Turner followed by an RBI double from Alec Bohm in the first inning.
Featured Card: I didn't plan for the 2024 Chachi set to debut this way, as I usually dedicate a post to each year's selection process, but this seems like an opportune time to announce which vintage Topps flagship set I'll be spending the year mimicking. I've put off using the 1984 Topps design for my Chachi custom cards as it's never been a favorite of mine, and Topps seems to have run the design into the ground in its recent releases. (Not as bad as 1987 or 1989 Topps, but it still feels like we've seen the 1984 Topps design way more than we should.)
In any event, there are only a few remaining designs from the 1970s and 1980s to not yet be used for a Chachi set, and given it's the 40th anniversary of the 1984 Topps set, I felt its time had come. I typically start working on these cards over the summer the year before, but these cards are relatively fresh, having been created just last month. Admittedly, once I started the process, the design grew on me, and I do have fond memories of collecting this set when it was first released.
Camp Head Count: 31
Before the game, the Phillies traded Jake Cave (of) to the Rockies for cash considerations, and Cave becomes the first card in the 2024 Chachi Almost insert set. Cave played in 65 games last season for the Phillies, batting .212 with five home runs and 21 RBIs. He was painfully the final out of the Phillies season, flying out to end NLCS Game 7 against the Diamondbacks.
Andrew Bellatti (rhp) and Jose Ruiz (rhp) were reassigned to minor league camp, meaning no non-roster invitees made the opening day roster this year. Following the game, Kody Clemens (inf) was optioned to Lehigh Valley, seemingly setting the opening day roster. To get down to 26 players from the current 31, it's expected the remaining five players - Rafael Marchan (c), Michael Rucker (rhp), Orion Kerkering (rhp), Dylan Covey (rhp) and Taijuan Walker (rhp) - will start the year on the injured list.
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