2021 Chachi #56 Mauricio Llovera

#63
Mauricio Alejandro Llovera
Relief Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  5'11"  Weight:  224
Opening Day Age:  24
Born:  April 17, 1996, El Tigre, VZ
How Obtained:  Signed by the Phillies as an amateur free agent, December 14, 2014
Major League Teams:  Philadelphia Phillies 2020

First Phillies Card:  N/A
First Phillies Minor League Card:  2017 Choice Lakewood BlueClaws #18
First Phillies Team Issued Card:  N/A

Newest Card Added:  2021 Choice Lehigh Valley IronPigs #18

Topps Flagship Set Appearances (0):  N/A

6 - Llovera baseball cards in my collection per The Phillies Room Checklist as of 7/15/21.

Complete Chachi Checklist

2020 Chachi New Additions #3
2020 Chachi #48
2021 Chachi #56

Mauricio Llovera was added to the active roster last September 6th, and made his big league debut that same day against the Mets. The righty rookie had a tough outing, facing 10 batters in the seventh and beginning of the eighth and allowing four runs on five hits.  He was recalled prior to the All-Star Break when four Phillies players landed on the Covid-related injured list.

Signed as a free agent in late 2014, Llovera first appeared in a Phillies minor league team set in 2017 with the BlueClaws.

2021 Virtual Phillies Wall / 2021 Season Summary Index / 2021 Chachi Set Checklist

2020 Chachi #48 Mauricio Llovera

#63
Mauricio Alejandro Llovera
Relief Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  5'11"  Weight:  224
Opening Day Age:  24
Born:  April 17, 1996, El Tigre, VZ
How Obtained:  Signed by the Phillies as an amateur free agent, December 14, 2014
Major League Teams:  Philadelphia Phillies 2020

First Phillies Card:  N/A
First Phillies Minor League Card:  2017 Choice Lakewood BlueClaws #18
First Phillies Team Issued Card:  N/A

Newest Card Added:  2019 Grandstand Reading Fightin Phils Update #36

Topps Flagship Set Appearances (0):  N/A

5 - Llovera baseball cards in my collection per The Phillies Room Checklist as of 9/7/20.

Complete Chachi Checklist

2020 Chachi New Additions #3
2020 Chachi #48

Mauricio Llovera was added to the active roster on September 6th, and made his big league debut that same day against the Mets. The right had a tough outing, facing 10 batters in the seventh and beginning of the eighth and allowing four runs on five hits.

Signed as a free agent in late 2014, Llovera first appeared in a Phillies minor league team set in 2017 with the BlueClaws.

2020 Virtual Phillies Wall / 2020 Season Summary Index / 2020 Chachi Set Checklist

Game 36 - 2019 Grandstand Reading Fightin Phils #36 Mauricio Llovera

Mets 14, Phillies 1
Game 36 - Sunday Afternoon, September 6th in Flushing
Record - 19-17, 2nd Place, 3 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  Shaky defense, an unhittable Jacob deGrom and a tough day from the bullpen all contributed to this blowout 14-1 loss to the Mets.

What It Means:  This was a horrendous loss.  Best just to move on.

What Happened:  deGrom allowed a run (a solo home run to Andrew Knapp in the second) on three hits while striking out 12.  Aaron Nola struck out 10, but costly errors and mental mistakes from Adam Haseley, Alec Bohm, Rhys Hoskins and Didi Gregorius led to three unearned runs.  The bullpen trio of Heath Hembree, Mauricio Llovera and Blake Parker combined on 2 2/3 innings, allowing 9 hits, 8 runs and 3 home runs.  Parker's runs allowed were the first runs he had allowed all season.

Bryce Harper, who appeared to have cut his hair following Saturday night's ejection, went 1 for 2.

Featured Card:  Llovera made his big league debut and exited after an inning with a 36.00 ERA.  Facing 10 batters, he gave up 4 runs on 5 hits and a walk.  On a positive note, he earned his first strikeout when he caught Mets' catcher Wilson  Ramos looking in the 7th.

2019 Grandstand Reading
Fightin Phils #19

Transaction:  Jay Bruce (of) was placed on the 10-day injured list with a left quad strain and Roman Quinn (of) was placed on the 7-day concussion protocol list.  Kyle Garlick (of) and Llovera (rhp) were recalled from Lehigh Valley.

Also of note, the Phillies added three more players to their 60-man player pool - Henri Lartigue (c), Jeff Singer (lhp) and Luke Williams (inf).  I believe that brings the club to 59 players, with just one spot still open - 28 active, 5 on the injured list (not counting the 2 on the 60-day injured list) and 26 training in Lehigh Valley.

