Happy New Year: Breaking down the 2016 Phillies wall calendar
My Phillies wall calendar arrived in the mail on Thursday. This is an annual tradition, one of the perks of renewing my Sunday season ticket plan.
I’m sure this used to be an easier exercise for the Phillies’ marketing staff. Utley! Rollins! Howard [when he was popular]! Several really good pitchers!
Now… it’s a little harder to string together 12 solid months of players who fans will be excited to see as they flip through the year.
Last season’s calendar made for great comedy, a veritable parade of the injured, the traded or the laughable.
There was Cliff Lee in May, though he didn’t throw a pitch all season. There was Rollins in June, six months after he’d been traded to the Dodgers. Phillies fans got Ben Revere in August, though he was then a Blue Jay, and Grady Sizemore for the stretch run in September, though he was then in Tampa.
That’s what happens when a team undergoes as much turnover as the 2015 Phillies. The 2016 Phillies can’t possibly muster up as much emotional turnover, after they discarded some of their past franchise icons and symbolically moved on from their championship run, but they still might have as many lines in the transaction log.
This year the team has a brand new GM, which means nothing is off the table. Poor Peter Bourjos was just signed this week and will never hang on the wall at my desk. More moves are coming.
While it may be too early for the Phillies to adequately put together a wall calendar, it’s definitely not too early for me to write up a month-by-month breakdown.
January- Cody Asche
This is a smart pick for January, because nobody knows what his role will be on the team come April. Starting third baseman? Starting left fielder? Lehigh Valley Iron Pig? Not sure. But right now he’s a guy on the team who people have heard of, so we might as well have him in the calendar and get him out of the way before the actual games start.
February- Carlos Ruiz and Cameron Rupp
Brilliant! Just as they split the catcher role in a time share last year, so too will they share the month of February. The Phillies’ future plans at catcher could be a bit murky, so let’s just cover both bases and give them the shortest month of the year. Carlos Ruiz remains one of the most popular players on the team, but this is a safe hedging of bets in case he’s truly a backup catcher come April.
March- A baseball sitting in the grass
Safe pick! The team will almost certainly use baseballs in the month of March. This photo will remain topical and relevant.
April- The Phillie Phanatic and a bunch of other mascots
Another safe pick! This photo was taken in Citizen’s Bank Park, and guess where the Phillies will start playing baseball games in April. That’s right—Citizen’s Bank Park. No embarrassing opening month photo of a guy who now plays for the Yankees/Giants/Dodgers/Lakewood BlueClaws. Way to start the season off on the right foot.
May- Odubel Herrera
Finally, for the first time in 62 days, an actual player. Herrera had a pretty good season in 2015, very good for a Rule 5 player. He figured to be the Opening Day centerfielder, although the outfield is a bit more crowded with Bourjos’ arrival. But he should be an everyday player unless he’s hurt early in the year.
June- Ken Giles
It took until the sixth month, but we finally have our first Phillies pitcher. Ken Giles, the young closer, is probably the Phillies’ best player when taking the 2014 and 2015 seasons into account together. Of course that also makes him the subject of trade rumors for a team in rebuilding mode like the Phillies. Does the Phillies marketing department know something we don’t? Better to get him in there before that trade deadline.
July- Aaron Nola
Nola, the former No. 1 pick, now has 13 solid big league starts under his belt. He will definitely be on the team in July. Only health could make this look foolish, and even an injury would leave this as an excusable choice.
August- Cesar Hernandez
I would not have suggested this had I been in the staff meeting. In 2015 Hernandez was Utley’s backup who then carved out a cult following based largely on BABIP and a hot streak that predictably regressed. He is listed simply as INF here, because he is not the Phillies’ second baseman of the future. This has the potential to be the funniest photo in the calendar, as Hernandez could be traded or designated for assignment by the time we get to him in the calendar. I look forward to tweeting about this on Tuesday, August 1.
September- Maikel Franco
Yep. The last month of Phillies baseball for the season, and Franco should be the team’s best player by this point. He and Nola are the two safest bets to be the on the roster and playing well in 2016.
October- Freddy Galvis
Will Freddy Galvis be the team’s starting shortstop all season? Will he be on the roster? I don’t know. The good news—it’s October. Phillies fans will have long been checked out. October has just two games to keep track of: a final Saturday/Sunday against the Mets in games 161 and 162. Sunday, October 2 is Fan Appreciation Day, the start of Rosh Hashanah and an excuse to take down the calendar. Freddy Galvis is the least of your concerns.
November- Adam Morgan
Will the soon-to-be-27-year-old Adam Morgan be an established member of the Phillies’ rotation by then? The Phillies are banking on you having thrown out your calendar before anyone finds out.
December- A wreath with Christmas bells and baseballs with the Phillies’ logo on them
No player, but a fresh new 2017 wall calendar should arrive in my mailbox and I already can’t wait.
Note: Special thanks to Steph Haberman for digging through my 2015 calendar to remind me who was in what month when I was at home and the calendar was at my desk at work.