Holaday & Hanigan Released; Receive Chachi Almost Cards

2017 Chachi Almost #4

2017 Chachi Almost #5

Phillies 7, Blue Jays 1
Spring Training Game 31 - Monday Night, March 27th in Dunedin
Record - 12-15-4

One Sentence Summary:  Tommy Joseph and Vince Velasquez led the way in this 7-1 victory over the Blue Jays.

What It Means:  There are only five spring training games remaining, including two games on Wednesday with split squads.

What Happened:  Joseph had himself a game, going 4 for 5 with a home run, his third of the spring. Velasquez struck out seven over five innings, allowing a run on five hits.

Featured Cards/Camp Head Count:  39 - 4 = 35.  The game was in a way secondary to the roster moves made by the Phillies earlier in the afternoon.  Catchers Ryan Hanigan and Bryan Holaday were both released, paving the way for Andrew Knapp to make the opening day roster as the back-up to Cameron Rupp.

Either the Phillies didn't like what they saw from behind the plate from Hanigan, or they're convinced that Knapp gives them a better option off the bench.  The veteran catcher hit .389 (7 for 18) in nine games this spring and I would think he'll latch on elsewhere.  Holaday hit .208 (5 for 24) in 15 games.

Outfielder Roman Quinn was optioned to Triple-A where he'll receive regular playing time, and reliever Michael Mariot was reassigned to minor league camp.

New Phillies Uniform Numbers (Getting Closer to Clearwater!)

2016 Topps Heritage #547

2016 Topps Heritage #590

2016 Topps Heritage #694

2016 Topps Heritage #575

At some point over the past few days, I checked the Phillies roster page on their official website and noticed that the dreaded "--" in place of a uniform number for all new players had been replaced with actual uniform numbers.  Friends, this is yet another milestone to the glorious promised land that is spring training.

Here's a look at the new uniform numbers assigned to the newest members of the 2017 Phillies.

New Players (and a Coach) - Under 60 Division

• #5 Michael Saunders - Departed hitting coach Steve Henderson was #5 last year and the #21 Saunders wore the past few seasons with the Blue Jays had already been claimed by newcomer Clay Buchholz.
• #15 Sean Burnett - Emmanuel Burriss wore this number in 2016.
• #17 Pat Neshek - With Peter Bourjos moving on, Neshek reclaims the number he wore with the Twins from 2006 to 2010.
• #18 Pedro Florimon - Florimon takes Darin Ruf's old number.
• #21 Clay Buchholz - With #11 unofficially retired (see below), the new starting pitcher takes #21.  Buchholz has previously worn #11 and #61 with the Red Sox.
• #25 Daniel Nava - Nava will wear the number worn by Cody Asche the prior four seasons.
• #34 Ryan Hanigan - Hanigan takes over the number worn by both Brett Oberholtzer and A.J. Ellis last year.
• #40 Matt Stairs - Mickey Morandini already has #12, the number Stairs wore as a player with the Phillies, so the new hitting coach claims the number worn briefly last season by James Russell.
• #47 Howie Kendrick - No surprise here as the veteran has worn #47 for his entire 11-year career.  Charlie Morton wore the number last season for his four starts.
• #53 Joaquin Benoit - Daniel Stumpf, Frank Herrmann and now Joaquin Benoit are the most three recent #53s for the Phillies.
• #54 Pedro Beato - It appears as if Brad Lidge's number has been officially-unofficially retired.  I don't believe anyone has worn this number for the Phillies since Lidge's final appearance in 2011.  (Matt Harrison had been assigned the number when he came over from the Rangers in the Cole Hamels deal, but he never actually put on a Phillies uniform.)
• #55 Cesar Ramos - David Buchanan last wore #55 during the 2015 season.
• #59 Bryan Holaday - Elvis Araujo's old number goes to Holaday.

New Numbers

2016 Topps Heritage #542

• #30 Taylor Featherston - With Buchholz taking #21, Featherston switches to the number worn by reliever David Hernandez last season.

