Game 118 - 2018 Phillies Team Issue 2 #43 Nick Pivetta

Red Sox 2, Phillies 1
Game 118 - Tuesday Night, August 14th in Philadelphia
Record - 65-53, 2nd place, 2 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies line-up produced two hits and Brock Holt launched a pinch-hit home run in the 8th off Tommy Hunter resulting in a 2-1 loss.

What It Means:  The lack of help from the Marlins, a Braves four game win streak, along with the Phillies dropping five of their last seven means the Phillies find themselves in second place for the first time since the 4th of July.

What Happened:  Nick Pivetta made one big mistake - a pitch low and inside to Red Sox catcher Sandy Leon that resulted in a solo home run to right-center and the game's first run.  Rhys Hoskins countered with his 23rd home run in the 5th.  Pivetta lasted six innings, allowing just the one run on three hits while striking out six.  The team's only other hit was an Odubel Herrera single in the 5th.

Featured Card:  Pivetta signed his team-issued photo card for me at June's Phillies Phestival.

Transactions:  J.P. Crawford was sent back to Lehigh Valley prior to the game and the re-invigorated Hector Neris was recalled to help in the bullpen.  The recently designated Jake Thompson was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers for cash considerations.  Thompson never lived up to his potential following his acquisition in July 2015 from the Rangers as part of the Cole Hamels deal.  In 30 games with the Phillies, Thompson went 7-8 with a 4.87 ERA.  He leaves behind a massive amount of Phillies baseball cards as Topps was intent on including him within every set released in 2017, and the Chachi cards listed below.

Ironically enough, the Brewers made room for Thompson on their 40-man roster by designating Alec Asher for assignment.  Asher was one of the other pitchers acquired from the Rangers in the same Hamels deal.

Arrived During the 2018 Season

2018 Phillies Team Issue 2 #44

Trevor Plouffe (4/23/18) - Signed as a minor league free agent, formerly with the Texas Rangers organization.
Asdrubal Cabrera (7/27/18) - Acquired from the New York Mets for Franklyn Kilome.
Wilson Ramos (7/31/18) - Acquired from the Tampa Bay Rays for a player to be named later or cash.
Aaron Loup (7/31/18) - Acquired from the Toronto Blue Jays for Jacob Waguespack.
Justin Bour (8/10/18) - Acquired with cash from the Miami Marlins for McKenzie Mills.

Departed During the 2018 Season
Drew Hutchison (6/5/18) - Designated for assignment and elected free agency.
Hoby Milner (7/15/18) - Sold to the Tampa Bay Rays.
Zac Curtis (7/31/18) - Designated for assingnment and claimed off waivers by the Texas Rangers, 8/7/18.
Jake Thompson (8/14/18) - Traded to the Milwaukee Brewers for cash considerations.

Thompson Complete Chachi Checklist
2016 Chachi #54
2016 Chachi #56 HL - Strikes out 4 in one inning
2016 Chachi Fan Appreciation Day #4
2017 Chachi #41
2018 Chachi #18

Field Report:  Doug and I attended this game, and I believe the game marks a milestone as it was Doug's first game staying in his seat from start to finish.  Granted, the quick pace of the game helped but it was also the first time Doug remembers seeing the ballpark relatively full and somewhat loud.

We had a bunch of Red Sox fans in our section and other than the inning-long discussion taking place in the row behind us about "what is the Phillie Phanatic," the visiting fans seemed mostly well-behaved.

2018 Chachi #18 Jake Thompson

#44
Jacob Keith Thompson
Relief Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'4"  Weight:  225
Opening Day Age:  24
Born:  January 31, 1994, Dallas, TX
Drafted:  Selected by the Detroit Tigers in the 2nd round of the June 2012 draft
Teams:  Phillies 2016-
Acquired:  Acquired with Matt Harrison, Nick Williams, Jorge Alfaro, Jerad Eickhoff and Alec Asher from the Texas Rangers for Cole Hamels, Jake Diekman and cash considerations, July 31, 2015

