Grant Taylor in 200 Words

     You might not know who Grant Taylor is. He was the #90 prospect on Baseball Prospectus coming into the 2025 season. Taylor was born on May 20th, 2002, in Florence Alabama. The right-handed pitcher threw at LSU before being drafted by the White Sox in the second round of the 2023 MLB June Amateur Draft. Taylor progressed through the minors quickly, needing just 20 appearances (11 starts) and 46 innings before being promoted to the majors, skipping Triple-A altogether. Perhaps he got lucky since he plays for the White Sox. Nonetheless, he possessed a 1.57 ERA on the farms. Either way, Taylor throws his fastball in the upper-90s, and reaches 100+ MPH quite often. His other pitches include a cutter, curveball, and slider. Taylor debuted on June 10th, 2025, when he threw a perfect inning in just twelve pitches. Thus far on the season, he has a 4.41 ERA in 16 1/3 innings pitched. He shows much potential as a high-leverage bullpen arm who can miss bats. I'm looking forward to seeing what Grant Taylor can do with some more big-league experience. I hope to see a long and successful career out of the promising young arm.

They Done Nico Dirty

    One of the baseball players that I specifically follow but don't mention too often on the blog is Nico Hoerner. 

(great shot they got for this card)

    I love the way Nico plays the game -- he's living proof that you don't need to hit homers to be a great player. His combination of insane defense and mad bat-to-ball skills makes him a bit of a threat to pitchers, even though they can usually rest assured that they aren't going to be serving up a homer. 

    Anyway.....Nico's been great this year; he is currently batting .287 across 86 games with 51 runs, 37 RBI, and 16 steals. He also sports the best glove among National League second basemen, leading the league in fielding percentage, putouts, and double plays.

    My point? Nico's an All-Star game snub. 

    My real point? Players such as Nico Hoerner are severely underrated.

    I don't think Nico being left out of the All-Star game is a huge deal, except that he said it would be a dream come true to make the roster. No, the real crime is how undervalued players like him are.

    They aren't particularly flashy since he's not batting .320 or hitting a bunch of homers, but his fielding is elite, as well as his speed. These factors are helping the Cubs win games.

    I don't rely heavily on advanced statistics such as WAR, but to prove a point, I suppose I'll use it.

    Seiya Suzuki (another All-Star snub, by the way) is slashing .260/.319/561 with 25 home runs and a league-leading 77 RBI in 86 games, and has a WAR of 2.1. The statistic is saying he has won the Cubs 2.1 more games than a league-average replacement.

    Nico Hoerner, on the other hand, has 3 home runs. However, his WAR is 3.5, suggesting that he has won one and a half more contests for the team than Seiya Suzuki has (versus an average backup, of course).

    Now, I don't use WAR to determine how good a player is. Suzuki has been much better on offense than Nico, and I don't think anybody would question that. 

    The thing I do appreciate about WAR is that it takes defense into account. Suzuki is a pretty bad fielder, and Nico is the best fielder at his position, which is why the stat leans in favor of Nico. 

    The bottom line is that Nico Hoerner exceeds at defense while also providing decent numbers with the bat (not to mention his miniscule 6.8% strikeout percentage). And I feel that players like that are criminally underrated since they aren't as flashy.

    But, that's just my opinion on the matter. I'd be interested in seeing how anybody else feels on the subject. 

    Until next time, have a great week, thanks for reading (and sorry for the extended rant 😂) and happy collecting!

Name My Team?

     Howdy folks! I've got a sort of a contest for y'all, although there's no prize for the winner (😔). It's just for fun.

    My fantasy football league just opened for the 2025-2026 season, and I don't know what to name 'em. 

    Last year they were Garappolos Tortoise -- since Jimmy Garoppolo was one of the few players I knew. But, with a new season comes a new name, and I'm in the mood for some fun.

    So please feel free to leave a comment with a suggestion for my fantasy football team's name. I will pick the name I like best, and choose that one for my team. Suggestions will run until Opening Day, I guess. I didn't think it through too hard before doing it (the idea came to mind like 7 minutes ago).

    Until next time, have a great week, and happy collecting!

   

COOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!!!

    Holy smokes, it's been a few months by now. 

    To be a little bit more concise, it's been a few months since I went to the Frisco RoughRiders game with a few friends. 