Highest Number
No one touches Dalier Hinojosa and his #94, but Drew Anderson and his #86 comes the closest.

Numbers Available - Unofficially Retired Division
The Phillies have an unwritten tradition of not giving out the uniform numbers of recently departed franchise players.  For that reason, no one on the roster has been assigned #6 (Ryan Howard), #11 (Jimmy Rollins), #26 (Chase Utley), #35 (Cole Hamels) or #51 (Carlos Ruiz).

Numbers Available - Up for Grabs Division
Of the numbers still available, I'm surprised no one has claimed #3 which was worn last season by David Lough.  This could be reserved for Chris Coghlan, who wore the number last season with the Athletics and who was recently signed on Friday.  #41 (Jimmy Paredes) and #43 (Phil Klein) are still available, as is #52 (Severino Gonzalez).

Memory Lane

2012 New Numbers

2013 New Numbers
2014 New Numbers - Part One and Part Two
2015 New Numbers
2016 New Numbers - Part One and Part Two

Hanigan Joins List of Catching Candidates

The Phillies added their 21st non-roster invitee yesterday, announcing the signing of catcher Ryan Hanigan to a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training.  Hanigan served as a back-up catcher in Boston for the past two seasons, and he's logged 10 years in the Majors with the Reds (2007-2013), Rays (2014) and Red Sox.  His most recent baseball cards can be found in the Topps flagship and Heritage Hi Numbers sets.

Hanigan will provide some catching competition to the other potential back-ups in camp - Jorge Alfaro, Bryan Holaday and Andrew Knapp.

Player (position) - 2016 Organization - Last Major Baseball Card Appearance
1.  Sean Burnett (lhp) - Nationals/Dodgers/Braves/Twins/Nationals - 2014 Topps #68 (Angels)
2.  Pedro Florimon (inf) - Pirates - 2014 Topps #568 (Twins)
3.  Hector Gomez (inf) - Korea - 2015 Topps Update #US229 (Brewers)
4.  Daniel Nava (of) - Angels/Royals - 2016 Topps Now #293 (Angels)
5.  Bryan Holaday (c) - Tigers/Rangers/Red Sox - 2014 Topps Update #US117 (Tigers)
6.  Cesar Ramos (lhp) - Rangers/Tigers - 2015 Topps Update #US293 (Angels)
7.  Victor Arano (rhp) - Phillies - 2015 Bowman Chrome Prospect Autographs #BCAP-VA (Phillies)
8.  Pedro Beato (rhp) - Orioles - 2011 Topps Chrome #199 (Mets)
9.  J.P. Crawford (inf) - Phillies - 2016 Bowman's Best Top Prospects #TP12 (Phillies)
10.  Taylor Featherston (inf) - Angels/Phillies - 2015 Topps Update #US148 (Angels)
11.  Dalier Hinojosa (rhp) - Phillies - 2015 Immaculate Collection #151 (Red Sox)
12.  Rhys Hoskins (1b) - Phillies - 2016 Bowman Draft #BD186 (Phillies)
13.  Scott Kingery (inf) - Phillies - 2016 Bowman Draft #BD128 (Phillies)
14.  Michael Mariot (rhp) - Phillies - N/A
15.  Logan Moore (c) - Phillies - 2011 Bowman Draft Chrome Prospects #BDPP44 (Phillies)
16.  Colton Murray (rhp) - Phillies - 2016 Topps #488 (Phillies)
17.  Chace Numata (c) - Phillies - N/A
18.  Cam Perkins (of) - Phillies - 2014 Bowman Chrome Prospects #BCP86 (Phillies)
19.  Andrew Pullin (of) - Phillies - 2012 Bowman Chrome Draft Picks #BDPP59 (Phillies)
20.  Brock Stassi (1b) - Phillies - N/A
21.  Ryan Hanigan (c) - Red Sox - 2016 Topps Heritage #694 (Red Sox)