Earlier this week, Cardinals players were annoyed with how cheap the new Fanatics MLB jerseys looked. We got our first look at the Phillies’ jerseys Wednesday and the only major difference is the size of the nameplate:

For context the new Nike Vapor jerseys are manufactured by Fanatics through a licensing deal. Nike designed the jerseys and engineered them. There’s a clear difference from last year around the league:

If we’re basing this review off of the nameplate, then that nameplate looks cheap. I’m squinting to see Wheeler’s last name. It looks like a Nike executive walked into the meeting and was like “we can increase profits for shareholders by 30% if we decrease the size of the name on the back of the jerseys.” I’m surprised Michael Rubin let these be released. I mean he’s the athlete guy, the connector, the one that invites them to his parties. You’d think he’d obsess over these jerseys to make sure Nike got them right. There are apparently no custom pants either for guys. How does that make sense? Rubin is the player’s guy. He doesn’t care about his customers, but he does care about his rep with players. Wonder if he’ll get them to fix these before the season.

P.S. Imagine if Jared Saltalamacchia was still behind the dish:

UPDATE: Uni-Watch says the chain stitching won’t be back this season either: 


This isn’t the end of the world. I didn’t even notice it honestly when watching games. But if you’re going to shell out hundreds for a jersey you’re going to want details like the chain stitching over whatever they’re doing now.