Yesterday, I covered the players who wore the number 18 earlier in Phillies history. Today, I’ll go over some of the recent names.
Ivan De Jesus
De Jesus was the centerpiece of one of the worst trades in Phillies history. He wore 18 in his first season with the club, but after a disappointing showing, switched to 11 for the next two seasons. It didn’t improve things, as he continued to play poorly. Meanwhile, one of the guys he was traded for won the National League MVP award in 1984.
Kiko Garcia
Although he didn’t play much, Garcia wore the 18 for parts of three seasons, which compared to most of the others who have worn it, was an eternity.
Chris James
James was one of the best players produced by the Phillies’ system in the late eighties, which says a lot for how bad their minor league development was at the time. James had a strong rookie season in 1987, hitting 17 home runs and finishing sixth in Rookie of the Year voting.
James didn’t build on that campaign, and his on base percentage plummeted the following year. In 1989, after Mike Schmidt’s retirement, James was given the starting third base job, and he didn’t thrive taking over for a legend. Midway through the year, the Phillies traded him to San Diego, and unlike the De Jesus trade, they actually came out ahead in this one.
Benito Santiago
With Darren Daulton dealing with injuries, and prospect Mike Lieberthal not quite ready, the Phillies signed Santiago as a one-year stopgap. And he was pretty good! He hit 30 home runs and played solid defense.
Earlier in his career, Santiago had switched from the number 9 to 09. I seem to remember a story saying that he felt “more balanced” with the leading zero, but most reports say that he didn’t like how the single digit couldn’t be read while he was wearing catching equipment.
Shane Victorino
When he made his Phillies debut in 2005, Victorino wore the number 8, but in 2006, he switched to 18. I’m not sure if he was having a power struggle with John Vukovich over the number, but for 2007, he switched back to his more familiar 8 which he donned for the remainder of his Phillies career.
Brad Harman
Harman was the only player to wear 18 during the championship season of 2008. And he didn’t wear it for very long, appearing in just six games.
Darin Ruf
Thanks to his prolific minor league numbers, Ruf had a cult following. As Ryan Howard struggled after his Achilles injury, there was a decent chunk of the fanbase who thought Ruf would be the better option at first base.
When given chances, Ruf didn’t justify that faith. His biggest problem was that he couldn’t hit righthanded pitching well enough. He went to Korea for a three-year stint from 2017-2019 and excelled there and then was pretty good as a platoon bat for the Giants from 2020-2022 but never showed that he was capable of being a solid regular.
Didi Gregorius
Didi was great for the Phillies in the COVID-shortened 2020 season. He parlayed that into a two-year extension and proceeded to suck for the entirety of that deal. (Or at least until the Phillies just released him in August 2022.) To his credit, his walk-up music did help me introduce my mother to the Notorious BIG.
Mike Fontenot, Greg Milton, Bradley Zimmer, and Donovan Walton
All of these players have worn 18 during their brief stints with the Phillies in recent years, and I only made one of those names up.
Johan Rojas
Rojas made a strong impression on Phillies fans when he was called up during the 2023 season. He had blazing speed, defensive skills, and despite not being touted as a good hitter, did a solid job at the plate (.771 OPS)
But over the next two seasons, the flaws in Rojas’ game became more apparent. Despite being one of the fastest players in the majors, his baserunning wasn’t great, and he made a number of lapses in the field. And then, he was no longer able to hit at a competent level. Midway through 2025, his OPS was down to .569 and he was sent to the minors.
As I said at the start, 18 hasn’t been a great number for the Phillies. I was going to suggest that when prospect Aidan Miller is called up, they assign him the number and see if he can finally give it some success. But I’m concerned that the number might simply be bad luck, and they shouldn’t make life any harder for one of their few top prospects.
