Swag from Nachos Grande

Couple of highlights from a recent Nachos Grande Box Break

2015 Topps Heritage #596 Freddy Galvis

We lead off our Swag posting with a rare Freddy Galvis card. Topps seems to snub Galvis for some reason. He is not exactly a star and really more of a reserve player, but he is right at the top of the list of Phillies that don't get Topps cards.

This card is from the Heritage High  Number set, likewise #596 was a high number in the original 1966T  but it did not correspond to a Phillies player. The original card was as Rookie Card issued to Nate Colbert with Houston. I was unaware that Colbert debuted with the Astros until I saw the RC. He eventually moved to the Padres as an expansion draft pickup. Colbert shares his dual RC with Greg Sims who had a grand total of 7 career MLB Plate Appearances.

2014 Topps Stadium Club Chase Utley Base & Black Parallel 

He's gone and may have to sign a minor league contract to hook up with a team in 2016 but that won't stop us from being fans. Nice to pick up this short print in the break. 

2011 Topps Wilson Valdez 

There are not a lot of cares of Phan Phavorite Wilson Valdez. 

2013 Topps Chrome Purple Refractor Ryan Howard Purple 

Picked up a couple Purple Refractor shorties, The more notable of the two is the above Ryan Howard...

2013 Topps Chrome Purple Refractor Jonathan Pettibone

Pettibone had Shoulder surgery during the summer of 2014 and was expected to return to the Phillies by spring of this year but never made it to the mound in an official game. He is not currently on the 40 man roster.

2015 Topps Ken Giles

One of the few bright spots for the Phillies the last few seasons has been reliever Ken Giles. With contenders looking for closers and the rebuilding Phillies not reall needing one there is a chance that Giles will be on the move this winter. 

2015 Topps Heritage Odubel Herrera 

The Phillies rule 5 pickup Odubel Herrera also provided a few highlights during the Phillies 2015 campaign.

2015 Topps Chrome Ryan Howard

Still good to see cards of one of the 2008 Phillies last remaining heroes.

Bobby Abreu 
Darren Daulton
Ricky Otero

Some other heroes from the past were part of the break

2008 Topps Home Run Derby Chase Utley

Closing with another Chase Card.

Sources and Links
Baseball Card Database
Baseball-reference
Phillies - Todd Zolecki
Philly.com - Jake Caplan 

WAR Stories 2015 Phillies Projections: Ken Giles

Ken Giles had an impressive Rookie Campaign in 2014. He became a valuable set up man, pitching 45+ innings with a very efficient 1.18 ERA (336 ERA+). Giles performance was recognized with a 4th place finish in the Rookie of the Year voting.

2015 Phungo #53 Ken Giles

Regardless of Giles success the Phillies would likley looking at ways to move Jonathan Papelbon, and if that does happen GIles would inherit the Closer role.

But who is Ken Giles? 

Prior to 2014 Giles had struggled throwing strikes and had some health issues. His control issues seem to have resurfaced during the early spring (5 Walks in 5 2/3 Innings).

During 2014 Giles was good enough for +2.0 WAR, however that was with a 5.8 K/BB rate. He is nowhere near that in his 5 spring training outings so far. 

I am hopeful that we see something great from Ken Giles but based off his inexperience and uneven performance at lower levels I am projecting a 0.8 WAR season for Giles

2015 Phungo 

This pix is from a Beautiful Sunday Day Game versus the Arizona Diamondbacks. Giles showed all parts of his game, He struck out a batter and gave up a four pitch walk prior to inducing fellow RoY Candidate Ender Incarte to ground into a double play. It was one of only 3 DPs that Incante hit into in 447 PAs. 

Sources and Links
Phillies 2015+
2015 Phungo Checklist
Baseball-ref