Cloyd to Indians, Valdes to Astros

2014 Chachi Transactions #2

And so it begins.  The Phillies trimmed their first two players from the disappointing 2013 roster when pitchers Tyler Cloyd and Raul Valdes were claimed off waivers yesterday.  Cloyd joins the Indians while Valdes joins the Astros.

Cloyd arrived in Philadelphia last season after a very successful campaign with the Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs.  He went 2-2 with a 4.91 ERA in six starts last season, but struggled mightily in his follow-up act this season with the Phils.  In 13 games (11 starts) this year, Cloyd went 2-7 with a 6.56 ERA.  Cloyd made his Phillies baseball card debut in 2013 with cards in the Bowman, Pinnacle, Topps and Topps Heritage sets.

Raul Valdes also played two seasons with the Phils, appearing in 44 games including two emergency starts.  The lefty leaves Philly having gone 4-3 with a 5.32 in 66 innings.  Surprisingly enough, he only walked 13 in those 66 innings to 72 strikeouts.  Valdes' only two Phillies cards can be found in their team issued postcard sets.

2014 Chachi Transactions #1

The departure of these two now ex-Phillies gave me an early start on the 2014 Chachi Transactions insert set.  (Found only in rack packs of 2014 Chachi cards sold at Target.)  Unlike last year's Chachi Transactions set, I'm not utilizing the O-Pee-Chee-ish "now with" legend on the front of each card.  Rather, I'm just going to change the team name and color of the card to match up with how the original 1988 Topps cards looked.  I'll need to get creative if any Phillies join the Marlins, Rockies, Rays or Diamondbacks this offseason.

Moving On

Raul Valdes (10/2/13) - Claimed off waivers by the Houston Astros.

Tyler Cloyd (10/2/13) - Claimed off waivers by the Cleveland Indians.

2013 Pinnacle Rookie Autographs #TY Tyler Cloyd

Mets 5, Phillies 4 (6 Innings)
Game 154 - Saturday Night, September 21st in Philadelphia
Record - 71-83, 3rd Place, 20 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  As a result of another shaky start from Tyler Cloyd, the Phillies lost a rain-shortened game to the Mets, 5-4.

What It Means:  The game was delayed by rain with one out in the top of the seventh, and it was officially called over an hour after the delay began.  The Phillies will try to salvage a game against the Mets today in their last home game of the season.

What Went Wrong:  Cloyd allowed five runs on six hits in his five innings of work.  The Phils battled back to within a run with one of their bigger hits coming from Jimmy Rollins who had an RBI double in the bottom of the sixth.

Featured Card:  Cloyd has struggled mightily this year after a promising season last year.  In 10 starts this season, Cloyd is now 2-6 with a 5.40 ERA, and I'd have to think his chances of returning to the rotation in 2014 are slim.  I just added this autographed Cloyd card to my collection, from the recently released, and un-MLB licensed, Pinnacle set.

2013 Chachi #57b Casper Wells

Diamondbacks 12, Phillies 7 (18 Innings)
Game 129 - Saturday Night, August 24th in Philadelphia
Record - 58-71, 4th Place, 19 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies managed to tie up this game in the eighth, only to eventually lose ten innings later in the 18th after reliever Casper Wells couldn't stop the Diamondbacks.

What It Means:  It means I'm tired.  I decided to stay up and watch this entire game, finally turning off the TV around 2:30 Sunday morning.

2013 Phillies Team Issue 2 #50

What Went Wrong:  This is one of those historical wacky games that merits a bullet-pointed list in lieu of the standard sentence and paragraph format:

• Starting pitcher Ethan Martin threw just 44 pitches in his outing, retiring only two batters before getting the hook in the first.  He allowed three runs on three hits while walking three.  Relievers Luis Garcia and Zach Miner gave up a pair of runs each to put the game pretty much out of reach for the Phils.  Or so it seemed . . .

