Game 141 - Kepler, Stott Back Sanchez's Stellar Start

Philadelphia Phillies	9
Miami Marlins	3

2018 Topps Heritage #73

Friday Night, September 5th

loanDepot park - Miami, FL
82-59, 1st Place, 6 games ahead of the Mets

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies pounded out nine runs on 16 hits and Cristopher Sanchez was stellar for seven innings in this 9-3 series opening win.

What It Means:  They've won five of their last seven while maintaining a six-game lead over the Mets in the division.

What Happened:  Sanchez improved to 12-5, allowing a run on six hits while striking out five.  Tanner Banks had a rare shaky outing, allowing a two-run home run to Brian Navarreto in the bottom of the eighth.  Tim Mayza pitched a scoreless ninth.

The Phillies took a quick lead in the first when Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper all singled to start the game.  Harper's single brought Turner home.  Max Kepler hit his 15th home run in the second.  Three more runs scored in the fourth when Brandon Marsh hit a two-run home run and Harrison Bader followed that with a solo home run of his own.  And the scoring continued with four more runs in the seventh.  Kepler added an RBI-single and Bryson Stott hit a three-run home run, his 10th of the season.

Featured Card:  Stott drove in the most runs, but Kepler paced the offense with a few key hits.  Collectors are still waiting on Kepler's first mainstream Phillies baseball card, and here's his 1969 Topps inspired card from the 2018 Topps Heritage set.

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Game 86 - Pivetta Earns Revenge on His Former Team

San Diego Padres	6
Philadelphia Phillies	4

Game 1

2018 Topps Gallery #74

Wednesday Afternoon, July 2nd

Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA
50-36

One Sentence Summary:  Nick Pivetta kept his former team off-balance and Mick Abel got knocked around in this 6-4 loss to the Padres.

What It Means:  Thunderstorms on Tuesday washed out that game and necessitated a day-night double header on Wednesday.

What Happened:  Abel lasted just 1 2/3 innings, allowing five runs on two hits and (most troubling) five walks.  Taijuan Walker, Seth Johnson and Daniel Robert provided some bullpen stability, holding the Padres scoreless over the final 5 2/3 innings of the game.  The Phillies didn't score until the sixth inning, when Kyle Schwarber led off with a solo home run, his 26th of the season.  Edmundo Sosa tripled home another run in the seventh, and would score on a wild pitch, making it a 6-3 game.  With runners at second and third and one out in the ninth, Schwarber struck out to end the game.

Featured Card:  Pivetta improved to 9-2, allowing a run on seven hits and striking out six in six innings.

Transaction:  Johnson (rhp) was added to the roster as the 27th man for the double header.

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Game 8 - Sasaki, Dodgers' Bullpen Quiet Phils' Bats

Los Angeles Dodgers	3
Philadelphia Phillies	1

2018 Topps
Philadelphia Phillies #PP-6

Saturday Afternoon, April 5th

Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA
6-2, 1st Place, 1 game ahead of the Mets

One Sentence Summary:  The long ball once again hurt Aaron Nola and the Phillies' offense couldn't solve Roki Sasaki in this 3-1 loss to the Dodgers.

What It Means:  The Phillies will attempt another series win this afternoon behind Cristopher Sanchez.

What Happened:  Sasaki only pitched four innings, allowing a run on three hits while striking out four.  The Phillies scored in the first inning after Kyle Schwarber led off the game with a single, went to third when Trea Turner singled to right and came home on an Alec Bohm ground out.  The offense wouldn't have another hit until Bryson Stott singled in the fifth, and then they'd have another offensive dry spell until Bryce Harper singled to lead off the ninth.

Nola took the loss, dropping to 0-2, allowing a two-run home run to Enrique Hernandez in the second and a solo home run to Michael Conforto in the sixth.  Nola allowed seven hits overall, a walk and he struck out a pair.

Featured Card:  38-year-old Luis Garcia pitched out of the Dodgers' bullpen against the Phillies on Friday night, shutting down the offense for 1 1/3 innings.  I had no idea the former Phillies' reliever was still pitching, and this is his thirteenth season in the majors.  He's bounced around a bunch, pitching with the Phillies (2013-18), Angels (2019), Rangers (2020), Cardinals (2021), Padres (2022-23), Angels again (2024), Red Sox (2024) and now the Dodgers (2025).  Way back in 2018, he was included in the Topps Phillies retail team set, and I haven't seen any sign (yet) of these sets returning for 2025.

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2025 Topps - The First Phillie!