Lartigue and Williams were both non-roster invitees to spring training and Singer is a new name for the mix.  A Philadelphia native and a graduate of Rutgers, Singer has been pitching through the Phillies minor league system since 2016 and he appeared in 42 games last season for the Double-A Reading Fightin Phils, going 7-0 with a 2.34 ERA.  It would be quite the story if Singer joins the Phillies at some point, as he was a non-drafted free agent signing back in October 2015.

2020 Virtual Phillies Wall / 2020 Season Summary Index / 2020 Chachi Set Checklist

Grapefruit Game 19 - 2019 Topps Pro Debut #53 Spencer Howard

Phillies 5, Twins 1
Spring Training Game 19 - Tuesday Afternoon, March 10th in Clearwater
Record - 13-5-1

One Sentence Summary:  Zack Wheeler looked great and the offense kept plugging along in this 5-1 win over the Twins.

What It Means:  Bryce Harper exited the game in the first after being hit in the foot on a pitch from Twins starting pitcher Sean Poppen.  Harper would later say he was just fine.

What Happened:  Wheeler went four innings, allowing a run on four hits while striking out six.  Top pitching prospect Spencer Howard made his spring debut and pitched a scoreless inning of relief.  Didi Gregorius had an RBI-single in the first, snapping his 0 for 22 streak.  J.T. Realmuto would later add a two-run home run and Logan Forsythe hit a home run to left that might still be in the air.

Featured Card:  Howard will most likely open the season in the rotation for the Triple-A IronPigs, but I have to think we'll see him pitching in Philly at some point in 2020.

Camp Head Count:  61 - 3 = 58.  LHP Garrett Cleavinger and RHP Mauricio Llovera were optioned to Lehigh Valley while 1B Darrick Hall was reassigned to minor league camp.

2020 Chachi New Additions #2

2020 Chachi New Additions #3

Four Pitching Prospects Added to 40-Man Roster

2019 Grandstand Reading Fightin Phils Update #37

2019 R-Phils Phillies Top 25 Prospects #13

2019 Bowman Prospects #BP-37

2018 Grandstand Princeton Rays #29

A sure sign we're getting closer to Thanksgiving is the addition of prospects to the Phillies' 40-man roster.  On Wednesday evening, four prospects were added and here's a quick summary of their 2019 season and their baseball card appearances to date.  The 40-man roster currently has 39 players on it.

Garrett Cleavinger (lhp) - Acquired from the Orioles in the Jeremy Hellickson trade, Cleavinger spent all last season in Reading appearing in 34 games in relief.  In 51 2/3 innings, he struck out 83 while walking 34 and had a 3.66 ERA.  Cleavinger has appeared in four Reading Fightin Phils team sets since 2017.

Mauricio Llovera (rhp) - Llovera also spent all of 2019 with Reading, appearing in 14 games and making 12 starts.  He could be a potential bullpen arm for the Phillies in 2020, and his make-up has already been compared to Ranger Suarez's.  He's had several appearances in Phillies minor league team sets dating back to 2017.

JoJo Romero (lhp) - The franchise's #10 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, Romero made 24 starts for the Fightin Phils and Triple-A IronPigs in 2019, going 7-9 with a 5.82 ERA.  I've somehow already accumulated 17 different cards for Romero between minor league team sets and Bowman issues.

Cristopher Sanchez (lhp) - Sanchez was acquired from the Rays on Wednesday for minor league infielder Curtis Mead.  He appeared in 24 games across three minor league teams for the Rays in 2019, going 4-1 with a 2.26 ERA.  It looks as if Sanchez's baseball card appearances to date have been limited to Rays minor league team sets.

It's always interesting to look back on the prospects added to the 40-man roster each November, and the listing below shows that most of these players eventually made it to the Majors.

Memory Lane

2009 Additions - Quintin Berry, Yohan Flande and Jesus Sanchez
2010 Additions - Cesar Hernandez, Matt Rizzotti, Harold Garcia, Freddy Galvis and Justin De Fratus
2011 Additions - Phillippe Aumont, Jake Diekman, Tyson Gillies and Sebastian Valle
2012 Additions - Zach Collier, Ethan Martin, Trevor May and Jonathan Pettibone
2013 Additions - Aaron Altherr, Kelly Dugan, Tommy Joseph and Rob Rasmussen
2014 Additions - Jesse Biddle, Adam Morgan and Nefi Ogando
2015 Additions - Jimmy Cordero, Roman Quinn and Edubray Ramos
2016 Additions - 11 prospects
2017 Additions - Seranthony Dominguez, Franklyn Kilome, Ranger Suarez, Jose Taveras, Engelb Vielma
2018 Additions - Arquimedes Gamboa, Edgar Garcia and Adonis Medina
2019 Additions - Garrett Cleavinger, Mauricio Llovera, JoJo Romero and Cristopher Sanchez