• Down 6-0 heading to the bottom of the fifth, the Phillies crept back into the ballgame and eventually tied it at seven on Darin Ruf's two-run home run in the eighth.

• From the seventh through the 17th innings, the Phillies bullpen held the Diamondbacks scoreless.  The scheduled starter for Sunday's game, Tyler Cloyd, entered in the 12th and pitched five scoreless innings.  He also ripped a double to lead off the 16th, but the the Phils weren't able to get him home.

• With the bullpen used up and only starting pitchers left in the stable, interim manager Ryne Sandberg opted to use outfielder Wells to pitch the 18th.  Wells retired the first two batters he faced, but then allowed a series of walks and hits to give the Diamondbacks the lead.  Fellow position player John McDonald relieved Wells and recorded the final out of the inning, but only after the Diamondbacks had scored five runs.

• Wells had one of the worst single game performances in recent history.  He went 0 for 7 at the plate with four strikeouts and allowed five runs in relief.  That's a rough day at the ballyard.

• The time of game of 7:06 made this the longest game in franchise history.

2012 Choice Lehigh Valley
IronPigs Update #9

Featured Cards:  The Wells card featured here is an extremely rare, super short-printed Chachi card available only as inserts in random box tops of the 2013 Chachi set.  Wells' more readily available Chachi card was published early this morning as the game was drawing to a close.

Former Phillie farmhand Tuffy Gosewisch spent 7 1/2 years toiling in the team's minor league system before being sold "for no compensation" to the Toronto Blue Jays last July.  He finally made it to the big leagues with the Diamondbacks earlier this month.  Gosewisch made two outs in the 18th inning, off non-pitchers Wells and McDonald.  He's got to be the first person in history to accomplish that feat.

Memory Lane - Other Recent Lengthy/Wacky Phillies Games
August 24, 2010 - Astros 4, Phillies 2 (16 Innings) - Roy Oswalt plays left field.
May 25, 2011 - Phillies 5, Reds 4 (19 Innings) - Wilson Valdez earns the win in relief.

2013 Bowman #130 Tyler Cloyd

Phillies 5, Brewers 1
Game 61 - Thursday Night, June 6th in Milwaukee
Record - 31-30, 2nd Place, 6 1/2 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  Tyler Cloyd shut down the Brewers through 6 2/3, as the Phillies won for the fifth time in a row, 5-1.

What It Means:  It means that for the first time since October 2, 2012, the Phillies have a winning record.

What Went Right:  Cloyd earned his second win of the year while allowing just four hits during his outing.  Michael Young (batting lead-off) and John Mayberry, Jr. each had three-hit games while Delmon Young added a solo home run in the winning effort.

Featured Card:  Cloyd has done a decent job filling in for Roy Halladay the past few weeks, but he may be the odd man out when and if Carlos Zambrano is added to the rotation.  Cloyd was omitted from the 2013 Phillies Team Issue set, but I have four 2013 cards of his in my collection - Bowman (featured here), Topps, Topps Heritage and his card within the Lehigh Valley IronPigs team set.

2013 Topps #197 Tyler Cloyd

Diamondbacks 3, Phillies 2
Game 37 - Late Friday Night, May 10th in Phoenix
Record - 16-21, 4th Place, 6 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  The offense and the bullpen couldn't provide enough support for Tyler Cloyd to earn his first win of the year, as the Diamondbacks defeated the Phillies, 3-2.

What It Means:  The Phils dropped their third straight and fell five games below .500 for the second time this season.  Only the Marlins (11-25), Cubs (13-22) and Dodgers (13-21) have as many or more losses than the Phillies in the National League.  Good grief.

What Went Wrong:  The offense plated two first inning runs on a lead-off home run from Jimmy Rollins and an RBI-single from Domonic Brown, and then they shut down for the rest of the night.