2015 Topps Heritage Minor League #129

2015 Reading Fightin Phils Holiday Set #27

2016 Bowman Prospects #BP107

2016 Chachi #54

2017 Topps #344

41 Thompson Baseball Cards in My Collection per The Phillies Room Checklist
First Card:  2015 Topps Heritage Minor League #129
First Phillies Minor League Card:  2015 Reading Fightin Phils Holiday Set #27
First Phillies Card:  2016 Bowman Prospects #BP107
First Topps Flagship Base Card:  2017 Topps #344
First Phillies Team Issued Card:  2017 Phillies Team Issue Update #44
Newest Card:  2018 Phillies Team Issue 2 #44

2017 Phillies Team Issue Update #44

First Mention on The Phillies Room:  July 31, 2015 - Cole Hamels (and Jake Diekman) are now officially members of the Texas Rangers and the Phillies have six new players in their organization that I've honestly never heard of before.  No offense meant here, but if Matt Harrison, who was an A.L. All-Star in 2012, bumped into me on the streets of Philadelphia I'd have no idea he was the newest Phillies starting pitcher.

The best way for me to get acclimated with these new guys is to summarize their baseball card careers to date.  I won't attempt to provide scouting reports on these players as I'm just purely interested in getting to know them through their baseball cards for now.  If you want something a little more in-depth, I thought this article was a good read . . .

Jake Thompson (RHP - AA) - Thompson was ranked the second best prospect in the Rangers system in Baseball America's pre-season rankings.  In 17 starts with the Frisco RoughRiders this season, he's 6-6 with a 4.72 ERA and 78 strikeouts in 87 2/3 innings.  Thompson has been featured in multiple Topps Heritage Minors and Topps Pro Debut sets since 2010, and his most recent mainstream card was in the 2015 Bowman Inception set.

Complete Chachi Checklist
2016 Chachi #54
2016 Chachi #56 HL - Strikes out 4 in one inning
2016 Chachi Fan Appreciation Day #4
2017 Chachi #41
2018 Chachi #18

Card statistics through 5/25/18.

Grapefruit Game 20 - 2017 Donruss Optic #49 Jake Thompson

Braves 5, Phillies 3
Spring Training Game 20 - Wednesday Afternoon, March 14th in Lake Buena Vista
Record - 8-12

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies returned to Disney World, dropping this game to the Braves, 5-3.

What It Means:  There are less than two weeks remaining to the Grapefruit League season.

What Happened:  Ben Lively allowed three runs on four hits in his five-inning start.  Jake Thompson pitched two more shutout innings to lower his spring ERA to 0.96.  Cesar Hernandez and Scott Kingery each had a pair of hits and Jorge Alfaro hit his second home run of the spring.

Featured Card:  It would seem as if Thompson is destined to start the season with the IronPigs, and it will be difficult for him to repeat on the volume of his baseball cards found within 2017 releases.  I have 24 different Topps and Panini cards of his in my 2017 Phillies binder, including this card from Donruss Optic.

Camp Head Count:  48

2017 Topps Archives #133 Jake Thompson

Phillies 4, Nationals 1
Game 158 - Tuesday Night, September 26th in Philadelphia
Record - 63-95, 5th place, 32 1/2 games behind the Nationals

One Sentence Summary:  Jake Thompson and the bullpen contained the Nationals in this 4-1 win.

What It Means:  The win means the 1961 Phillies will remain the last Phillies team to have lost 100 games in a season.

What Happened:  Thompson allowed a run over five innings of work.  Edubray Ramos, Adam Morgan, Luis Garcia and Hector Neris shut down the Nationals over the final four innings with Neris notching his 25th save.  Cameron Rupp's two-run double in the third broke a 1-1 tie and Rhys Hoskins added an insurance run with a sacrifice fly in the seventh.

Featured Card:  Despite making only eight starts with the big club, Thompson's status as a top prospect earned him a card in virtually every Topps release this season.  Here's his card from the 2017 Topps Archives release, which borrowed the design of the 2017 Chachi set.

2017 Topps Allen & Ginter Foil #222 Jake Thompson

Phillies 10, Braves 3
Game 100 - Friday Night, July 28th in Philadelphia
Record - 36-64, 5th place, 25 games behind the Nationals

One Sentence Summary:  A seven-run fifth inning, along with a big night from Aaron Altherr, led to this 10-3 win over the Braves.

What It Means:  The game was somewhat secondary as we awaited news of a trade.  Starting pitcher Jeremy Hellickson was pulled from the bullpen prior to the game (while he was warming up) and Jake Thompson made the emergency start.

