Showing posts with label Stutes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Stutes. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Wrapping Up Chachi Set Odds & Ends

2014 Chachi Transactions #17
2014 Chachi Transactions #19
2014 Chachi Transactions #20
2014 Chachi Transactions #22
I have a number of special Chachi insert cards that have been sitting in my draft folder for a few months as I've had no real good reason to post them.  I figured with the entire staff and management team of The Phillies Room away on spring break this week, this would be a good opportunity to feature all these cards together and wrap up a few loose ends.

First up is a quartet of players who joined the ranks of ex-Phillies this past offseason.  Zach Miner and Mauricio Robles were short-timers with the Phillies last season with Miner appearing in 16 games (three as a starter) and going 0-2 with a 4.40 ERA and Robles making it into just three games and pitching 4 2/3 innings.

Miner signed a minor league deal with the Mariners in the offseason, and unbeknownst to me Robles signed with the White Sox organization in November.  Had I known about the Robles signing, he would have been featured sooner in the Chachi Transaction insert set, but as it is he's most likely the last card in the set.

Joe Savery was the club's #1 pick back in 2007 and he first appeared with the Phillies in 2011.  In parts of three seasons, Savery went 3-2 in 41 games with a 4.15 ERA.  I first posted about Savery and his long and winding journey to the Majors in this post after he had made his Phillies debut.

Sadly, Phillies Room favorite Kevin Frandsen is now a member of the rival Nationals.  Presumably the odd man out this past spring, Frandsen landed himself a guaranteed contract with the Nationals, where he'll undoubtedly and repeatedly punish the Phillies throughout this season.

2014 Chachi Preview #3
2014 Chachi Almost #1
2014 Chachi #49
2014 Chachi Almost #3
Finally, here are four cards only a die-hard Phillies and virtual Phillies baseball card aficionado would enjoy.  (All seven or so of us.)  John McDonald probably doesn't need to have another virtual Phillies card, but I loved this photo of him in a throw-back uniform so I went ahead and gave him a card.  Michael Stutes was one of the team's best relievers in 2011, but injuries have hampered his career and he's currently out of baseball following his release a few weeks ago.

Kevin Munson was the team's offseason Rule V draft pick, and he made it part-way through the spring before being sent back to the Diamondbacks.  And veteran infielder Ronny Cedeno was attempting to latch on as bench player with the club, but (thankfully) the Phillies decided to stick with their younger guys and Cedeno was released.  He's since come back to the organization and is playing with the IronPigs.

UPDATE, 6/7/14 - In an unprecedented event, Cedeno will actually have a card in this year's regular Chachi base set.  Following Cedeno's departure at the end of spring training, he was quickly brought back into the fold by the organization and he had his contract selected from the IronPigs in early June.  I will update the official checklist to show this once "Almost" card as an actual "Chachi" card.

The first reader to comment on this lapse in The Phillies Room continuum will receive a coveted The Phillies Room No-Prize.

Thursday, March 27, 2014

2013 Phillies Team Issue 2 #40 Michael Stutes

Tigers 1, Phillies 0
Spring Training Game 28 - Wednesday Afternoon, March 26th in Clearwater
Record - 9-16-3

One Sentence Summary:  Cliff Lee and Justin Verlander faced off in their final spring starts, with Verlander and the Tigers coming out ahead in a 1-0 win.

What Happened:  Lee allowed the lone Tigers run in his five innings of work while striking out seven.  The Phillies managed just two singles off Verlander and three relievers.

Featured Card:  I was going to post Lee's Heritage card again, just to see if anyone would notice.  Instead, I decided to post what will most likely be Michael Stutes' last official Phillies card - see below.

Camp Head Count:  Still holding at 37, but the final pieces are starting to fall into place.  Veteran outfielder and former All-Star Bobby Abreu was informed yesterday he wouldn't make the team's opening day roster.  While his official opt-out date is Sunday, chances are he might be gone before then, rather than accept an assignment with the Triple-A IronPigs.

Reliever Stutes was also officially released, after being designated for assignment earlier in the week.  In parts of three seasons, Stutes appeared in 79 games for the Phillies, going 9-3 with a 4.01 ERA.  His best season by far was his rookie year of 2011, when he appeared in 57 games and put together a 3.63 ERA while striking out 58 in 62 innings.

Friday, June 21, 2013

2011 Bowman Sterling #34 Michael Stutes

Nationals 6, Phillies 2 (11 Innings)
Game 73 - Wednesday Night, June 19th in Philadelphia
Record - 35-38, 3rd Place, 8 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  An Ian Desmond grand slam in the 11th downed the Phillies, 6-2, after Jonathan Papelbon blew his second save of the year in the ninth.
What It Means:  This was another ugly loss in a season that has so far included a lot of ugly losses.  The Phillies had an off day following this game and they'll open a three-game set against the Mets tonight.

