The Phillies Can't Wear Their Cream Color Jerseys Because Fanatics is "Backed Up"

The Phillies haven’t been able to wear their cream color jerseys because Fanatics is behind in production. I think Matt Gelb said it best:

Fanatics created a monopoly, then cannot deliver to even its biggest clients. Good stuff. What a company. https://t.co/IGcjvhI7EI

— Matt Gelb (@MattGelb) April 10, 2022

From Todd Zolecki at MLB.com:

A few eagle-eyed observers noticed Saturday that the Phillies wore their red-pinstripe home uniforms against the A’s at Citizens Bank Park, instead of their cream home uniforms, which the Phils have worn exclusively for home day games for years.

They wore red pinstripes again on Sunday.

What gives?

“They weren’t able to deliver the uniforms in time,” Phillies executive vice president Dave Buck said Sunday morning. “It’s a shame because our fans really like them. But the supplier [Fanatics] is backed up and doing the best they can.”

The Phillies wear retro powder blue uniforms for Thursday home games. Those also have not arrived.

Buck said there is no estimated time of arrival for either set of uniforms.

I love the red pinstripe classics. The cream color jerseys I love even more. The powder blues are good too, and they don’t come out enough. The Phillies really have a great set to go along with the throwback maroon and giant “P”.

Fanatics blamed it on the condensed timeline of Spring Training, when players are typically outfitted:

Players are custom fit for uniforms each year during Spring Training and the shortened calendar impacted traditional production timelines. We look forward to the Phillies having their full assortment of uniform options in the very near future.

— Fanatics (@Fanatics) April 11, 2022

Yea the timeline is condensed, but if you’ve ordered anything off of Fanatics in the last year you know the shipping times are insane. I bought my brother-in-law a Rams Super Bowl shirt after the NFC championship game. Didn’t arrive until March. I know people who ordered James Harden Spectrum jerseys when he was traded that are just getting them now. How the hell can I get anything I want from Amazon in 24 hours, but Fanatics can’t ship me a beanie in under 30 days? Not even their biggest clients can get anything on time. I wish there was a contact in Philly John Middleton could make a call to or something.