Cloyd departed in the seventh inning with one out, a runner on first and the Phils up by a run.  Antonio Bastardo allowed his inherited runner to score, tying up the ballgame.  Mike Adams surrendered a home run to Miguel Montero on the first pitch he threw in the eighth inning, giving the Diamondbacks the lead and the eventual win.

Featured Card:  Cloyd pitched a decent ballgame - 6 1/3 innings, 2 runs on 2 hits while striking out 4.  However, no matter what the outcome of this game, he knew he was heading back to Triple-A since the team doesn't need a fifth starter again until May 21st.  Following the game, reliever Justin De Fratus was recalled to take Cloyd's spot on the roster.

Cloyd appears on his first Topps baseball cards in 2013, earning appearances in Topps Series One, Topps Heritage and the recently released Bowman.

2013 Chachi #36 Tyler Cloyd

#50

Tyler James Cloyd

Starting Pitcher

Bats: Right  Throws: Right  Height: 6'3"  Weight: 210

Born: May 16, 1987, Papillion, NE

Home: Papillion, NE

Drafted: Selected by Phillies in 18th round of June 2008 draft

Teams: Phillies 2012-

Acquired: Via draft

Contract Status: Pre-arbitration eligible

The Spring Training 62: Where They Went

2013 Phillies
Team Issue #25

Over the past six weeks, the Phillies have whittled down their roster to 25 players and those 25 players will suit up for tonight's season opener in Atlanta.  Officially, the team had 62 different players scheduled to suit up at the start of camp, and I opted not to count the other minor leaguers that were shuffled in and out of camp throughout the spring.  Pulling out my trusty calculator, that means with just 25 players remaining, 37 players have moved on.  Here's where they went:

Disabled List (1):  Outfielder Delmon Young

The best part about this list is that only one player landed on the DL, and it was expected all along that Young would not be ready to start the regular season.  Last year, the Phillies started the season with five players on the disabled list.  (See the link below for last year's Where They Went post.)

Restricted List (1):  Catcher Carlos Ruiz

Traded (1):  Pitcher Michael Schwimer

Released (6):  Pitchers Aaron Cook, Juan Cruz and Rodrigo Lopez, Infielders Yuniesky Betancourt and Andres Blanco, Outfielder Joe Mather

2003 Topps Heritage #243

Blanco and Cruz never even made it to camp in Clearwater.  Blanco has since re-signed with Lehigh Valley while Cruz and Mather haven't latched on elsewhere yet.  Betancourt has won a job with the Brewers and Cook will start the season in the Rockies' minor league system.  Betancourt earned a zero-year card (h/t toDime Boxes) in the Phillies team-issued set, seen at the top of this post.
  

AAA- Lehigh Valley IronPigs (22):  Pitchers Tyler Cloyd, Justin De Fratus, Jake Diekman, Justin Friend, Cesar Jimenez, Ethan Martin, Zach Miner, Adam Morgan, Jonathan Pettibone, B.J. Rosenberg, Joe Savery, Michael Stutes, Catchers Tommy Joseph and Steven Lerud, Infielders Cody Asche, Josh Fields, Cesar Hernandez, Michael Martinez and Pete Orr, Outfielders Tyson Gillies, Jermaine Mitchell and Darin Ruf

AA - Reading Fightin Phils (6):  Pitchers J.C. Ramirez, Mauricio Robles and Kyle Simon, Catchers Cameron Rupp and Sebastian Valle, Outfielder Zach Collier

Memory Lane

2012:  The Spring Training 57 (+1): Where They Went

2012 Chachi #54 Tyler Cloyd

Phillies 4, Reds 2
Game 135 - Monday Afternoon, September 3rd in Cincinnati
Record - 65-70, 3rd Place, 17 1/2 games behind the Nationals

One Sentence Summary:  In his second big league start, Tyler Cloyd mastered the Reds, leading the Phillies to a 4-2 Labor Day victory.

What It Means:  True, the Phillies have been hot of late, but I won't be convinced they have even a remote shot for the second Wild Card until they at least reach .500.  If they win their next five in a row, I'll listen to the Wild Card chatter.

