2018 Clubhouse: Miami Marlins

71. Justin Bour

72. Lewis Brinson

73. Starlin Castro

74. J.T. Realmuto

75. Jose Ureña

Depending on what happens in the offseason, next year's checklist makers will have a hard time for the Marlins. Bour is gone, (the multi-dimensional*) Brinson had a horrible season and Ureña is persona non grata for a lot of baseball fans. Brian Anderson will be a good add for 2019 cards.

* MLB The Show fans will get this.

Realmuto was an absolutely necessity as an auto subject. Ureña is the other subject.

Until they embrace the teal again, Marlins parallels will probably look best in blue.

2018 Spirit: NL East

#8. Ender Inciarte, Atlanta Braves

#153. J.T. Realmuto, Miami Marlins

#77. Amed Rosario, New York Mets

#3. Rhys Hoskins, Philadelphia Phillies

#99. Max Scherzer, Washington Nationals

With this batch, you can see how the RC logo looks with this design. There's a perfectly little spot in the corner almost made for it. Topps has gotten better about placing their RC logos but for a while there they seemed to be an afterthought. The other noteworthy thing about this batch is the color choices for the Marlins. Traditionally, I've treated them as a blue/orange team but since they only wear their black hats anymore and I've been doing the hat logos on all of the cards, it kinda forced my hand. Rumor is they're gonna do a rebrand in a couple years so hopefully they'll be able to add some clarity to their identity going forward. Thanks, Jeets!

2017 PENNANT BOX BREAK - PACK 21

127. A.J. Pollock

120. J.T. Realmuto

86. Manny Machado

7. Jay Bruce

77. David Freese

37. Alex Gordon

267. Cody Allen

79. Ian Kennedy

56. Brandon Belt

DT11. Max Scherzer - Dream Team

Lots of orange and yellow in this pack. Not much else to really say. 

2017 SPIRIT BOX BREAK - PACK 6

127. Todd Frazier

102. Justin Verlander

210. Andrew Heaney

10. Alex Colome

38. Ender Inciarte

251. J.T. Realmuto

51. Jacoby Ellsbury

49. Curtis Granderson

258. Andrew Benintendi (RC)

G207. Jurickson Profar

N13. Hanley/Jose Ramirez - Namesakes

New insert here. I did a “Namesakes” insert way back in 2012, my first year blogging. Like then, this year’s version features 20 cards highlighting MLB combos sharing the same surname.  Here’s the checklist:

N1. Bradley - Jackie, Archie

N2. Cabrera - Miguel, MelkyN3. Davis - Wade, ChrisN4. Diaz - Almedys, EdwinN5. Gonzalez - Carlos, AdrianN6. Hernandez - Felix, CesarN7. Herrera - Kelvin, OdubelN8. Marte - Starling, KetelN9. Martinez - J.D., CarlosN10. Miller - Andrew, ShelbyN11. Murphy - Daniel, John RyanN12. Perez - Salvador, RobertoN13. Ramirez - Hanley, JoseN14. Ramos - Wilson, A.J.N15. Sanchez - Aaron, GaryN16. Santana - Carlos, DannyN17. Seager - Corey, KyleN18. Turner - Trea, JustinN19. Upton - Justin, MelvinN20. Wright - Steven, David

Some of them are siblings but for the most part it’s just random coincidence. I can’t wait until Rougned Odor’s younger brother Rougned gets called up. It’ll be even better than a Chris/Khris Davis card (which I opted against since Wade is more noteworthy than Khris.)