I didn't hesitate earlier this year when the e-mail from Topps arrived in my inbox alerting me that boxes of 2025 Topps Series One were on sale from their website.  I've missed out in the past, having to go to the secondary market (eBay) and paying an upcharge when the need to open new baseball cards inevitably overpowered me in prior Februarys.  I didn't go crazy, adding just a hobby box and a blaster to my cart, and then waiting patiently for the February 12th release date.

The box was waiting for me when I arrived home on Wednesday, but sports practices required us to wait until Thursday to open the first packs of 2025 Topps as a family.  The first Phillie, this Alec Bohm card, came quickly within the first pack I opened.

Topps has been on a roll over the past several years, and with the exception of the misfire with 2020's design, the 2025 Topps design adds to four solid set designs in the past five years.  Updating my top ten gallery below, the 2025 set takes the place of the 2015 set in the #2 spot, with 2015 leaving the list after 10 years (!).  I've used this summary in the past to describe the new Topps flagship design, but this is what a baseball card in the year 2025 should look like - crisp, great photo, modern graphics, some non-intrusive glittery effects and a little bit of silver foil with the Topps logo.  I really like that we get the team's logo and name going up the side of a card, and the curved lines along the left border are a nice modern update to the 1982 Topps design.

We were particularly impressed with how Topps found a new way to display the player's position.  The diamond in the bottom right indicates where the player would stand on the field, and it's one of those things I can't believe we've not seen on a baseball card before.  The backs are nice and clean too, as has been the case in recent years, and kudos to Topps for once again making the card number easy to find and easy to read.  My only very minor complaint is that some of the teams have player's last names in black (not white) making those harder to read.  I would have preferred Topps go with all white for every last name for each team.

Revisiting my top ten ranking below, I might move 2022 and 2019 ahead of 2023.  I still don't like the bottom three, but 2021 may eventually take over the worst design spot in my mind.

Best - 2024 Topps #194

#2 - 2025 Topps #7

#3 - 2023 Topps #278

#4 - 2022 Topps #249

#5 - 2019 Topps #303

#6 - 2016 Topps #15

#7 - 2018 Topps #26

#8 - 2021 Topps #79

#9 - 2017 Topps #247

Worst - 2020 Topps #221

Past First Phillies

2010 Topps #300 Chase Utley

2011 Topps #242 Brad Lidge

2012 Topps #98 Domonic Brown

2013 Topps #6 Ryan Howard
2014 Topps #90 Ethan Martin
2015 Topps #309 Maikel Franco
2016 Topps #15 Ryan Howard
2017 Topps #247 Hector Neris
2018 Topps #26 Cesar Hernandez
2019 Topps #303 Ranger Suarez
2020 Topps #190 Aaron Nola

2021 Topps #79 Roman Quinn

2022 Topps #249 Zack Wheeler

2023 Topps #278 Aaron Nola

2024 Topps #194 J.T. Realmuto

2025 Topps #7 Alec Bohm

Game 103 - Phils Look Un-Lively; Acquire Hays for Dominguez, Pache

2018 Choice Lehigh Valley
IronPigs #15

Guardians 3, Phillies 1
Game 103 - Friday Night, July 26th in Philadelphia
Record - 64-39, 1st Place, 9 games ahead of the Mets

One Sentence Summary:  Ben Lively and the Guardians' bullpen silenced the Phillies' bats in this 3-1 series opening loss.

What It Means:  The Phillies are suddenly not fun to watch.  They look as if they're pressing and I'm hoping they find their groove again soon.  The surging Mets are now in second place, a half game ahead of the Braves.

What Happened:  Lively improved to 9-6 with six strong innings, allowing just a fifth inning solo home run to Bryson Stott.  Stott had a three-hit night and Alec Bohm had a double, with the two through seven spots in the line-up going a combined 1 for 24.  Cristopher Sanchez dropped to 7-6, allowing all three Guardians runs on eight hits.

Featured Card:   Lively was designated for assignment in September 2018 by the Phillies and claimed off waivers by the Royals, when a roster spot was needed for Jerad Eickhoff.  He's since spent time with the Royals, in Korea and with the Reds, and he's been pitching well for Cleveland this season.

Transaction:  On Friday afternoon, the Phillies announced the first of possibly many trades in advance of Tuesday's trade deadline.  Austin Hays (of) was acquired from the Baltimore Orioles for Seranthony Dominguez (rhp) and Cristian Pache (of).  Hays is expected to see quite a bit of playing time in left field, with a likely platoon in center developing with Johan Rojas and Brandon Marsh.  Hays was an All-Star in 2023, and he's batting .255 with three home runs and 14 RBIs in 63 games this season.