What Went Right:  It was a game of firsts.  Cloyd earned his first win by allowing just one run on four hits over seven innings of work.  He out-duelled Cy Young candidate Johnny Cueto, who was going for his 18th win of the season.  Justin De Fratus pitched a scoreless eighth in his 2012 debut and Phillippe Aumont recorded the final three outs in the ninth for his first Major League save.

Jimmy Rollins had the big hit with a three-run home run in the fifth.  John Mayberry, Jr. added a solo home run in the sixth.

Featured Card:  It's got to be Cloyd.  In lieu of showing another of Cloyd's minor league cards, here's his 2012 Chachi card which is also his very first (unofficial and pretend) Phillies baseball card.  Here's the back of the card:

#50

Tyler James Cloyd

Starting Pitcher

Bats: Right  Throws: Right  Height: 6'3"  Weight: 210

Born: May 16, 1987, Papillion, NE

Home: Papillion, NE

Drafted: Selected by Phillies in 18th round of June 2008 draft

Teams: Phillies 2012

Acquired: Via draft

Contract Status: Pre-arbitration eligible

2012 Choice Lehigh Valley IronPigs #5 Tyler Cloyd

Mets 3, Phillies 2
Game 130 - Wednesday Night, August 29th in Philadelphia
Record - 61-69

One Sentence Summary:  Tyler Cloyd lost his Major League debut as the Phillies bats were silenced by Matt Harvey and the Mets bullpen.

What It Means:  In the course of 24 hours, Cloyd was named the Most Valuable Pitcher of the International League, was named the recipient of the 2012 Paul Owens Award as the best pitcher in the Phillies minor league organization, and was recalled to start against the Mets.  Cole Hamels was scheduled to start, but he came down with a stomach bug prior to the game.  Cloyd was 12-1 with a 2.35 ERA with Triple-A Lehigh Valley and 15-1 when you include his starts with Double-A Reading at the outset of the season.

The Phillies are 1-7 against the Mets at Citizens Bank Park this season.  That stinks.

What Went Wrong:  Cloyd had a decent outing, allowing three runs on seven hits over six innings of work.  The Phils managed just six hits off Mets pitching and they were shut out in the third through ninth innings.

Featured Card:  Starter Vance Worley is done for the season with loose bodies in his elbow, so it appears as if Cloyd will receive an extended audition for 2013.  He has yet to appear on a Phillies card, although he has cards in both the IronPigs set and the Reading Phillies set this year.

2009 Multi-Ad Lakewood BlueClaws #6 Tyler Cloyd

Diamondbacks 4, Phillies 2
Game 106 - Friday Night, August 3rd in Philadelphia
Record - 47-59, 5th Place, 16 games behind the Nationals

Another Massive, Vacation-Related Catch-Up, Part 6 of 7

One Sentence Summary:  The long, slow march to the off-season continued with a 4-2 loss to the Diamondbacks.

What It Means:  I was kind of cranky watching this game.  My vacation was ending, the Phillies had just traded Joe Blanton to the Dodgers, putting an exclamation point on their 2012 fire sale, and I was listening to the Phillies TV announcers for the sixth game in a row.

What Went Wrong:  Kyle Kendrick filled in for Blanton, who was supposed to start this game.  He allowed three runs (two earned) in his four innings of work.  The Phillies should have tied the game up in the sixth.  John Mayberry, Jr. appeared to slide home safely on Kevin Frandsen's single, but the home plate umpire ruled him out.

Featured Card:  Tyler Cloyd might be the guy to take Blanton's spot in the rotation for the rest of the season.  Cloyd pitched Friday night for the Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs, allowing just a run on three hits in his seven innings of work.  With both the IronPigs and Double-A Reading Phillies this year, Cloyd is now 14-1 with a 1.91 ERA in 22 starts.

Bring him up, Ruben.  What do we have to lose?