    Pretty much from the time I started playing baseball as a little kid, I've been a catcher. I have a place in my heart for them. And so when my friendasked me if I wanted any cards to get autographed, of course I requested the Riders catcher, Cooper Johnson.

    It was a little bit tough to get his signature since Johnson was starting behind the plate that day. When I was watching him do his drills in the bullpen, he must've noticed me, because he turned to me and said he'd give me an autograph.

    Cooper was such a nice guy. I don't know if I've ever met a more polite ballplayer. It really made an impression on me that he went out of his way to sign my card when he was obviously busy. I wasn't even asking for his autograph. I was a fan of his before, but I would say I'm a bigger fan now. As far as my personal player encounters go, thisthe most pleasant of them all.

    At the game, whenever Johnson came up to bat, all the fans in the stadium chanted, 'Cooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooop!'
    I think y'all get the point. It was a very long an excited cheer.

    Since the game, Cooper Johnson has been promoted to AAA Round Rock, where he's slashing .212/.339/.283 in 30 games. At 27 years of age, he might need to get moving if he wants his chance in the big-leagues. I hope he gets there soon and can play at least a handful of games for the Rangers.

    I love adding autographs acquired in-person to my collection. Almost every minor leaguer or ex-major leaguer I've met has been very friendly. I'm even personal friends with one of them (who just retired after the 2024 season). It's special to me to be able to meet and talk to the guys I enjoy watching so much.

    That was an experience I'm glad to remember on the blog. Thanks for sharing the memory with me, have a great week, and happy collecting!

So Close But So Far

     C'mon guys, y'all were so close!

    Yesterday the Tigers and Pirates played in a doubleheader, due to Wednesday's game being postponed. Wednesday was Skubal's turn in the rotation, and Thursday Skenes'. 

    As a baseball fan, I would have been very excited to see the two toe the rubber against one another, mano e mano. But of course, this didn't happen.

    It's to be expected since neither team wouldn't want to chance losing the game their ace is starting; and they didn't. The Tigers won game one with Skubal on the mound, the Pirates game two with Skenes. Though it makes for less exciting television, I suppose it was the logical answer, even if it feels lame from a fan's perspective.

    The annoying thing is that since the series was of the interleague variety, the teams won't play each other for a while now, and we were seriously this close to seeing the two best MLB pitchers facing each other at their best. I guess people need to live with disappointments 😂

    That's all I got for today's post. I'll be back next time with some LCS grabs. Thanks for checking out the blog, remember to have a great rest of the week, and happy collecting!

I never dyed my hair

    Howdy folks!

    It's been over a month, so I figured it's probably time to post again. 

    This card is from good ol' Diamond Jesters. I had forgotten about it until it showed up about a week ago. This is the perfect card to write a short post on and get back to the blog.

    A few things about this card strike me. Firstly, Riley without a beard is downright strange. Reminds me of that 2014 Topps Charlie Blackmon card (shaking my head so hard right now).

    I love how the card says Official Trading Card of Baseball Fans Everywhere. I didn't know Leaf had it in them to make the 'Official' trading card. 

    The red is really jumping out, but kinda in a good way. I don't know what it is, but the strange color combination of red and green seems to work well with the card (and it's not even Holiday).

    Would you believe that all Matt was asking for was a card older than this one??? 

    I made a deal with myself last season that if Riley Greene bats .320 with 40 homers, I would dye my hair greene (it's a long story for those who don't know it). Unfortunately, he never did it. But I'm keeping the deal up indefinitely. Wouldn't greene hair be so nice on the blog?

    Thanks for stopping by, have a great rest of the week, and happy collecting!

CARTER'S BACK BABY!!!

     I've been waiting so long for this. My man, Evan Carter, is getting called up for tomorrow's game. 

    After a rather sad Spring Training, Evan Carter missed out on making the Opening Day roster for the Rangers. However, after a slow start in Triple-A, he's heated up a ton recently and will finally get the call. The move is likely due to Leody Taveras being put on waivers. 

    The Rangers have been pretty bad this year. Though they are .500, the offense has been downright terrible -- they cannot score runs. And let's face it; Patrick Corbin's not going to have a 3.28 ERA all season.

    I am very happy to hear of this news. I think Carter's still got star potential in him, and he deserves this chance at the big league level.

    Now, this post, aside from releasing my joy and bliss into the world, is also going to show off the latest addition to my Carter PC. This card comes from TCDB user ThemightyOx, and came in a week or two ago. Unfortunately, I misplaced the card, but just found it the other day on my desk, which pleased me.

    Ox pulled the 2025 Topps Easter holiday parallel, which he sent my way. This is a beautiful card. I actually think the colors, though not very Ranger-ish, make it look great. The glare on the photo is really bad, but I'm a bit too lazy to retake it right now.

    So thanks to Ox and congrats to Carter! Let's go win some games baby!

Brandon Pfaadt in 200 Words

     I first heard about Brandon Pfaadt right about as he was starting his major league career. The right-handed pitcher was born on October 15th, 1998, in Louisville, Kentucky. He attended Bellarmine University in Louisville, where he pitched both as a starter and bullpen arm. Pfaadt was drafted by the Diamondbacks in the 5th round of the 2020 MLB June Amateur Draft. He spent three seasons in the minor leagues, where he acquired a 25-16 record, 3.58 ERA, and 447 strikeouts in 359 1/3 innings. Arguably his best skill, his command, has carried over into the majors, as he walks just 2.2 batters per every nine innings thrown. Pfaadt got the call to the Diamondbacks in 2023, but had a very shaky first year, pitching to a 5.72 ERA. However, he has shown considerable improvement in 2024 and so far in 2025. One thing about Pfaadt that I admire is his strong faith. He has been seen reading out of his Bible before starts. Pfaadt's game plan is to work as hard as he can and trust God, letting His plan fall into action. I hope to see a long and successful career out of this kid.  

Cards From Karsal

     My good friend Karsal sent me a PWE. Karsal's blog, Collecting This 'n' That, had a giveaway, and I was the recipient of three great cards. Without further ado, here they are:

    Freddie appears to be doing a Dodger hit celebration. All the different celebrations used by teams these days intrigue me. Most of them seem to rotate celebrations multiple times every season. 

        I like the design of the Bowman Platinum cards of 2023. I'm not entirely sure why; they have a rating of 5.7 on the TCDB.
    Interestingly, the back of the card says that the WAR totals are provided by Baseball Reference. It's probably for the better since different people have different ways of calculating the stat so that it's never always the same as another person. 

    I've always taken an interest in Vaughn Grissom, and this card catches my eye immediately. It looks amazing in person; my picture really doesn't do it justice. 
    The 24-year old Grissom is still with the Red Sox, in Triple-A, where he is currently wrecking the minors. It's almost unfortunate that the Red Sox have such a good middle infield, because it might a while for Grissom to blossom in the Bigs again. I hope to see him soon. He has so much talent.

    Thank you Karsal for the great new additions to my collection! Be sure to check out Collecting This 'n' That if you haven't yet. The blog has been around since December of last year, and is a very good read.

    Thanks for checking out Don Cardwell! Have a great week, and happy collecting!

A Look Into Some of my Ridiculous Player Nicknames

   I call players by a lot of different names when communicating with friends. When you get hyped about a game, you don't have time to say a guy's full name, especially something such as Jurrangelo Cijntje. Heck, I don't even know how to pronounce that.

    Thus, I've given a number of baseball players nicknames, mostly plays on their last names. Here I'll be showing off six of my most-used player nicknames thus far in 2025. 

Tarik Skubal: Ubals

    I think I've called him Ubals on a Don Cardwell post before. This is the most common of the nicknames I've used.

Chris Sale: Saleboat

    I should probably mention that the vast majority of my nicknames are for pitchers. I don't know why, but that's the way it is.

Kristian Campbell: Camby

    Camby's been so impressive thus far that he's already gained a nickname. 

Justin Steele: Steelio

    I just randomly called him Steelio one day. Pretty sure he got smashed in that start.

Jacob deGrom: Deggy, Degasaurus

    He's got two. deGrom's name is far too good to not have any nicknames

Porter Hodge: HodgePodge

    He had a clutch hold for my fantasy team yesterday, so I gave him the nickname on the spot.

    There's a brief look into a few of the things I call players I like. This post was fun and fast to make, and hopefully before too long I can pull out one with cards (I've gotten a few PWEs that need to get posted on). Meanwhile, thanks for reading the blog, have a great week, and happy collecting!

Slowing Down

     If you were a reader of this blog at the turn of 2024, you may remember that in my New Year's post I talked of posting less. Then, out of the gates the posts kept coming. I was set to crank out 130 or so posts after February.

    But then things slowed. I haven't hit the LCS in a good month or so, and life in general just got busier. It's been over two weeks since I've posted on acquisitions; which is not to say that I have no posting material right now. Just too little time to sit down and write it.

    I'm afraid that things are just getting busier and busier, and keeping up with my daily responsibilities is becoming challenging. And so the blog and the hobby have taken a lot of the neglect. And things may stay that way for a while. 

    Of course I'll still be posting, that's not a question. My posts may be a bit fewer and farther between, but I'll be sure to continue posting steadily on the blog; at least once or twice a month, until I get some more free time. Like I said, I have plenty of posting material, and will soon get down to writing those posts and sending them off into the world periodically.

    I have some packages to send out to a couple folks, and I apologize for my delays. It's slipped my mind until recently. I'll be sure to hit the card store and get those sent out to y'all. Who knows, I'll probably come away with a post or two worth of cards as well.

    I just wanted to give y'all some explanation for my lack of posting as of late. It hasn't been months since the last post, so I know this shouldn't be any surprise, but it's time to get something out there anyway, and express my desire to give y'all a heads-up on my limited posting. This my also help me with the resolution of better quality of posts. I'm not trying to make a bunch of lame excuses. I haven't been as motivated to post lately as well.

    Before I sign off for the day, I'd like to comment on the immense improvement of the Rangers, who are now first in the AL West. Well of course, it's only been a week into the season, but I gotta find a bright spot in baseball somewhere. Heaven knows how long we'll hold down the fort. Honestly, I may have a few Texas Rangers posts mixed in with card-blogging posts in the future to make posting easier.

'Slow Down' by Chasper

Ranger Recap: Opening Day

     It's not usually a week-ish between posts for me, but I'll probably be getting used to that these coming months. I'm working on a few posts that ought to be posted soon (I'll try to get one out within a week), and as an endeavor not to go too long without posting, here comes the recap from Opening Day. Buckle up boys, this was not a fun one.

    I listened to almost the entire game on the radio as my Rangers took on Matt from Diamond Jester's Red Sox. 

    It was a really good game; it was 2-2 until the ninth inning. Though the score was low, both teams had their fair share of hits. Kyle Higashioka made me particularly happy. Wilyer Abreu, on the other hand, did not.

    I don't have a lot of nice things to say about Luke Jackson. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against the man -- he just has no business playing a closer role for the Rangers. Chris Martin's getting gypped. And, unfortunately, Luke Jackson gave up a three-run home run -- to no other than Wilyer Abreu. Man, he's a good hitter.

    It's been a minute since the Rangers lost an Opening Day game, and this isn't the prettiest way to start a season. Of course, there are 161 games to go.

    Well Matt, we'll just need to settle with winning the series. 

Jac Caglianone: Ripped Off?

     I've seen this conversation before. The best example that I can think of is Jackson Holliday; a player rakes in Spring Training (in Holliday's case, batting .311 with 3 doubles, 2 triples and 2 homers in 15 spring games in 2024) and then getting left off the Opening Day roster for more development.

    The annoying thing about Holliday is that he was the top prospect going in to 2024 -- and in the minor league season of 2023 he batted .323/.442/.499 with 113 runs, 30 doubles, and 24 swiped bags in 125 games. 

    Holliday was evidently not ready for the majors -- in 60 MLB games in 2024 he batted just .190 with a .565 OPS. Though I am of complete confidence that Holliday will be fine and even a star of the game in the near future, his case represents why a team would keep a player down even if he hits well in spring.

    

    Jac Caglianone's case is a little bit different. He was drafted in the first round of the 2024 draft by the Kansas City Royals. The highest level he ever played was High-A ball, where he slashed .236/.302/.388.

    However, in 2025's Spring Training, Caglianone is batting .500/.609/1.167 with 3 homers in 14 games. This is nothing shy of amazing. Take a look at this beautiful third home run of Caglianone's spring:

    Even though Caglianone has put up other-worldly numbers in Spring Training, the Royals have announced that they will not be putting the first-baseman on the Opening Day roster or 2025. Granted, Kansas City has Vinnie Pasquantino at first base already, and though one of them could DH, the Royals have players who can hit to go in the DH role (e.g. Freddy Furmin and Salvador Perez, the duo of catchers). 

    I'm all for letting young guys with incredible talent get a crack at the majors, but with such a small sample size, perhaps his staying down is for the better. We'll just need to see.

    How do y'all feel about this, if you have an opinion? Is Caglianone getting ripped off, or is this a smart move by the Royals? Please let me know in the comments.

    Unfortunately, I don't have any of Jac Caglianone's baseball cards, so I've got nothing to show off. Nonetheless, I promise I'll have plenty of cards for the next post. Meanwhile, thank you for reading Don Cardwell, have a great weekend, and happy collecting! 

Cards From Cards on Cards (Say that 5 Times Fast)

    About two weeks ago I got my first packs of 2025 Topps Series 1. My friend Kerry from over at Cards on Cards sent them, as a prize from his annual College Bowl Pick 'Em. I was surprised that I won it, but my mother is big into college football, so I guess it was an advantage.

    Anyway, besides the Topps blaster box, Kerry also sent me a bunch of cards from teams I like, as well as some PC help.

    I think I'll note every card in the blaster box, with images of the better/special ones. It's probably more boring that way, but I would like to keep an inventory of these cards since I am currently waiting on the binder for them to come. This is also my first in-hand taste of 2025 Topps, so I'll be providing my commentary on that too. I opened and posted on each pack individually, writing about them as I went along.

Pack 1:

First card of 2025: #205 Rhett Lowder RC

    The card backs look familiar to me, though I am unsure why. It resonates with the front of the card pretty well. And at least you can read what it says.

-#276 Jarred Kelenic
-#165 Joey Ortiz
-#33 Jose Berrios

-#131 David Peterson 

    This is a good photo to be shown horizontally. There have been some questionable image proportions in the past, but for the most part they've done pretty well (at least to what I've seen).

-#202 Keibert Ruiz

-#255 Dodgers Swagger 

    Unsure why the border is black for this card. And, we've reached out first little problem. Under the Dodgers Swagger text there are some more words, which are difficult to read. It's not so hard in hand, but on the computer, good luck.

-#66 Logan Gilbert
-#350 Francisco Lindor
-#287 DJ Herz RC

-#179 Ryan Pepiot Silver Crackle Foil

    This is a beautiful card. While looking up just what kind of card this is, I was brought to realization that there are so many foil variations that have similar characteristics. I already knew this to a degree, but when it's brought to light, it can be a real pain when it comes to card identification. 
    It's also a little bit difficult to see Pepiot's last name, but it is not so at all on the card. I guess these just don't show up to well on camera.

-#SMLB-21 Rafael Devers

    The more I see it, the more I'm liking this year's Stars of MLB design. 

    That was a very good first pack by my standards. No Rangers yet, but I'm sure things'll look up soon.

Pack 2:

-#260 Jose Altuve Spring Training Parallel

    I'm not entirely sure how I feel on the prospect of these Spring Training parallels. Though I think Topps makes too many parallels, I do like the look of these ones more than others.

-#96 Seattle Mariners
-#46 Tanner Houck
-#149 Jeff McNeil
-#254 Kyle Finnegan
-#95 Gavin Sheets
-#292 Clay Holmes
-#204 Justin Wrobleski RC
-#307 Jeremy Pena
-#138 Isaac Paredes

-#35 Anthony Volpe

    Nice picture for this card. Another great horizontal shot.

-#FP-8 First Pitch Adrian Beltre

    I'd never thought I'd see the day where Adrian Beltre's official position is pitcher. Does this count as my first Ranger? Either way, I really like this insert. I hope he threw a strike.

-#SMLB-19 Brooks Lee

    I think the days of SLMB are over. I wouldn't call Brooks Lee a star. Not yet, at least. I think he's got the potential to be a sneaky good player in 2025, but it's still a little bit early to call him a star of MLB.

    My favorite card of the second bunch has to be Beltre throwing out the first pitch.

Pack 3:

-#184 Bronx Bombers 
-#190 Miguel Vargas
-#7 Alec Bohm
-#320 Drew Thorpe
-#181 James Wood
-#102 Jonathan India
-#327 Bryan Woo
-#94 Nick Sogard
-#290 Pete Crow-Armstrong
-#312 Dub and Drench

-#302 Los Angeles Dodgers Gold (1677/2025)

    This is the only serial-numbered card in the bunch. The gold parallel definitely looks interesting on the new design, and the little positional dot just says 'Team Card' on it.

-#SMLB-5 Julio Rodriguez

    Another Stars of MLB card. There's a little bit too much space left in the card. Surely they could have found a better action shot?

    The third pack wasn't as impressive as the first two, but it did yield a serial-numbered card, which was pretty cool.

Pack 4:

-#111 Randy Arozarena Spring Training Parallel

    We've already had a Grapefruit League parallel, and now we have the Cactus League one. The more I look at these, the more I like this insert.

-#227 Ty France
-#113 Marco Gonzales
-#36 Greg Jones RC
-#42 Andrew McCutchen
-#269 Justyn-Henry Malloy
-#164 Tanner Bibee
-#52 Will Benson

-#250 Bryce Harper

    Bryce is a favorite. He's a must have in this post.



-#37 Spencer Steer
-#233 Brandon Marsh

-#T90-78 Manny Machado 

    The 1990 reprint looks really good. It far exceeded my expectations for this year.

-#SMLB-12 Gunnar Henderson

    Very nice card of a player I love. I wonder if he'll get a crack at an MVP award sometime in the near future. He's got the talent, but also a very competitive league featuring Aaron Judge and Bobby Witt as frontrunners. Only time can tell.

    This was a good pack, as shown by the four cards who were worthy to be shown on the blog. 

Pack 5:

-#139 Jordan Beck

-#125 Jackson Merrill

    I don't know if I've ever been more ecstatic about pulling a base card. The photo used is perfect; in fact, I think I've used the very same photo before, both in a post and as my email address's profile picture. The color scheme on the Padres card is a little bit strange, but I guess brown is their main color. Haha, I'm one of the weirdos who actually likes the City Connect uni.

-#341 Ronel Blanco
-#83 Anthony Rendon
-#284 Oneil Cruz
-#253 Hurston Waldrep RC
-#256 Jake Cave
-#309 Adam Mazur RC
-#230 Colton Cowser
-#27 Angel Martinez RC

-#62 Jon Gray 

    And now, we have the first Ranger of 2025! It took a minute, but Jon Gray finally showed his face and gets the bragging rights.....although I doubt that anybody cares :)

-#SMBL-24 Christian Yelich

    I sure hope Yelich can stay healthy for 2025. He's been getting back to his true form, and I want to see another great season out of him. He's in his age 33 season -- plenty of time to show us how it's done, but not enough time for injuries.



    Yet another solid pack. And we're on to the last two. This post took forever to make, I'm sure that for those reading the whole thing, it's taking an eternity to read.





Pack 6:

-#68 Hunter Feducca RC Spring Training Parallel

    We have our third Spring Training parallel. These are really nice. It's something different from colored borders -- which I have nothing against. It's very unique. I've probably said that three times now.

-#338 Mitch Garver
-#84 Kameron Misner RC
-#238 JJ Bleday
-#172 Otto Lopez
-#195 Michael King
-#336 Jorge Alcala
-#122 CJ Abrams
-#170 Baltimore Orioles
-#328 Eugenio Suarez

-#GH-5 Nolan Arenado

    This is a nice card, though I think the back can explain it better than I can...

-#ATT-1 Aaron Judge

    I really like the look of this card. There's plenty going on without an excess of things going on. I sympathize with those set collectors who can't stand all the inserts. There are a lot of them. But as a person who doesn't really build sets, it doesn't bug me too much.

-#SMLB-30 Dylan Crews

    Gee, I really hope this one comes true.

    Another very good pack.

Pack 7:

-#50 Leody Taveras
-#76 Houston Astros
-#316 Chris Sale
-#75 Colin Rea
-#18 Orelvis Martinez RC
-#180 Colt Keith

-#221 Matt Chapman

    Matt Chapman was such a good pickup by the Giants (my second team). I didn't realize just how good it was until 2024, when he was quietly such an awesome piece at third base. I think he's really one of the better and underrated players in the game.

-#5 2024 American League ERA Leaders

    Here's to hoping Skubal repeats.
    I like what they did with the player ERAs coming up the side of the card. Well done.

-#304 Raisel Iglesias
-#239 Freddie Freeman
-#179 Ryan Pepiot

-#SMLB-15 Corbin Carroll

    I'm not really a D-Backs fan, but as one who hates to see talent squandered, I want a 2023 Corbin Carroll, one such Corbin Carroll as we saw at the end of last season.

    All seven of my packs ended with a Stars of MLB insert. Is that the way each pack of '25 Topps has been rounded out, or is it just some crazy coincidence? These are the only cards I've gotten thus far, so I wouldn't know.

    So rounds out the 2025 Topps Blaster box. Overall I'm very happy with it (aside from the fact that it was free), with literally zero dupes; a great start if I were trying to build the set. I may end up building the Stars of MLB set.

    Overall, the 2025 design is....decent. There are some really nice aspects, and some not so much. The base cards have a bit of a shine to them, which is alright with me. The darker text on the cards isn't much of a problem in-hand, but  once photographed (or scanned, I've seen), it gets a bit illegible and looks a bit strange. I think the design would look a whole lot better to me had it not been the immediate successor to 2024 Topps, which was a grand slam design. Overall, I would probably give it a 7 out of 10. I think that's a fair rating.

    Kerry sent me a good number of more cards individually, but this post has already been far and away my longest ever, and I've got a few more longies to go in the near future. So I'll wrap it up here, and save the rest of the cards for part two. Thank you Kerry for the amazing cards, and thank y'all for bearing with me to the end -- this took over a week to write -- and happy collecting! 

More Draft Results!

     My second league's draft was yesterday. This league has eight teams and 24 roster spots. I got the sixth pick out of eight -- in hindsight this was a good thing since it's a first-year league that I started. My pitching staff was not what I wanted in the last draft, so I was hoping to fill out an even team this time around (another holds league). Let's see how I did.

First Round (6th overall): Juan Soto (OF, NYM)
    Juan Soto helps with a ton of different categories. I was eyeing him immediately upon getting the sixth overall pick.

Second Round (11th overall): Tarik Skubal (SP, DET)
    I wanted Skubal so badly. I had already abandoned the idea of waiting until later to grab starters, so I jumped at the opportunity to draft who I think is the best in the league. 

Third Round (22nd overall): Freddie Freeman (1B, LAD)
    With Vladdy and Harper gone, Freddie seemed the next best option. I hope he bounces back from last year, which had its excuses (his son was paralyzed due to illness; prayers go out to them).

Fourth Round (27th overall): Austin Riley (3B, ATL)
    I chose Riley over Devers, ha! I think Riley's an amazing option at third, and a steal for the fourth round.

Fifth Round (38th overall): Corey Seager (SS, TEX)
    My first Ranger of the draft! I was also surprised to see him left, but I guess too few remember his epic 2023 season.

Sixth Round (43rd overall): Dylan Cease (SP, SD)
    Another starter for the team. Cease is kind of inconsistent, but he throws really hard and is coming off a really nice 2024 season. I think he'll be fine.

Seventh Round (54th overall): Teoscar Hernandez (OF, LAD)
    He's not the most consistent outfielder in the world, but I wanted another outfielder, and he was ranked at the top, so I grabbed him. Good move?

Eighth Round (59th overall): Ryan Helsley (RP, STL)
    The closers were starting to move, so I had to jump on the bandwagon. Helsley was so good last year, hopefully he can have another outstanding campaign.

Ninth Round (70th overall): James Wood (OF, WSH)
    He was amazing in AAA (.353/.463/.595 slash), showed talent in the majors, and has amazing hair. There is no reason not to believe he'll be a beast.

Tenth Round (75th overall): Felix Bautista (RP, BAL)
    Coming off of an injury, I suppose it could be a bit risky. But Bautista was so good when he played last, and the closers were moving, so I'm confident this was a good pickup. 

Eleventh Round (86th overall): Lawrence Butler (OF, ATH)
    I really like Lawrence Butler. I hope he does well this year, because as of right now he's my utility guy.

Twelfth Round (91st overall): Yainer Diaz (C, 1B, HOU)
    Adley was grabbed a few rounds before, literally by the guy right ahead of me when I was going to get him. I'll settle for Diaz. He's pretty good.

Thirteenth Round (102nd overall): Roki Sasaki (SP, LAD)
    Well if I can't have Yamamoto I'm gonna have Sasaki. Hoping he can ramp that velo back up.

Fourteenth Round (107th overall): Spencer Strider (SP, ATL)
    He's going to be out a month, but he's such a dominant force when he's on the mound. I hope he can find his true form once again in 2025.

Fifteenth Round (118th overall): Jared Jones (SP, PIT)
    By this time I was yanking starting pitching. And I like Jared Jones. So you put two and two together, and yeah, he's on my team.

Sixteenth Round (123rd overall): Nico Hoerner (2B, SS, (CHC)
    Nico's always my sneaky pick. I love neglecting that second base spot just to drop a consistent guy like Nico down there who'll play the whole season and get you 30+ steals. I know he'll miss the Tokyo series, but he should be good to go for the regular Opening Day. I can live with that.