Dominguez, the team's closer at one point, appeared in at least 50 games for the Phillies in 2018, 2022 and 2023.  In 230 games, he was 19-17 with a 3.55 ERA and 28 saves, with 16 blown saves.  Dominguez was a huge part of the Phillies' pennant-winning bullpen in 2022, and was the winning pitcher in NLDS Game 1 against the Braves and in World Series Game 1 agains the Astros.  I currently have 22 baseball cards for Dominguez in my Phillies Collection, dating back to his first appearance in 2016 in the Williamsport Crosscutters team set.  (It seems as if that number should be higher, but such is the fate of a reliever in today's baseball card sets.)

Pache had a few big highlights with the Phillies, but had largely struggled at the plate since joining the team right before opening day in 2023.  In 98 games with the Phillies overall, he batted .218 with a pair of home runs and 20 RBIs.  I've got six Pache cards in my Phillies Collection.

2024 Topps Heritage #13

2024 Philadelphia Phillies Kids Club

2023 Topps Chrome Platinum Anniversary #385

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Game 102 - Bullpen, Defense Blows It Against Twins

2018 Topps National Baseball Card
Day Philadelphia Phillies #PH-7

Twins 5, Phillies 4
Game 102 - Wednesday Afternoon, July 24th in Minneapolis
Record - 64-38, 1st Place, 9 games ahead of the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  Late bullpen troubles doomed the Phillies in this 5-4 loss to the Twins.

What It Means:  Heading back to the Athletics series before the All-Star break, the Phillies are 3-6 in their last nine games.  As the trade deadline looms, the team is in search of bullpen reinforcements and perhaps a corner outfielder.

What Happened:  Aaron Nola allowed a second inning solo home run and six hits overall in his six innings of work.  With the Phillies up 4-1 in the bottom of the seventh, Orion Kerkering loaded the bases with two walks and a hit batter.  Kerkering exited and Matt Strahm entered, and a few batters' later the Twins had tied the score at 4-4.  The most painful blow was a two-run double by Carlos Santana on a ball that should have been caught by left fielder Brandon Marsh.

In the bottom of the ninth, Gregory Soto hit the Twins' lead-off hitter, Trevor Larnach, and Larnach advanced to second on a wild pitch.  He'd score the winning, walk-off run on a Max Kepler infield single, giving the Twins a 5-4 win.

Featured Card:  I have 20 Santana cards in my Phillies Collection, marking his one season with the team in 2018.  This is a card I've not featured before, from the SGA Topps National Baseball Card Day Phillies team set.

2024 Virtual Phillies Wall / 2024 Season Summary Index / 2024 Chachi Set Checklist

2024 Chachi #4 J.T. Realmuto

#10

Jacob Tyler Realmuto
Catcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'1"  Weight:  212
Opening Day Age:  33

Born:  March 18, 1991, Del City, OK
Acquired:  Traded by the Marlins to the Phillies for Will Stewart, Jorge Alfaro, Sixto Sanchez and international bonus slot money, February 7, 2019

Contract Status:  Signed through 2025
Major League Teams:  Miami Marlins 2014-2018; Philadelphia Phillies 2019-2024

World Series Appearances:  Philadelphia Phillies 2022

Informally known in Philadelphia as the BCIB (best catcher in baseball), J.T. Realmuto begins his sixth season with the Phillies after being acquired from the Marlins in February 2019.  He entered free agency following the 2020 season, re-signing with the Phillies for five years.  He's a three-time All-Star, a three-time Silver Slugger winner and a Gold Glove recipient in 2019 and 2022.  Realmuto enjoyed a career year for the National League Champions in 2022, batting .276 with career highs in home runs (22), RBIs (84) and stolen bases (21).  He started 130 out of 162 games in 2022 behind the plate, and caught every inning of all 17 Phillies postseason games.  Realmuto was just as durable in 2023, again making 130 starts behind the plate and helping to lead the Phillies to the NLCS.

2015 Topps Update #US398

2018 Topps #79

2019 Topps Update #US66

2022 Topps #180

2024 Topps #194

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  2011 Topps Pro Debut
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (10):  2015-2024
Newest Card Added to My Phillies Collection:  2024 Topps Heritage #159
Total Cards in My Phillies Collection:  132 as of 4/18/24.