What Happened:  Thompson pitched extremely well, earning the win and shutting out the Braves over five innings while allowing five hits.  Altherr hit a pair of home runs (15 and 16).  Altherr and Cameron Rupp (10) went back-to-back to start the fifth and Tommy Joseph would later add a three-run home run (16).  Freddy Galvis had a two-run triple in the inning, scoring on a throwing error from second baseman Brandon Phillips.

Featured Card:  Despite spending most of the season in the minors, Thompson is all over the 2017 Topps baseball card releases.  He's had at least one card in every major Topps release this season, including this parallel foil card from Allen & Ginter.

Transactions:  Reliver Jesen Therrien was recalled from the IronPigs prior to the game to take Pat Neshek's spot on the roster.  Following the game, trades were announced sending Howie Kendrick to the Nationals and Jeremy Hellickson to the Orioles.  I'll have follow-up posts on both transactions and the players received in return.

2017 Chachi #41 Jake Thompson

#44
Jacob Keith Thompson
Starting Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'4"  Weight:  225
Born:  January 31, 1994, Dallas, TX
Home:  Rockwall, TX
Drafted:  Selected by the Detroit Tigers in the 2nd round of the June 2012 draft
Teams:  Phillies 2016-
Acquired:  Acquired with Matt Harrison, Nick Williams, Jorge Alfaro, Jerad Eickhoff and Alec Asher from the Texas Rangers for Cole Hamels, Jake Diekman and cash considerations, July 31, 2015

2015 Topps Heritage Minor League #129

2016 Bowman Prospects #BP107

2016 Chachi #54

2017 Topps #344

21 Thompson Baseball Cards in My Collection per The Phillies Room Checklist
First Card:  2015 Topps Heritage Minor League #129
First Phillies Card:  2016 Bowman Prospects #BP107
First Topps Flagship Base Card:  2017 Topps #344
First Phillies Team Issued Card:  N/A
Latest Card:  2017 Topps Salute #S-135

Click to enlarge

Complete Chachi Checklist
2016 Chachi #54
2016 Chachi #56 HL - Strikes out 4 in one inning
2016 Chachi Fan Appreciation Day #4
2017 Chachi #41

Card statistics through 6/23/17.

2017 Topps Opening Day #125 Jake Thompson

Nationals 4, Phillies 2
Game 28 - Friday Night, May 5th in Philadelphia
Record - 12-16, Tied for 3rd place, 7 1/2 games behind the Nationals

One Sentence Summary:  At a damp and cold Citizens Bank Park, the Phillies lost their fifth in a row dropping this game to the Nationals, 4-2.

What It Means:  The Phillies are 1-7 in their last eight games.  It's not going well.

What Happened:  Nick Pivetta gave up three solo home runs to pitcher Stephen Strasburg (1), Ryan Zimmerman (12) and Anthony Rendon (4).  He left the game after five innings having allowed four runs on nine hits.  The Phillies offense left 11 on base and went 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position.

Transaction:  To give the Phillies an extra bullpen arm, Jake Thompson was recalled from Lehigh Valley prior to this game and infielder Ty Kelly was sent down.  The move leaves the Phillies with a short bench again, with only Andrew Knapp, Andres Blanco, Daniel Nava and Brock Stassi available for back-up duties.

Featured Card:  Thompson made his 2017 debut in this game, relieving Pivetta in the sixth and pitching a perfect inning.  Thompson has been featured on cards in the Topps flagship, Heritage and Opening Day sets so far this season.

2017 Topps Heritage #275 Jake Thompson & Roman Quinn

Phillies 9, Twins 5
Spring Training Game 25 - Tuesday Afternoon, March 21st in Fort Myers
Record - 10-12-3

One Sentence Summary:  The Phils rode a six-run ninth inning to a 9-5 come-from-behind win over the Twins.

What It Means:  This was a nice little win, and one of the few exciting victories for the Phillies so far in this exhibition season.

What Happened:  Jake Thompson and Adam Morgan each pitched three scoreless innings.  Alec Asher got roughed up in the eighth, allowing all five Twins runs on five hits and a pair of walks.

In the ninth, Roman Quinn's RBI-double tied up the game after Aaron Altherr (3) led off with a solo home run.  Odubel Herrera broke the tie with an RBI-single and Tommy Joseph capped the big inning with a two-run double.

