Minors Matter

I am collecting fewer sets this year, but one I would eventually like to pick up a copy of the Heritage Minor League set.  I did not open any packs or boxes, and I am honestly thinking about just buying the complete set off of Ebay.  It costs less than a box, and while it takes the fun of opening packs out of the equation, it will also allow for some extra funds to go towards autographs or some nice inserts and parallels. 

There are actually a few autographs I have seen that fit well into my collection, they were inexpensive, so I went ahead and picked them up.  Heritage Minors always has on card autographs, so always a nice groups of cards. 

First up. 

I think this is my second Brock Deatherage autograph that I have posted on this blog, but I also think I have skipped over posting one or two others.  He is a former NC State player who was drafted by the Tigers two years ago.  He is still in the lower Minors, but is the type of toolsy player that the Tigers really need to pan out.  He has some pop in his bat, but he's more of a doubles and triple machine than a home run threat.  I believe he also came close to stealing 50 bases last year. 

Fun to watch.  Next. 

Another former NC State player, only Knizner is on the Cardinals.  He's already been up for part of this year, and I have already posted several other Knizner autographs during the summer.  Definitely happy to get this card, and happy people have cooled down with the prices of his autographs. 

Last card.  I am still not sure what to make of Elehuris Montero.  He was injured for the majority of this year, but was a sub .200 hitter when he came back.  Before this year he was a great prospect, tons of extra base hits, high slash line.  Elehuris is still only 20, so I am picking up a few of his cards here and there.  Maybe it will look good in a few years, and if not it's a nice looking card of a Cardinals prospect.  

"and my wolfpack, it grew, it grew by one"

It has been fun to watch former NC State player Andrew Knizner get some time with the Cardinals while Yadier Molina has been out with an injury.  Yadi is currently rehabbing with the Memphis Redbirds, so I suspect that Knizner's time with the Cardinals might be slowly winding down until the rosters expand in September.

There have been some good moments during his first season playing in the Majors.  My favorite has to be his first home run, which he hit against the Pirates two weeks ago.

While Andrew Knizner has been promoted to the Majors, he is still showing up on baseball cards as a Minor Leaguer; Bowman products, pictures from Spring Training, and jersey numbers that belong to an offensive line in football.  All of these accurately describe my second Knizner autograph of the year, which is out of Bowman Platinum.  

It's a sticker autograph, which I don't love, but I like that the prices of his cards have gotten a little cheaper since Topps put out Bowman.  

I picked up a second Cardinals autograph out of Bowman Platinum.  

Elehuris Montero has not had a great year, but was a pretty well thought of prospect entering the season.  He has spent a lot of time dealing with injuries, so I am hopeful he will still turn out to do something with himself.  

A Card From The Pack

The prices on Bowman have continued to drop off, so I decided that last week was the right time to add a few more cards from the set.  This time I went with two Cardinals.  I do not know too much about the first player outside the fact that his father is former Rangers shortstop Benji Gil. 

The Cardinals took the infielder in the third round of last year's draft, but at 17 he has a long way to go to reach the Majors.  This was a really cheap card, so really no risk here in picking up this card.  The weird airbrushing reminds me of Bowman Draft.  Hopefully, he turns out to be a good player. 

Next up, a card I have wanted for awhile. 

Knizner went to NC State and was a good player in college.  He was a freshman All-American, but lost a little traction during his time playing for the Pack while transitioning from third base to catching.  My Cardinals drafted him 2016, and he has ascended to Triple A.  Good prospect, but has not had many cards for some reason.  This is my second of 2019, let's hope there are a few more at some point.  

College Cards

I spent last week working on some cards of players who share a college with me.  I have two degrees from two different school, and managed to find a card from each school.  The idea of finding a card of a player from NC State is not all that surprising, but the whole Southeast Missouri State thing is a rarity.  Throw in the fact that one of these cards was an exchange, which never seem to actually pan out in my world, and I did not even know of the other's existence before this month.  

Let's start with the NC State player, who is also a prime Cardinals prospect.  

Andrew Knizner was drafted out of NC State a few years ago.  The infielder, turned catcher, was a good college player, but was a bit of a mess defensively before entering the Minors.  While in Raleigh, Knizner was switched from third base to catcher literally before the start of a game.  He's been a bit of a project on defense, but apparently has improved.  The Cardinals always have some catcher in waiting behind Yadier Molina, but Yadier never seems to slow down.  I am not sure if the team is serious this time, or if Knizner will end up playing somewhere else.  Meaning either a different position, or in a different town.  

I am not a big fan of Leaf cards, but this is the only Knizner autograph that is out there.  The card also uses a picture of Knizner from college.  The red looks good on a Cardinals card, but check out the sleeves on the jersey.  Check out the sleeves on the catcher's jersey in this picture....

The mask and chest protector are different in this picture, but this is Knizner from college.  Sleeveless jersey, red stripe on the side of the pants.  Pretty cool that Knizner's first Cardinals autograph also has him wearing an NC State jersey.  

Next.  

This was an exchange card from Bowman Chrome last year.  I never count on these to actually show up anymore.  This one showed up.  

Lucchesi went to Southeast Missouri State a few years back.  It has been awhile since there has been a player from that school in the Majors.  In the past twenty years there have been a total of four players from the small teacher's college: Lucchesi, Justin Christian, Shae Simmons, and Kerry Robinson.  Not a lot there.  The fact that Lucchesi played an entire Major League season pretty much makes him the greatest player to ever come out of Southeast Missouri.  

The school even gets a shout out on the back of this card.  

Lucchesi has a good stuff, and the card does a good job of describing the pitches he throws, but there are also a lot of arms and legs in his delivery.  This does not do his pitching motion justice, but I think he is definitely a hard player to hit against....

especially for lefties.  Last year he struck out slightly more than one-third of the left-handed batters that he faced.  I think he's going to be around for awhile.  

Before we go, y'all know I hate those Topps stickers on the exchange cards.  That's no way to enjoy a baseball card.  I want to see the card, not a giant white sticker.  

That's better.  I should have taken it out of the top loader too, which always shows every scratch and scuff mark on cards with reflective surfaces.  For another day though....