Last Year's Bulls

I did not get many cards of the Durham Bulls players last year.  I am not sure why exactly, there were plenty of older players on the team who had cards and certified autographs before joining the team.  I ended up with a few of them over the last two weeks since I have been at home.  Most of them are pretty inexpensive. 

All autographs.  

First up is former Phillies prospect Dylan Cozens.  He was only on the Bulls for two games, and I managed to be at one of those two appearances.  I had seen him before while he was playing for the Lehigh Valley, which is the Phillies Triple A team.  

This autograph is from last year's Gypsy Queen set.  It's an on card autograph, and a really inexpensive card.  Maybe waiting a year to collect these cards might be the way to go.  

Next.  

Jalen Beeks was another player who was barely in Durham.  A grand total of three games, but he pitched over 100 innings last year in Tampa.  Not the best player on the Rays, so I would not be surprised if he ends up back in Durham again at some point.  Beeks is another player I saw a few times playing for another team.  He was on Pawtucket for two seasons prior to joining the Rays last year.  

I like the Chrome autographs.  I think he actually has two of these, but one of them has a sticker autograph.  I like this card.  

Next.  

I saw Nick Solak while he was at Louisville.  He played half a year with the Bulls last season, and then got traded away to the Rangers.  They brought him up to the Majors at some point, and he ended up hitting.  I think Solak has a chance to be a decent player in the future.  I really like the 1985 Topps design on this card.  

Last one for tonight.  

I love when the Bulls have players like this on there roster.  Emilio Bonifacio has played 11 years in the Majors, and made more than enough money to retire.  Yet, he spent time as a 30 something year old playing baseball in Triple A.  I think you really have to like the game to stick around and ride the bus around in the Minors in that situation.  

This is an older autograph from the 2010 Upper Deck set.  Bonifacio actually has a bunch of autographs from earlier in his career.  Some are pretty nice.  

2018 International League All-Star Set Part 1

A few new Minor League cards I picked up while attending a Durham Bulls playoff game yesterday against the Toledo Mud Hens.  The Bulls ended up winning the game 3-2 and advanced to the International League Championship where they will play Scranton, which is the Yankees Triple A team.

Before the game I visited the team store and found the set, which I am going to share with you on this post, another later in the week with the second half of the set.  Also a copy of the 2018 Durham Bulls set.  I will post that at some point too.

The International League All-Star set is 28 cards, so this post will feature the first 14 cards.  There are two Bulls in this part of the set and another in the second half, but not wearing a Bulls uniform.  I have scanned the cards in pairs and have a little blurb about each scan.

First two cards in the set belong to Willy Adames and Anthony Alford.  Adames has been on the Bulls for awhile now, and the Rays have actually given him a lot of playing time in the Majors this year.  He has done fairly well.  You have heard a decent amount from this blog over the years about Adames, so let me give Alford a little love....

Alford has been a Top 100 prospect for the last few years.  He got some pop, he's got some speed, and he has done a good job of getting on-base.  Well, until this year, which was easily his worst since the Jays drafted him out of Ole Miss in 2012.  Almost one of those guys who got onto an All-Star team because he played well in other seasons.  A slash line of .240/.312/.344 hardly screams All-Star, but he is just 23 and the Jays have already had him up to the Majors twice.  

Bauers is the second Bulls player in this half of the set, plenty of other opportunities to write about him in other posts.  

Allard is a former first round draft pick who has moved through the Braves system fast.  He's just 20 and he's basically spent the entire season in Triple A.  He's pitched well too.  I think he sometimes does not get the recognition he deserves.  Allard is not big and is much more on the finesse side.  Still, a 20 year old with a sub 3 ERA at Triple A is pretty special.  

The Braves called him up and he pitched a few games in Atlanta.  They were rough, but I still like his chances at being a good player in the long run.  

Both of these players have spent a fair amount of time in the Majors this summer.  Bieber has started 16 games and has 9 wins.  Some of his stats are not that good, which is why wins are not always a great stat, but he probably has some sort of long term future as a Major League player.  

Beeks was traded to the Rays from the Red Sox for Nathan Evoldi.  He has not appeared with the Bulls, but has managed 4 wins in just 8 games.  His numbers are also a little shaky.  See previous comment about wins.  

Cozens is a big guy who swings for the fences.  He has played 15 games for the Phillies this year and has an .095 batting average with 15 strikeouts in just 21 at bats.  Going to have to refine that swing a bit.

Borucki has thirteen starts for the Blue Jays.  He was really good in some of his previous stops in the Minors, but has had a hard time missing bats in the upper Minors and in the Majors.

 Fedde has risen through the Minors quickly.  He seems like he's a high floor, low ceiling guy who was a pretty good college pitcher at UNLV.  He has played parts of two seasons with the Nationals and has a career ERA over 7.  In the Minors, he has been good, nothing dominate.

I do not know much about Enyel De Los Santos.  He was in the Padres system and came over to the Phillies this past offseason for Freddy Galvis.  De Los Santos has had a good year for Lehigh Valley, but that's about all I know here.

 Gonsalves has done very well for the Twins Minor League teams the past few years, but has not faired well in his brief time in the Majors.  He has been a Top 100 prospect the past two seasons, so there is probably some hope he will be a good player.  He's probably at least a mid rotation guy.

Kingham has been around for awhile now and is north of 25.  He has been up with the Pirates for most of this year and has not had the best numbers.  Not sure what becomes of him, likely bullpen or a 4A guy.

 Last pair for the first half of the set.

Let me give you one number for Kopech:  He struck out 170 batters this year in 126 innings.  The arm and stuff is incredible.  He needs to keep developing obvious, plus he is out next year with Tommy John.  I would be more worried if it was a shoulder injury.  

Lugo came over in the J.D. Martinez trade, spent most of this season in Triple A.  He walked 9 times in over 500 at bats.  Not sure what his future in the Majors is with that little patience at the plate.

Although he was batting as I was typing this post and drew a walk.  Go figure.

More International League All-Stars later in the week.....