Featured Card:  Thompson and Quinn, featured together on this Topps Heritage card, are both likely to start the season with the IronPigs.  The starting pitching rotation appears set as do the five available outfield positions on the roster.  Still, it's nice knowing the Phillies have some depth at this point in the high minors and I would think we'll see Thompson and Quinn back in Philadelphia at some point this season.

Camp Head Count:  44

Farewell Ryan Howard, So Long 2016 Phillies, Bring on 2017! #ChachiNow

2016 Chachi #64

Phillies 5, Mets 2
Game 162 - Sunday Afternoon, October 2nd in Philadelphia
Record - 71-91, 4th place, 24 games behind the Nationals

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies won their season finale and bid an emotional farewell to Ryan Howard, the last man standing from their glory years.

What It Means:  I attended 16 Phillies games this season and finished the year with an impressive 8-8 record.  I'll take that . . . but I'd like to have a personal winning record next season.

What Happened:  Jared Eickhoff finished off his impressive season with six innings of one-run ball against the Mets.  Colton Murray earned his first career win and Hector Neris closed out the game for his second save.  Maikel Franco had a four-hit game, Aaron Altherr reached base three times and Cesar Hernandez had two hits to pad his team leading .294 average.

2016 Chachi Fan Appreciation Day #1

2016 Chachi Fan  Appreciation Day #2

2016 Chachi Fan  Appreciation Day #3

2016 Chachi Fan  Appreciation Day #4

2016 Chachi Fan  Appreciation Day #5

2016 Chachi Fan  Appreciation Day #6

2016 Chachi Fan  Appreciation Day #7

2016 Chachi Fan  Appreciation Day #8

Featured Cards/Field Report:  As has become tradition, we wanted to be there for the final game and I was very happy to have Jenna and our youngest son Ben along with Doug and me this year.  We parked our car and as we were walking to the ballpark several hours before gametime, I noticed that Phillies outfielder Roman Quinn (I thought) was walking in front of us.  I sent Doug as an advanced scout to check him out and Doug confirmed my initial suspicion.  Quinn was kind enough to pose with our kids right there on the sidewalk and provide a few autographs.

Inside the ballpark, Doug and I stationed ourselves at the first base entrance, confident that Phillies players would once again appear to welcome fans to the final game.  Jenna and Ben opted for one last climb within the Phillies Phun Zone.  We were rewarded for our patience when Luis Garcia and Neris appeared and both signed Doug's photo cards.

We then made the mad dash around the ballpark, stopping at each entrance gate so that Doug could add to his autograph collection.  Strangely enough, the Phillies employees stationed with Jake Thompson and Patrick Schuster indicated that neither pitcher was signing autographs but they'd be happy to pose for pictures.  (Ben had caught up to us by the time we met Schuster.)

Doug also posed for photos and/or received autographs from Tyler Goeddel, Michael Mariot and Phil Klein.

We stood and cheered during the pregame and postgame ceremonies honoring Howard and during each of his four at-bats.  It was a very touching and classy presentation, which has become the 30-year norm for the Phillies organization.

It was sad saying goodbye to Howard and the era he represented.  It was tough leaving the ballpark knowing that a long, cold winter looms.  But I'm hopeful for the future and I'm excited for what comes next.

Howard's card in Ashburn Alley, one last time

Howard's first at-bat

Top of the 9th

The boys and me

Memory Lane - Game 162
This was the eighth season in a row that I've posted on the daily highs and lows of the Philadelphia Phillies, which far exceeds my consecutive year streak of maintaining an annual Phillies scrap book when I was younger.  I'm looking forward to this daily habit in 2017 and I sincerely appreciate everyone who stopped by to read and comment throughout the season.

October 4, 2009 - Catcher Paul Hoover singled in the winning run in the 10th in a 7-6 win over the Marlins.
October 3, 2010 - The Phillies lost 8-7 to the Braves in their final tune-up before facing the Reds in the N.L.D.S.
September 28, 2011 - The Phillies closed out the 2011 regular season with a 13-inning victory against the Braves, setting a franchise record with their 102nd regular season win.
October 3, 2012 - The Phillies closed out their 2012 season with a lethargic 5-1 loss to the N.L. East Champion Nationals.
September 29, 2013 - Zach Miner got the ball for the Phillies and lasted 2 1/3 innings in a 12-5 loss to the Braves.
September 28, 2014 - Cole Hamels pitched another fine game and suffered through another outing with minimal run support.
October 4, 2015 - Phillies avoid 100 losses and Ichiro makes his pitching debut in a 7-2 victory.
October 2, 2016 - Phillies bid an emotional farewell to franchise icon Ryan Howard.