What Went Wrong:  The first two Phillies batters of the game accounted for all the Phillies scoring.  Ben Revere singled and then Michael Young homered, notching his 1,000th and 1,001st career RBIs.  After that, the next Phillie batter to reach on a hit was Carlos Ruiz with a 10th inning single.  That's not good.

Kyle Kendrick pitched another solid game, allowing just a run over his 7 2/3 innings of work.  For the second time in three games though, Papelbon couldn't shut the door, as he allowed a two-out single to Jayson Werth, bringing home the tying run.  After the game, Papelbon publicly questioned the apparent lack of baseball fundamentals among his Phillies teammates.  I just don't like the guy, and I'm guessing I never will.

Featured Card:  Michael Stutes had actually been pitching well prior to this performance.  His 11th inning was a nightmare, culminating with the Desmond slam that came one pitch after it looked as if he had struck him out.  As Richie Ashburn used to say, the pitch to Desmond was right down the middle of the plate for a ball.

Stutes has appeared in several 2009 and 2011 Bowman releases, and he had cards in both the 2011 Topps Update and 2012 Topps base sets.  This 2011 Bowman Sterling card fits in among that realm of Phillies cards for which I have absolutely no recollection of how it showed up in my collection.

Saturday, May 25, 2013

2013 Chachi #40 Michael Stutes

#40
Michael Christopher Stutes
Relief Pitcher

Bats: Right  Throws: Right  Height: 6'1"  Weight: 185
Born: September 4, 1986, Lake Oswego, OR
Home: Lake Oswego, OR
Drafted: Selected by Phillies in 11th round of June 2008 draft
Teams: Phillies 2011-
Acquired: Via draft
Contract Status: Pre-arbitration eligible

Thursday, May 31, 2012

2012 Chachi #22 Michael Stutes

#40
Michael Christopher Stutes
Relief Pitcher

Bats: Right  Throws: Right  Height: 6'1"  Weight: 185
Born: September 4, 1986, Lake Oswego, OR
Home: Lake Oswego, OR
Drafted: Selected by Phillies in 11th round of June 2008 draft
Teams: Phillies 2011-
Acquired: Via draft
Contract Status: Pre-arbitration eligible

Friday, May 13, 2011

2009 Bowman Prospects #BP62 Michael Stutes

Phillies 5, Braves 4
Game 37 - Friday Night, May 13th in Atlanta

One Sentence Summary:  The bullpen came through tonight as the Phillies gutted out a victory in Atlanta, 5-4.

What It Means:  The Phillies have the best record in baseball at 25-12 and they maintain a three game lead over the Marlins in the East.

What Went Right:  There were clutch RBIs in the seventh from Shane Victorino and in the eighth from Raul Ibanez, but it would have been for naught if not for the stellar job by the Phillies young bullpen core tonight.  In the seventh, J.C. Romero entered the game with things tied up 4-4.  He promptly loaded the bases, which he seems to do on a fairly regular basis.  Charlie Manuel went with rookie Michael Stutes who struck out Dan Uggla swinging for the second out of the inning.  Antonio Bastardo was the next pitcher in from the 'pen, and he struck out Freddie Freeman swinging to end the inning and the Braves threat.  (Bastardo had spotted Freeman a 3-0 count before coming back to strike him out.)

Rookie Vance Worley got the job done in the eighth before yielding to Ryan Madson who retired the Braves in the ninth and recorded his sixth save.

Ryan Howard hit a three-run home run in the first to start the scoring for the Phils.  Starter Cole Hamels lasted six innings, giving up all four Braves runs on eight hits while striking out seven.

What Went Wrong:  I am not a fan of Romero.

Featured Card:  To date, not including minor league sets or Chachi cards, rookie reliever Stutes has appeared on one baseball card - this 2009 Bowman Prospects insert.  However, there are twenty parallels available of this card, including versions with color borders, different color refractors and several one of one printing plates.  For me personally, this non-shiny, standard black border card is enough.  (Although I do have the Chrome version in my collection as well, but Chrome cards scan weird.)

Monday, May 2, 2011

2011 Chachi #30 Michael Stutes

#40
Michael Christopher Stutes
Relief Pitcher

Bats: Right  Throws: Right  Height: 6'1"  Weight: 185
Born: September 4, 1986, Lake Oswego, OR
Home: Lake Oswego, OR
Drafted: Selected by Phillies in 11th round of June 2008 draft
Teams: Phillies 2011-
Acquired: Via draft
Contract Status: Pre-arbitration eligible

Complete Topps Base Set Checklist:
Stutes has yet to appear in a base Topps set.