Complete Chachi Checklist

2019 Chachi New Additions #7
2019 Chachi #5
2019 Chachi #52 - All-Star
2019 Chachi #70 - Gold Glove
2019 Chachi Friendly Encounters #10
2020 Chachi #4
2021 Chachi #4 
2021 Chachi #49 - Weird Game HL 
2021 Chachi #57 - All-Star 
2021 Chachi Fan Favorites #4 
2022 Chachi #2

2022 Chachi #83 - World Series Game 1

2022 Chachi #87 - World Series Game 5

2022 Chachi #88 - World Series Game 6

2022 Chachi #89 - Gold Glove

2023 Chachi #3

2023 Chachi #44 - Hits for Cycle HL

2024 Chachi #4

2024 Virtual Phillies Wall / 2024 Season Summary Index / 2024 Chachi Set Checklist

2024 Chachi #3 Bryce Harper / 2024 Chachi #5 Alec Bohm

The First Phillie - 2024 Topps!

Topps mixed things up this year, making collectors wait until January 11th to reveal the design of its 2024 flagship set.  In year's past, the design was released in August or September and when the season came to a close with no announcement and no inkling as to what the 2024 Topps cards would look like, I was a little worried.  I prepared myself to be underwhelmed whenever the design was finally released.

My first thought on seeing the design in mid-January:  These are cool.  My second thought:  The neon-like team name is fantastic, and how has Topps not done this before?  This is what a baseball card in 2024 should look like.  It's a modern look with the foggy border elements Topps likes so much from recent years, but collectors are given a solid photo, a unique way of presenting the team name, the team logo and clearly legible names and positions.  It's a great looking card, and it springs to the top of my list of favorite Topps flagship releases over the past 10 years.

The set was officially released on Valentine's Day, but I didn't open my first packs until February 19th.  My wife Jenna found three blaster boxes at our local Target that day, and I happily opened all three after dinner.  In the past, we've made a big show of the first packs of the year, but this year was a little more subdued.  The First Phillie hunt was extremely anti-climatic, as J.T. Realmuto was staring at me atop the first plastic-wrapped bunch of 59 cards I took from the first box I opened.

This is an exciting design, and Topps clearly creates its base cards now to work well with multiple parallel versions.  It wasn't until I had the cards in hand that I realized the team name and photo borders have foil-like features to them.  Scans don't do the cards justice, as these elements can't really be seen unless you're holding them.  I had a blue-bordered Alec Bohm card in one of my three boxes, and I like the full blue border more than the smoky black and white border on the normal base cards.  That's my only complaint, and if I had designed the cards, each card would have a border color corresponding to the player's team.  I like the backs too - very clean, with complete career statistics as has always been the norm with Topps flagship sets.

Finally, it's a promising sign of things to come that three of my top four sets over the past 10 years are all recent releases.  With 2014 dropping off the list, here's a look at my updated rankings:

Best Five:  2024, 2015, 2023, 2022, 2019

Bottom Five:  2016, 2018, 2021, 2017, 2020

Best - 2024 Topps #194

#2 - 2015 Topps #309

#3 - 2023 Topps #278

#4 - 2022 Topps #249

#5 - 2019 Topps #303

#6 - 2016 Topps #15

#7 - 2018 Topps #26

#8 - 2021 Topps #79

#9 - 2017 Topps #247

Worst - 2020 Topps #221

Past First Phillies

2010 Topps #300 Chase Utley

2011 Topps #242 Brad Lidge

2012 Topps #98 Domonic Brown

2013 Topps #6 Ryan Howard
2014 Topps #90 Ethan Martin
2015 Topps #309 Maikel Franco
2016 Topps #15 Ryan Howard
2017 Topps #247 Hector Neris
2018 Topps #26 Cesar Hernandez
2019 Topps #303 Ranger Suarez
2020 Topps #190 Aaron Nola

2021 Topps #79 Roman Quinn

2022 Topps #249 Zack Wheeler

2023 Topps #278 Aaron Nola

2024 Topps #194 J.T. Realmuto

The Offseason Begins - Early November Notes

2023 Topps Now #962

2023 Topps Allen & Ginter #263

2023 Choice Lehigh Valley IronPigs #37

2023 Chachi #74

Free Agents:  Drew Ellis (inf) became the first official ex-Phillie of the 2023-24 offseason when he became a minor league free agent on October 13th.  Ellis appeared in 12 games for the Phillies, including the game on June 4th when he hit a pair of home runs.

