Game 24 - 2019 Donruss #104 Rhys Hoskins

Phillies 6, Mets 0
Game 24 - Wednesday Night, April 24th in New York
Record - 13-11, Tied for 1st place, 1/2 game ahead of the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  Jacob Rhame threw at Rhys Hoskins' head the night before, so Hoskins earned his revenge with a two-run home run and an extremely slow trot around the bases in this 6-0 win.

What It Means:  The Phillies wrapped up an awful seven-game road trip with a win, limping home after going 2-5.

What Happened:  Hoskins also collected his first career triple in this game.  Bryce Harper started the scoring with an RBI-double in the first.  RBI singles from Maikel Franco, Phil Gosselin and Roman Quinn (on a bunt) gave the team a 4-0 lead heading into the ninth.

Vince Velasquez (1-0) and four relievers combined on the shutout.

2019 Chachi Almost #2

Featured Card:  I can't believe they actually keep track of this, but Hoskins' home run trot took 34.2 seconds, making it the longest trot since 2015 when tracking of such things started.

Transactions:  The Phillies made a flurry of roster moves before this game, optioning reliever Drew Anderson and third baseman Mitch Walding back to the IronPigs while recalling Enyel De Los Santos and selecting the contract of infielder Sean Rodriguez.  To make room for Rodriguez on the 40-man roster, left-handed reliever James Pazos was designated for assignment.  If Pazos never makes it back to the Phillies, he'll at least have his team-issued photo card as well as a coveted spot in the Chachi Almost insert set.

Uniform Number Update - 2019 Edition

2015 Topps #400

2016 Topps Heritage #384

2017 Topps Update #US149

2018 Topps Big League #94

2018 Topps Heritage #388

New uniform numbers recently popped up on the team's roster page on its website, and that means we're officially getting closer to the start of spring training.  As I've done the past few years, here's a run-down of the new numbers.  As of this writing, the newly acquired J.T. Realmuto hasn't officially been assigned a number, but I would think he'll end up with his familiar #11, which is conveniently available.

New Players (Under 60/40-Man Roster Division)

• #2 Jean Segura - The new shortstop takes the number worn by J.P. Crawford last year, one of the players sent to the Mariners for Segura.
• #12 Juan Nicasio - Jose Bautista wore this number last season, and the #58 worn by Nicasio during his two-game stint with the Phillies in 2017 is now occupied by Seranthony Dominguez.
• #22 Andrew McCutchen - Cutch assumes his familiar #22, coaxed away from manager Gabe Kapler.
• #30 David Robertson - This number was vacant last season, having been worn by Matt McBride in spring training.
• #47 James Pazos - The Phillies will not be retiring this number for Aaron Loup, so it's available for Pazos.
• #52 Jose Alvarez - The same can be said for #52 and its wearer last season, Zac Curtis.

It should also be noted that several non-roster invitees have been assigned low numbers, including #9 Phil Gosselin, #18 Lane Adams, #31 Shane Robinson, #33 Matt McBride, #40 Gregorio Petit and #44 Rob Brantly.

New Coaches

• #3 Paco Figueroa - Former first base coach Jose David Flores was #3 in 2018.
• #10 Bobby Dickerson - Trevor Plouffe briefly wore this number last season.
• #57 David Lundquist - Luis Garcia had worn this number since making his debut in 2013.

Number Swaps

• #19 Gabe Kapler - When McCutchen claimed #22, Kapler switched to #19 which is a number he wore with the Rangers, Red Sox and Rays during his playing days.

Highest Number
JoJo Romero was assigned #79 which is the highest new number.  Pat Neshek (#93) and Tommy Hunter (#96) are coming back with their curiously chosen numbers as well.

Duplicate Numbers
#28 - The Phillies website lists this number for both Vince Velasquez, who has worn it the last three seasons and non-roster invitee Andrew Romine.  My guess here is that Romine is actually #21 and this is just an error on the website.

Numbers Available - Unofficially Retired Division
#6 Ryan Howard
#11 Jimmy Rollins
#26 Chase Utley

Numbers Available - Machado/Harper/Keuchel Division
#13, #34, #60

Numbers Available - Up for Grabs Division
#21 - How is this number not taken for the second year in a row?  Non-roster invitee Collin Cowgill wore this number last spring and Clay Buchholz had the number for a very brief time in 2017.
#39 - Worn by pitching coach Rick Kranitz last year.
#41 - Worn by Carlos Santana last season.  I'm guessing this number goes to the recently signed Drew Butera, who hasn't yet shown up on the Phillies website.