Want to revisit every game of the 2016 season?  My handy game summary index can be found here.

2016 Topps Pro Debut #3 Jake Thompson

Nationals 4, Phillies 0
Game 131 - Monday Night, August 29th in Philadelphia
Record - 60-71, 4th place, 16 games behind the Nationals

One Sentence Summary:  Tanner Roark and two Nationals relievers limited the struggling Phillies offense to four hits as the Nationals won, 4-0.

What It Means:  This was the best start of Jake Thompson's young Major League career.

What Happened:  Thompson had a shaky first inning, allowing two runs including a first inning home run to Jayson Werth, but then recovered to pitch six shutout innings.  He's just the second Phillies starter since July 26th (along with Jeremy Hellickson) to pitch the full seventh inning in a game.

Featured Card:  Unless he's featured in the Topps Update set, this may be the closest Thompson gets this year to having a Topps base card.

As discussed in this post, I'm taking a poll on how collectors track baseball card collections. 

Please vote in the poll on the sidebar if you haven't already.  Thanks!

Thome Joins Wall of Fame! Howard Hits Slam! #ChachiNow!

2016 Phillies Team Issue 2 #25

2016 Phillies Team Issue 2 #6

Phillies 10, Rockies 6
Game 117 - Friday Night, August 12th in Philadelphia
Record - 54-63, 4th place, 14 1/2 games behind the Nationals

One Sentence Summary:  On the night Jim Thome was inducted into the Phillies Wall of Fame, Ryan Howard hit a grand slam and Jake Thompson earned his first Major League win.

What It Means:  Party like it's 2005!

What Happened:  The suddenly hot Howard hit his grand slam in the fifth inning and he finished the night with three hits and five RBIs.  (Not to be completely overlooked is the fact that the Rockies Charlie Blackmon had three home runs in this game.)

Thompson pitched five innings, allowing three runs on two hits and three walks.  He made Phillies history in the second inning, becoming just the second player in franchise history to strike out four batters in one inning.  Doc White had accomplished the feat first back in 1902.  Thompson struck out rookie David Dahl to start the inning, but the ball went to the backstop and Dahl reached first. Thompson then struck out the next three Rockies batters.

2016 Chachi #56

Featured Cards:  There was a lot going on for this game!  Thompson earned the latest #ChachiNow (also known as a 2016 Chachi Highlights) card for his historic feat.  Howard should definitely get some recognition for his blast in this game.  And I wanted to call attention to the fact that the Phillies have updated their team-issued photo card set with several additional cards.  At the top of the "new" set is an Alumni card for Thome.  (I'll update this set's listing here for the new cards.)

Field Report:  We purchased four tickets to this game since we didn't want to miss the induction of Thome into the Phillies Wall of Fame.  I have a personal streak going of five years in a row that I've attended the Wall of Fame ceremonies and I hope to keep the streak going next year.

The Phillies do an unbelievable job at honoring their former players and the pre-game ceremony honoring Thome was no exception.  Charlie Manuel introduced him, Bobby Abreu was on hand to unveil the plaque in Ashburn Alley and Howard presented Thome with a replica of his plaque. Messages were played on Phanavision from Nick Punto, David Bell, Chase Utley (in his Dodgers uniform), Jimmy Rollins (retired?) and Tim McGraw.  Thome's speech was fantastic and I'm glad my sons got to see this great Phillies slugger honored.  (Click the pictures below to enlarge.)

Manuel inducts Thome

Abreu unveils Thome's plaque

Thome's speech

In other news . . . It was ridiculously, smoking HOT.  We missed the two biggest highlights of this game due to taking cover in the Hall of Fame Club (Thompson's four strikeouts) or heading home to be rescued by air conditioning (Howard's slam).

Transaction:  In a somewhat surprising move, outfielder Cody Asche was optioned to Lehigh Valley to make room for the activated Peter Bourjos.  I would have thought that Jimmy Paredes would be the odd man out when Bourjos was ready to return, but Asche's cold bat earned him a demotion.