The bigger free agents departed the Phillies upon the conclusion of the World Series.  Aaron Nola (rhp) and Rhys Hoskins (1b) headline this list, and I'd love to see both of these long-time Phillies back in 2024.  I'll have much more to say about each if they end up signing elsewhere.  Craig Kimbrel (rhp) and Michael Lorenzen (rhp) will likely not return.  Kimbrel saved 23 games and was an All-Star, but I'll remember him most for the two NLCS losses in Phoenix.  Lorenzen threw a no-hitter on August 9th in his Phillies home debut, and then completely fell apart for the rest of the season.

Coaching Changes:  The Phillies parted ways with two coaches following the end of the NLCS.  Bullpen coach Dave Lundquist and assistant hitting coach Jason Camilli will not return for the 2024 season.  They had been with the club since 2019 and 2022, respectively.  Cesar Ramos was named the team's new bullpen coach.  Ramos was a Phillies non-roster inivitee to spring training in 2017, and he appeared in 40 games that season for the IronPigs.  He had been the pitching coach for the IronPigs since 2022.  The club is still searching for an assistant hitting coach.

Gold Glove:  Zack Wheeler won his first Gold Glove award on Sunday night, becoming the first Phillies pitcher to win the award since Steve Carlton in 1981.  Taijuan Walker was also a finalist for the pitcher's award.  J.T. Realmuto at catcher and Bryson Stott at second base were finalists as well but both came up short.

2021 Topps #526

2018 Bowman Chrome Prospects #BCP16

2023 Choice Reading Fightin Phils #8

First Transactions:  On Monday afternoon, the Phillies claimed Josh Fleming (lhp) off waivers from the the Tampa Bay Rays.  Michael Plassmeyer (lhp) and Erich Uelmen (rhp) were outrighted to Lehigh Valley.  In parts of four seasons with the Rays, Fleming has appeared in 55 games, making 22 starts.  He's 19-13 lifetime with a 4.88 ERA.  In 12 games in 2023, including three starts, he was 2-0 with a 4.70 ERA in 51 2/3 innings pitched.  He's got a bunch of baseball cards in various Panini sets and his last mainstream baseball card appearance came in the 2021 Topps set.

First Trade:  Also on Monday afternoon, the Phillies acquired Michael Mercado (rhp) from the Tampa Bay Rays for Adam Leverett (rhp) and cash.  The Phillies 40-man roster is now at 38 players.  Mercado has yet to pitch in the majors, and was 4-3 in 52 games last season with a 4.79 ERA at two minor league levels.  He showed up in Bowman sets in 2018 and 2020.  Leverett has been in the Phillies system since 2019 and he was 0-6 with a 3.94 ERA in 35 games last season for the Double-A Fightin Phils.

2023 Chachi #73 NLCS Game 7 / 2024 Chachi #1 Kyle Schwarber

Game 134 - Bohm's Costly Error Costs Phils the Win

2018 Topps Update #US125

Brewers 7, Phillies 5
Game 134 - Friday Night, September 1st in Milwaukee
Record - 74-60, 2nd Place, 15 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  This game took two dramatic turns - one great, one horrible - in this 7-5 loss to the Brewers.

What It Means:  The Phillies are 4 1/2 games ahead in the Wild Card race, and 2 1/2 games up on the second Wild Card team, the Cubs.  They'll try to rebound against the first place Brewers on Saturday night.

What Happened:  Kyle Schwarber hit his 38th home run to lead off the top of the first, and then the Phillies weren't able to push across any more runs until the eighth inning.  Zack Wheeler pitched six innings, striking out 10, but he allowed a big three-run home run to Willy Adames in the sixth before departing.  With All-Star closer Devin Williams on the mound attempting a four-out save, and two runners on, Trea Turner hit a three-run home run to left, giving the Phillies an improbable 5-3 lead.  It was Turner's 20th home run of the season.

In the bottom of the eighth, Jose Alvarado allowed two singles and a walk to load the bases.  He walked a run home, cutting the lead to a run, before yielding to Jeff Hoffman.  With two outs, Owen Miller grounded a ball to the right of third baseman Alec Bohm that went by Bohm and into left field, scoring three runs.  The Brewers took a 7-5 lead, and the good vibes resulting from Turner's home run were gone.

Featured Card:  This was a mess of a game, and the first (mostly) full game I've watched since we returned from vacation.  I'll give the featured card to current Brewers' first baseman Carlos Santana, who was a Phillies Room Favorite during his one season with the club in 2018.

Transactions:  With active rosters expanding to 28 players on September 1st, the Phillies activated Ranger Suarez (lhp) and Cristian Pache (of) from the Injured List.

2023 Virtual Phillies Wall / 2023 Season Summary Index / 2023 Chachi Set Checklist