Segura Joins Phillies in 5-Player Deal with Mariners

2019 Chachi New Additions #1

2019 Chachi New Additions #2

2019 Chachi New Additions #3

On Monday morning, I noticed a flurry of Tweets reporting the Phillies were close to acquiring All-Star shortstop Jean Segura from the Mariners in exchange for Carlos Santana and J.P. Crawford.  I had to fly to Atlanta for work, but when I landed that afternoon the deal was all but official.  Finally, word came as I was en route to my hotel that the Phillies had traded Santana and Crawford to the Mariners for Segura and relievers Juan Nicasio and James Pazos.  I've been anxious to get home so that I could (1) see my family and (2) create Chachi cards for the new additions.

The move remakes half the Phillies infield for 2019 (for now) as Segura will take over at shortstop and Rhys Hoskins will move back to first base.  Righty Nicasio and lefty Pazos will join a suddenly crowded bullpen, with both relievers expected to see action in later innings next season.  Their presence alone immediately makes the Phillies bullpen better.

2019 Chachi Departures #1

2019 Chachi Departures #2

In just one season with the Phillies, Santana appeared in 161 games and hit .229 with 24 home runs and 86 RBIs.  He leaves behind a fair amount of Phillies baseball cards and his complete Chachi checklist can be found below.  I'm a little bummed to see Crawford go, but I understand the move.  The team's first round pick in 2013, Crawford has seemingly been one of their top tier prospects for the past five years.  He was all but invisible during the Phillies complete collapse towards the end of last season.  I have a whopping 95 Crawford cards in my Phillies collection, which is an obscene tally for a player who hit .214 for the club over 72 games.

You can find great, in depth analysis of this trade elsewhere but I'm particularly interested in the baseball cards of the new Phillies trio.  Segura started appearing in Bowman products in 2010 with the Angels, and his first Topps flagship card appeared in 2013 when he was with the Brewers.  It appears as if he's in just about every major 2018 baseball card release.

Nicasio, who earned a 2017 Chachi card for his 2-game appearance with the Phillies that season, hasn't appeared on a mainstream baseball card since his 2015 Topps Update appearance with the Dodgers.  Finally, the only Pazos baseball cards out there are in the 2016 Topps, 2016 Topps Heritage and 2017 Topps Update sets.

Crawford Complete Chachi Checklist
2017 Chachi #60
2018 Chachi #6
2018 Chachi Phillies Phestival #7
2019 Chachi Departures #1

Santana Complete Chachi Checklist
2018 Chachi New Additions #4
2018 Chachi #2
2018 Chachi Friendly Encounters #5
2018 Chachi Phillies Phestival #3
2019 Chachi Departures #2

Moving On - 2018-2019 Offseason

• Trevor Plouffe - inf (10/4/18) - Elected free agency.
• Jose Bautista - of (10/29/18) - Elected free agency.
• Asdrubal Cabrera - inf (10/29/18) - Elected free agency.
• Aaron Loup - lhp (10/29/18) - Elected free agency.
• Wilson Ramos - c (10/29/18) - Elected free agency.
• Pedro Beato - rhp (11/2/18) - Elected free agency.
• Jesmuel Valentin - inf (11/2/18) - Elected free agency.
• Pedro Florimon - inf/of (11/3/18) - Outrighted off 40-man roster and elected free agency.
• Luis Avilan - lhp (11/30/18) - Non-tendered, becoming a free agent.
• Justin Bour - 1b (11/30/18) - Non-tendered, becoming a free agent.
• Carlos Santana - 1b and J.P. Crawford - ss (12/3/18) - Traded to the Seattle Mariners for James Pazos, Juan Nicasio and Jean Segura.

New Arrivals - 2018-2019 Offseason

• James Pazos - lhp, Juan Nicasio - rhp and Jean Segura - ss (12/3/18) - Acquired from the Seattle Mariners for J.P. Crawford and Carlos Santana.

You can find the updated Virtual Phillies Wall here, showing the team's updated 40-man roster.