Memory Lane - Past Induction Ceremonies/Alumni Weekends

2009 - Harry Kalas

2010 - Darren Daulton

2011 - John Kruk

2012 - Mike Lieberthal

2013 - Curt Schilling

2014 - Charlie Manuel
2015 - Pat Burrell
2016 - Jim Thome

Be sure to check out the 2016 Season Summary page with game results and links to game summary posts.

2016 Bowman Scouts' Top 100 #BTP-52 Jake Thompson

Padres 9, Phillies 7
Game 112 - Saturday Night, August 6th in San Diego
Record - 51-61, 4th place, 15 games behind the Nationals

One Sentence Summary:  Jake Thompson struggled in his debut and a late Phillies comeback fell short as the Padres won, 9-7.

What It Means:  With the jitters from his big league debut out of the way, Thompson can now settle into the rotation with the knowledge that he'll be sticking around for a little while.

What Happened:  Thompson was in trouble immediately and after one inning had allowed four runs on three hits, two walks and a wild pitch.  Chrstian Bethancourt did the most damage with a three-run double.  Luis Garcia and David Hernandez couldn't keep the Padres off the board in the fifth through eighth innings, otherwise the Phils would have had a chance in this game.

Jimmy Paredes hit a two-run home run (4) in the ninth and Aaron Altherr added an RBI-double to make it close.  Ryan Howard hit a solo home run (16) off former IronPigs pitcher Paul Clemens in the second and Cesar Hernandez continued his misadventures on the base paths, getting caught stealing for the eighth time this season.

Featured Card:  This is one of the 2016 baseball cards in my collection that I've been unable to add to Zistle due to that site's recent lack of maintenance.  I love the Zistle format and its ease of use, but it seems as if I may soon need to migrate my collection to another platform if updates continue to lag.

In any event, this is one of a handful of Thompson baseball cards available this year and I would expect him to be all over the 2017 baseball card releases.

Transaction:  Prior to the game, Thompson was recalled from Lehigh Valley and long-man reliever Brett Oberholtzer was designated for assignment.  Oberholtzer could find himself back with the organization if another team doesn't claim him first.  Acquired as part of the Ken Giles trade with the Astros, Oberholtzer struggled for most of the season although he had been pitching better of late.

Also on the transaction front, Andrew Bailey was unconditionally released, ending his Phillies tenure.

Be sure to check out the 2016 Season Summary page with game results and links to game summary posts.

2016 Chachi #54 Jake Thompson

#44
Jacob Keith Thompson
Starting Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'4"  Weight:  225
Born:  January 31, 1994, Dallas, TX
Home:  Rockwall, TX
Drafted:  Selected by the Detroit Tigers in the 2nd round of the June 2012 draft
Teams:  Phillies 2016
Acquired:  Acquired with Matt Harrison, Nick Williams, Jorge Alfaro, Jared Eickhoff and Alec Asher from the Texas Rangers for Cole Hamels, Jake Diekman and cash considerations, July 31, 2015

2015 Topps Heritage Minor League #129

2016 Bowman Prospects #BP107

9 Thompson Baseball Cards in My Collection per Zistle
First Card:  2015 Topps Heritage Minor League #129
First Phillies Card:  2016 Bowman Prospects #BP107
First Topps Flagship Base Card:  N/A
First Phillies Team Issued Card:  N/A
Latest Card:  2016 Choice Lehigh Valley IronPigs #4

Complete Chachi Checklist
2016 Chachi #54

Card statistics through 8/6/16.

Nine Top Prospects Invited to Camp

2015 Topps Heritage Minor Leagues #219

2015 Bowman Scouts' Top 100 #BTP-16

2015 Grandstand Reading Fightin Phils Top Prospects #5

Nine of the Phillies top prospects were added to the list of non-roster invitees on Wednesday, increasing the total number of non-roster invitees to 23.  Unless there are any further roster additions or subtractions between now and February 18th, the Phillies will open spring training with 63 players competing for 25 roster spots.

As in the norm, I'll leave the reporting on these players' accolades to the experts.  What I'm most interested in is looking at their available baseball cards.

Mark Appel (rhp) - Acquired in December from the Astros in the Ken Giles deal, Appel will receive his first Phillies cards in 2016.

