February 15, 2024

What did they do to the Phillies jerseys?

Nike introduced its new MLB uniform template, manufactured by Fanatics, and it isn't going over well.

By Nick Tricome
PhillyVoice Staff

Dave Nelson/USA TODAY Sports

Phillies reliever Connor Brogdon down in Clearwater wearing Nike's weird new uniform template.

Phillies pitchers and catchers reported down to Clearwater for spring training, but they looked different.

1) They're wearing their home white uniforms during workouts and will be through the whole spring. A City Connect uniform is on the way this season, and because of it, the red jersey had to be retired due to Nike's 4+1 restriction – the Phillies will be carrying their home whites, road grays, daytime cream alternates, the throwback powder blues, and the new City Connect as their 2024 uniform rotation.

2) The jerseys themselves looked different. The names and numbers on the back got smaller, thinner too by the looks of it from some angles, and the Major League Baseball logo got pushed further down from underneath the collar.

The Phillies’ old jersey nameplates vs. 2024’s update:

(@destiny_lugardo) pic.twitter.com/tQau6vkV5J
— Phillies Nation (@PhilliesNation) February 14, 2024

The whole package looks off, and while it's not necessarily a deal-breaker for the Phillies design-wise, let's take a look around the rest of baseball at, say, the Mariners:

Last year vs this year’s replica jersey offerings from the fine folks at MLB, Nike & Fanatics. Last year’s being on the left and this year’s on the right.

I have a lot to say, so bear with me here.

Let’s just rip the bandaid off right away with this year’s new jersey offerings pic.twitter.com/3IShhlj0nL
— Bobby Mullins (@TheBobbyMullins) February 11, 2024

And even the Mets:

A look at the slightly altered back of the Mets' uniform: pic.twitter.com/7b7T8iI9q9
— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) February 14, 2024

What did they do?

These uniforms are built off the new Nike Vapor Premier template, which has been instituted across Major League Baseball for the 2024 season. Fanatics is producing them, as the notorious apparel company owns the old Majestic factory in Easton, but under the directive and design decisions from Nike, per Uni Watch's Paul Lukas.

And yeah...they're not going over well, among fans and even players.

The logic, per Nike, was to make the uniforms lighter, more comfortable, and more flexible, in a process, the sports giant said in a press release, that took multiple years, the body scannings of more than 300 players, and a test run at last season's All-Star Game in Seattle – of which Nike was sure to include the endorsement of several MLB stars in the release.

But now that they're being produced in mass, and everyone's seeing how the template applies to each of the 30 teams...

“It looks like a replica,” Los Angeles Angels outfielder Taylor Ward told The Athletic's Stephen J. Nesbitt. “It feels kind of like papery. It could be great when you’re out there sweating, it may be breathable. But I haven’t had that opportunity yet to try that out. But from the looks of it, it doesn’t look like a $450 jersey."

"They look cheap," an anonymous St. Louis Cardinals player said via the Belleville News-Decomcrat's Jeff Jones, who added that pitcher Miles Mikolas isn't happy with the fit of the new jerseys or the pants.

This is what the back of the white jerseys look like with the new template. Players are pretty unhappy. Miles Mikolas says they also don’t fit right; pants are no longer as customized, and the fabric is a very different consistency.

“They look cheap,” another player said. pic.twitter.com/UoH4vVHTfd
— Jeff Jones (@jmjones) February 13, 2024

Per Nesbitt, complaints from players have grown vast enough already for the MLBPA to get involved.

And the replicas for the fans, by the way, which also carry a noticeable downgrade compared to what was available last year, come in at a generous $174.99 to do this:

I bought a Corey Seager jersey in the 2024 template and was equally disappointed with the quality. Smaller number/NOB looks cheap, and everything is heat-pressed rather than sewn onto the jersey. Though to be honest, that WS Champions patch still makes the purchase worthwhile. 😉 pic.twitter.com/YBGpIh8k87
— Robert Behrens (@rcb05) February 13, 2024

Brewers are bad as well pic.twitter.com/tcFHtyX8Re
— Josh Stewart (@jstew262) February 13, 2024

😬

When Nike took over MLB's uniform rights ahead of the 2020 season, they kept things largely the same outside of adding the swoosh to the front of all of the jerseys, which wasn't a popular move at the time either.

Fanatics, meanwhile, has aggressively become the bane of sports fans' existence, swallowing up the licensing and online storefronts for all of the major sports leagues while simultaneously eroding the quality of apparel and customer service across the board – see the "Fanatics Sucks!" account on Twitter/X for the numerous examples.

Its hand in the MLB uniform changes, even if they aren't directly its call, only adds fuel to the fire, especially considering that Fanatics is set to take over the NHL uniform rights next season.

As for Nike, maybe this blows over with time, but with players and fans both showing disapproval, maybe not.

I mean look at this photo of Aaron Nola down in Clearwater from Phillies Nation's Destiny Lugardo: