Postcards From The Target Card Aisle

Dear Readers,

I was recently back in Target to fetch a black ink cartridge for my printer.  We all have my appliances/devices in our lives, my printer might be my least favorite.  In my recent past many of my printers have broken suddenly.  I blame it on the fact that I probably abused the printer I owned during grad school, which died the final week before I graduated.  I have literally gone through a printer a year.  My latest printer is finicky.

However, seeing how my printer is also a scanner it is a necessary evil in my life if I wish to continue to write about baseball cards.  Sure, I could just take a picture of the cards and post them into my ramblings, but I do not really like the way that looks.

Feeling a little disgruntled at the idea of having a buy a cartridge, then wrestle it into the printer when I got home, I decided to make a quick trip to the Target card aisle.  I had actually visited about two weeks back and done fairly well with some Bowman cards.  I decided to try again.

My initial back in my blaster of Bowman landed me a J.D. Drew buyback......

Pretty happy to land a card of a former Cardinals player, even if he is wearing a BoSox jersey on the card.  I feel like I always get Buybacks, but never Cardinals one, or even former Cardinals.  As I kept opening backs the two other cool cards I pulled were both part of the Chrome remake/rehash inserts.

The first was a 1948 Bowman Warren Spahn card.  I kind of dig some of these types of cards that Topps has put into Bowman products in the past.  I really like the minis that Topps put into the first Bowman Heritage set back in 2001, these have a totally different flavor, but I still like them a lot.

The other rehash card was a Noah Syndergaard from the 1992 set.  This card is much more my generation, but I felt like the whole suit thing is off a bit.  The 1992 Bowman set did have players wearing street clothes, but I feel like if you are going to remake the set, put them in something from that time.  Cavaricci's, Skidz, Jamz, something 90s.  

Which brings me to my last pack in the box.  Always the last pack.  Right?  

A Leody Tavernas autograph seems like pretty good find in a retail box of Bowman.  He is regarded as a Top 100 Prospect by several baseball publications.  I am not sure I am sold on him, looking at some of his numbers, but than again I do not know much about him beyond the stat page.  Whether Leody is traded or sold or kept this was a pretty good buy...even feeling pretty good about putting the ink cartridge in my printer....

Have a great Sunday afternoon.


                                                                                     Sincerely,
                                                                                          S.B.

An Online Set? Why not.

The baseball season starts and I always have to check out the rosters for my teams to find a few projects for the season.  New players, new cards.  Old players, new cards.  All sorts of combinations of those words.  So, this post started sometime last fall when the Cardinals brought up outfielder Tommy Pham.  He's been in their system forever, just never stayed healthy.

He had a good end of the season and had a nice Postseason moment when he hit a home run against the Cubs in Game 1 of the NLDS.

and all of the Cardinals collectors lost their minds over Tommy Pham cards.  He has an autograph in the 2015 Topps set, but they are fairly expensive.  I decided to wait for the excitement over Tommy Pham to die down a little.  I went on Ebay, put a few of his cards on my watch list, and kind of ignored them for awhile.  

Prices came down a little bit on a few of his cards and I found a really cool looking Topps card of Pham that I thought looked really cool.  There was a Buy It Now and also one or two floating around in auctions.  

Pretty nice card.  I didn't know much about this card when I first started watching it, so I did a little digging and found that there was also a Stephen Piscotty card in this set.  Then I found out there were only 13 cards in the whole set.  Then I found a set for $10.  I bought them all.  They are all numbered out of 99 and are print run 99.  Pretty cool.  I guess Topps sold these sets in their online store.  Kind of cutting out the card shops there big guy....

The cards are also oversized at 5x7.  Not only are they postcard sized, but they also appear to be made out of the same material as the common postcard.  Perhaps an Office Max Brand index card.  The cards are really thin and the George Springer card has a little ding on the bottom right corner.  Here's a look at the other 12 cards...... 

Friday Five: Top 5 Rookie Pitchers from 2015

Yesterday I looked at the top position players, so it's the pitchers today.  Tomorrow I will take on the Topps All-Rookie Team and see how they did assembling a team of rookies.  Like I said earlier, it was a tough task this year.  Here are my top 5 pitchers......

5.  Roberto Osuna RP Toronto Blue Jays

The 20 year old Osuna helped the Blue Jays at the back end of their bullpen this year.  He was pretty impressive at times, but I still think he could use a little bit more polish.  He ended the 2015 season with 20 saves, a 0.91 WHIP, and an ERA+ of 153.  Not many 20 year olds get to step into the closers role, especially for a playoff team.  Best rookie relief pitcher this season, so he makes the list at 5....

4.  Aaron Nola P Philadelphia Phillies 

Nola pitched about a quarter of the season for a really bad Phillies team and managed to post a 6-2 record with a respectable ERA, WHIP, and strikeout rate.  I am a little hesitant about his long term upside as far as being a top of the line starter, but he is at least a very good middle of the rotation pitcher.  I like him better than pitchers like Andrew Heaney and Taylor Jungmann, but not sure he's really in the same class as players like Syndergaard.  Still a good start to his career and worthy of making my list of rookie pitchers....

3.  Noah Syndergaard P New York Mets 

Snydergaard is a very high potential pitching prospect.  If I were making this list based on potential, it would be pretty ridiculous to put him this low.  However, every player has to start somewhere and this is where I am going to slot him.  He pitched 2/3 of the season with the Mets, won 9 games, and had an excellent strikeout ratio.  There is still some room for improvement in Sydergaard's game though.  Like keeping the ball in the stadium

2.  Lance McCullers P Houston Astros 

I think Syndergaard will be better than McCullers in the long run, but for 2015 Lance did a nice job of helping the Astros to the American League West pennant.  McCullers had a decent ERA, WHIP, and struck out more than a batter per inning.  His won-loss record wasn't great, but he did a nice job of helping to stabilize the rotation.  At the end of the year McCullers had an ERA+ of 125 and a WAR of 2.4.  Good enough for second on my list.....

1.  Luis Severino P New York Yankees 

Severino only made 11 starts this year and managed to win five of those starts.  His innings were held down by the Yankees, but his metrics were very good.  Let's start out with  the fact that his WAR was 2.0, almost higher than Syndergaard, in half of the starts.  His strikeout rate was pretty good too along with a nice ERA+ of 137.  Severino is only 21 and should be a very good starter for the Yankees for a long time to come...

Friday 5: Top Rookie Pitchers

If you missed my list of top 5 rookie position players you can click here to review my list.  For this morning's list I am going to take a look at some of the rookie pitchers floating around MLB this year. There are some good names on this list, but I do not think any of these players are strong candidates for the Rookie of the Year hardware.   Still, long term, I think some of these players are going to be very good pitchers.


5.  Chris Heston - Giants

Heston is a 27 year old rookie who spent a long time in the minors.  He's also already thrown a no-hitter for the Giants.  The East Carolina grad probably does not have a really high ceiling as a Major Leaguer, but he's here and filling a role for a contending team as a starting pitcher.  There have been good starts, and a few bad ones, but everything about Heston's numbers suggests he is just an average pitcher.  His ERA+ is 102, FIP 3.37, and his K/9 and BB/9 are 6.8 and 2.9.  Just average.  I think that the no-hitter he pitched against the Mets earlier in the year might garner him a Rookie of the Year vote or two, but he's not a serious contender.

4.  Taylor Jungmann - Brewers

Jungmann has pitched well enough that perhaps he should be higher than five on this list, but I am not sure if he's going to keep up his current level of performance.  Perhaps I will look back at this list in a year and shake my head for putting him fifth, or perhaps I will look back and think about why I did not put a player like Carlos Rodon, who has a higher ceiling without the success in the Majors, on this list.  In the minors Jungmann started almost 90 games with an ERA just over 4.00 a WHIP of 1.358 and a K/9 rate under 7.  Kind of blah, but throw in the fact that his walk rate is almost 4 and he kind of seems like the fifth starter/long reliever type.  The Brewers put him at the end of the rotation and he's done nothing but pitched well since.  Well might be selling it short.  He's K/9 rate is suddenly almost 8, his walk rate is 2.6, he's given up 2 home runs in 71.2 innings, and has an ERA+ of 174.  If he had enough starts to qualify his 2.89 FIP would put him in the top 10.  Again, I am not sure this is a true picture of what Taylor Jungmann truly is as a pitcher, or we are just witnessing a hot streak that will end when he starts facing teams a second and third time.  I like his curveball.

3.  Joe Ross - Nationals 

What in the world were the Padres thinking by trading this guy?  For Wil Myers?  Seriously, I think that Ross is going to be a really good pitcher for a long time.  This spot on my list this morning is sort of the dividing line, Jungmann and Heston might be solid pitchers at best, Ross and the two names lower on the list have high ceilings and could be much more than solid pitchers.  He has only made seven starts, and I get the feeling the Nationals are being really careful with the right handed pitcher, but his numbers are quite impressive.  More than a strikeout per inning, an FIP of 2.56, and an ERA+ of 137.  My favorite number on Ross, just seven starts in, is his 47 strikeouts versus 4 walks.  Seems Pedro Martinez like.  I am eager to see how the rest of the season plays out for Ross, but I would imagine a goos showing will mean that the Nats find a spot in the rotation, full-time, for him next season.  

2.  Lance McCullers - Astros 

McCullers was a first round draft pick of the Astros back in 2012.  They have added a lot of other talent to their Minor League system since they drafted McCullers, so I feel like he gets overshadowed often by guys like Carlos Correa and Mark Appel.  Still, McCullers has 14 Major League starts under his belt and his striking out more than a batter per inning with a FIP under 3.  I have never seen McCullers in person, but I know a lot of people have been really impressed by him and think he will be a very good pitcher for a long time.  

1.  Noah Synergaard - Mets 

Syndergaard is clearly the class of the rookie pitchers this year.  Coming into the season he was almost universally rated as a top 10 prospect by publications like Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus.  Unlike some of the previous names on this list, who are out performing their minor league numbers, Syndergaard has dominated since starting his career.  His ERA has been right around 3 in almost 100 starts and he has averaged more than a strikeout per inning throughout.  Really his roughest year in the minors was last year when he had an ERA of 4.60 in the offensive minded Pacific Coast League.  The Mets started him out there again this year and he was dominating in five starts.   Since being called up to the Mets he has started 15 games this season and is averaging more than a strikeout per inning while holding down an FIP of 2.78.  If he had enough innings to qualify for the league leader board he would be in the top 10 in that statistic behind Garret Cole.  His K/9 is in line with pitchers like Cole Hamels and Lance Lynn.  I have watched a couple of his starts this season and have been really impressed with his stuff.  Syndergaard clearly can be a front line pitcher in the Majors for a long time.  

Top 10 Prospects in 2015 Bowman

Friday is usually my countdown post, but this week I am throwing in a second in honor of this year's Bowman set.  I live in the middle of North Carolina which is jammed packed with minor league teams and college teams.  I usually get a chance to see quite a few of these players on their up to the Majors, and if I do not, I usually form an opinion on them anyway.  So, here is the deal with this post:

I flipped through all of the cards in the Bowman product; base set, prospects set, chrome prospects set, autographs, inserts, everything.  I picked out the ten best players in my opinion.  I know we all want these guys to be superstars, but in some cases I willing to settle for solid contributor.  That counts for something........

10. Noah Syndergaard- He's really big and has a nice fastball and curveball.  Syndergaard should be a power arm in the Mets rotation for a long time.  I still like Matt Harvey better, but not being quite as good as Matt Harvey means you are still pretty good.  I hate comps, because they usually get people upset, but I will go John Lackey.  Similar build, fastball/curveball, and the guy won two World Series rings.  If you're a Mets fan you take that right?  

9.  Joey Gallo- I have two swing and miss hitters on my countdown.  I do not like low contact hitters because they usually do not do much in the Majors.  See Mark Reynolds.  That's not my comp by the way, I don't think......So, Joey Gallo hits a lot of home runs.  Last year in the minor the Texas third base prospect hit 41 in 126 minor league games.  He also struck out 179 times in 537 plate appearances.  He's hitting for average this year in Double A, but the K's are still there.  I am going with Adam Dunn as a comp.  Should be a fun player to watch in Arlington for years to come.  

8.  Francisco Lindor- Lindor played locally for the Carolina Mudcats last year and is the gem of the Cleveland Indians farm system.  What's he do?  He's got a little bit of pop, but not a ton.  He hits about .270-.280, steals some bases, plays good defense.  I think he's going to be an above average Major League shortstop.  He might not hit the home runs that Gallo, or some of these others players put up, but I think he's a safe prospect.  Meaning he's going to play and play a long time.  I will say his comp is Orlando Cabrera.  

7. Carlos Correa- Correa was the first overall pick in the 2012 MLB draft.  He's already missed some time with a knee injury, but also already reached Triple A by hitting .300 most of the way through the minors.  He's not got a lot of pop yet and will steal a few bases.  He's 6'4 and has a chance to fill out a little bit more.  Definitely a higher ceiling than Lindor, but he's my second best shortstop on this countdown.  I think he develops some pop he could be something really special.  If not, he's going to be like Edgar Renteria with a slash numbers.  

6. Corey Seager- I am not sure if Corey Seager is going to end up at SS, but I kind of doubt it.  He's got some power, he hits for a good average, and he gets on base.  I do not mind his defense at short, but think he'd be a good defender at 3rd.  I think at worst he is a good to above average everyday third baseman for the Dodgers for the next decade plus.  He has the potential to be a very good player though and would not be surprised if he was an All-Star caliber player for a long time.  Sounds a lot like the other Seager......

5.  Julio Urias- I am putting this guy on my list at five, but I thought about putting him at 1.  He's the youngest player on this last, at 18, but has already spent a few seasons in the minors with the Dodgers.  Basically he strikeouts about 11 hitters per 9 innings that he pitches.  The Dodgers are really careful with him, so he has not pitched a lot of innings, nor won a lot of games (5 wins in 3 seasons), but he's supposedly really impressive.  No comp here.  

4. Addison Russell- I like Russell better than the other two shortstops on the list.  He's has the good qualities of both players (steadiness and fielding of Lindor, average and OBP of Correa) with a little bit more power and pop.  Russell is the second highest Cubs prospect on this list, but it' not going to shock me if he ends up being the better of the two players in the long run.  I think he's got a lot to offer.  I will go with Alan Trammel on my comp.  

3.  Kris Bryant- I can hear the booing and hissing already along with the chants of "You're a Cardinals fan".  Note that my number 4 player was a Cub and his comp player was someone many believe to be a Hall of Famer.  Bryant has a higher ceiling than Russell, but I have more concerns with Bryant.  Mainly, I do not like players who do not make contact.  Bryant has a lot of home runs.  He is going to hit a lot of home runs.  He is also going to strike out a ton.  You remember when Ryan Howard had an OBP above .400 and hit 58 home runs?  That could be Kris Bryant.  He could also end up being an Adam Dunn, Dave Kingman type too.  Lots of home runs, lots of strikeouts.  Hopefully lots of walks...

2. Joc Pederson- He's got some of the same problems as Bryant with the strikeouts.  Pederson needs walks if he is going to be a good Major League player.  He's also already got 9 home runs in his first 40 some MLB games, so the power seems to be there.  While I do not think Pederson has 40 home run power, he is probably going to hit 30 in year and he also steals bases.  He has gone over 30 twice and 25 two times in the Minors.  Pederson has the potential to be a good power speed guy who hits 25-30 home runs a year with 25-30 steals in a season.  

1.  I think the safe choice here is to go with Pederson or Bryant at 1, but I will roll the dice a little bit and go with Buxton.  First, he's really talented, but he's also really raw.  It might be a little bit before he's in the Majors, but he has the potential to be really good when he gets there.  He's hit for average, he's gotten on base, and he has tons of speed.  The home runs are not there yet, but he has hit a lot of doubles and triples during his time in the Minors.