J.P. Crawford (ss) - I already have 22 cards of the Phillies top prospect in my collection.  He appeared on several Bowman inserts from 2015 along with cards in the Topps Pro Debut and Topps Heritage Minor Leagues sets.

Zach Eflin (rhp) - There are six different cards featuring Eflin available throughout the various Reading Fightin Phils team sets issued in 2015.

2015 Grandstand Clearwater Threshers #13

2015 Choice Lehigh Valley IronPigs Update #18

2015 Grandstand Reading Fightin Phils #13

Andrew Knapp (c) - Knapp has 2015 cards in the Clearwater Threshers team set and the Reading Fightin Phils Holiday Set.

Gabriel Lino (c) - Lino has been appearing on Phillies minor league cards since 2012 and he's in both the 2015 Lehigh Valley IronPigs and Reading Fightin Phils team sets.

Logan Moore (c) - Moore has been around for a while, first appearing on a Phillies card back in 2011.  He's also in the 2015 Reading Fightin Phils team sets.

2015 Reading Fightin Phils Holiday Set #25

2015 Reading Fightin Phils Holiday Set #26

2015 Reading Fightin Phils Holiday Set #27

Brock Stassi (1b) - Like Moore, Stassi has been appearing on Phillies minor league cards since 2011 and his 2015 cards can be found in the Reading Fightin Phils team sets.  He has yet to appear within a mainstream baseball card issue.

Jake Thompson (rhp) - Thompson's first Phillies card can be found in the Reading Fightin Phils Holiday Set.

Nick Williams (of) - Like Thompson, Williams' first Phillies card can be found in the Reading Fightin Phils Holiday Set.  I would suspect we'll see a lot more Phillies cards for both Thompson and Williams in 2016.

Player (position) - 2015 Organization - Last Major Baseball Card Appearance
1.  James Russell (lhp) - Cubs - 2015 Topps #255 (Braves)
2.  Emmanuel Buriss (inf) - Nationals - 2010 Topps Update #US-82 (Giants)
3.  Ryan Jackson (inf) - Royals/Angels - 2013 Panini Prizm #238 (Cardinals)
4.  Frank Herrmann (rhp) - Angels/Pirates - 2010 Topps Update #US-89 (Indians)
5.  Chris Leroux (rhp) - Brewers/Phillies - 2013 Panini Select #205 (Pirates)
6.  Reinier Roibal (rhp) - Phillies - N/A
7.  J.P. Arencibia (c) - Orioles/Rays - 2014 Topps #627 (Rangers)
8.  Greg Burke (rhp) - Blue Jays - 2009 Bowman Chrome #103 (Padres)
9.  Ernesto Frieri (rhp) - Rays - 2014 Topps #240 (Angels)
10.  Gregory Infante (rhp) - Blue Jays - 2011 Topps Allen & Ginter #84 (White Sox)
11.  Angelys Nina (inf) - Rockies - 2012 Bowman Prospects #BP45 (Rockies)
12.  Andrew Bailey (rhp) - Yankees - 2013 Topps Heritage #344 (Red Sox)
13.  Edward Mujica (rhp) - Red Sox/Athletics - 2015 Topps #131 (Red Sox)
14.  Cedric Hunter (of) - Braves - 2011 Topps #554 (Padres)
15.  Mark Appel (rhp) - Astros - 2015 Topps Heritage Minor Leagues #219 (Astros)
16.  J.P. Crawford (ss) - Phillies - 2015 Topps Heritage Minor Leagues #208 (Phillies)
17.  Zach Eflin (rhp) - Phillies - 2014 Topps Pro Debut #184 (Padres)
18.  Andrew Knapp (c) - Phillies - 2014 Topps Heritage Minor Leagues #146 (Phillies)
19.  Gabriel Lino (c) - Phillies - 2012 Bowman Chrome Prospects #BCP199 (Phillies)
20.  Logan Moore (c) - Phillies - 2011 Bowman Draft Chrome Prospects #BDPP44 (Phillies)
21.  Brock Stassi (1b) - Phillies - N/A
22.  Jake Thompson (rhp) - Rangers/Phillies - 2015 Topps Heritage Minor Leagues #129 (Rangers)
23.  Nick Williams (of) - Rangers/Phillies - 2015 Topps Heritage Minor Leagues #175 (Rangers)