Seventeenth Round (134th overall): Kevin Gausman (SP, TOR)
    I'm just about ready to wrap up on starting pitching. I think Gausman will be good.

Eighteenth Round (139th overall): Matt Chapman (3B, SF)
    As of right now he's on the bench, but I believe that he'll be a very valuable addition to this team to pop into UTIL when I need a quick offensive stat.

Nineteenth Round (150th overall): Dylan Crews (OF, WSH)
    I really wanted a few more steals, and I let the projections get the best of me a little bit. At least he's hitting well in spring.

Twentieth Round (155th overall): Pete Fairbanks (RP, TB)
    You can never have too many closers -- even when they get injured every year.

Twenty-First Round (166th overall): Zach Eflin (SP, BAL)
    I didn't realize he was starter #7 for me. No matter, he's still a good pitcher.

Twenty-Second Round (171st overall): Justin Martinez (RP, ARI)
    I really like Justin Martinez. I can sneak a closer in the later rounds, which comes in mighty handy.

Twenty-Third Round (176th overall): Bryan Abreu (RP, HOU)
    He led the league in holds last year (38). In a holds league, it comes in pretty handy, even if he did plunk Adolis Garcia.

Twenty-Fourth Round (187th overall): Tyler Rogers (RP, SF)
    I love Tyler Rogers. He has that wacky arm slot which nobody can hit, and gets a lot of saves.

    So concludes my second and final draft of the 2025 season. Like I said, there are only 8 teams in the league, so they're all pretty stacked. This is the starting lineup for my team, British Dudez Next Door. (I am slightly English by the way)

C: Yainer Diaz
1B: Freddie Freeman
2B: Nico Hoerner
3B: Austin Riley
SS: Corey Seager
OF: Juan Soto
OF: Teoscar Hernandez
OF: James Woos
UTIL: Lawrence Butler
BN: Matt Chapman
BN: Dylan Crews

What I Like: This team has a ton of power, as well as the ability to run, which is something I usually neglect.

What I Don't Like: A few of these guys are a bit unproven. Butler has new-found success that may not carry over, and Dylan Crews has minimal MLB time in which he wasn't amazing.

    Onto the pitching staff:

SP: Tarik Skubal
SP: Dylan Cease
SP: Roki Sasaki
SP: Spencer Strider
SP: Jared Jones
SP: Kevin Gausman 
SP: Zach Eflin
RP: Ryan Helsley
RP: Felix Bautista
RP: Pete Fairbanks
RP: Justin Martinez
RP: Bryan Abreu
RP: Tyler Rogers

What I like: The starting staff is really good, and I think the amount of closers I have is just right.

What I Don't Like: Uhhhhh.....maybe one too many starters? Eflin makes a good seven, but I could have added another hitter.

Overall:

Offense: A
    I really like the lineup and don't think there's a ton to improve upon, other than maybe some more multi-positional players.

Pitching: A+
    I may be a little bit generous, but I think I aced the pitching staff on this one.

Overall: A
    There may be some small moves I should have made to push this up to A+, but I think this was a really nice draft.

    And there you have it. All the teams are pretty good (since it's a small league), but I think my team is looking great, and like it a lot more than my other team (which I don't hate, don't get me wrong). 

    Thanks for reading this rather long recap. Don't worry; I've got plenty of baseball cards to show off in my next few posts. Thanks for stopping by, have a great start to the week, and happy collecting!

Season Predictions

     At long last, Opening Day is in three days. Well, I guess it isn't technically Opening Day, but the baseball season will get underway with the Tokyo Series. I've always found it weird that they have their international series so early and then have the teams who played in that series participate in more Spring Training before the season starts for everybody. 

    Anyway, it's the time of year when I make my predictions for the oncoming MLB season. Of course, once I publicize them I'll be utterly and completely wrong, but it's fun to do it anyway. 

    I put a form up on the blog a little while ago, and between that and emailing it to some friends, I got 29 responses (way more than I expected), and I will integrate these into my predictions. Before we begin, I would like to say that sometimes my predictions seem a little bit odd, but sometimes the odd prediction feels right. Now that that's out of the way, why don't we start with division winners?

AL West: Houston Astros (31% consensus, tied first with the Rangers)
    It pains me a lot to say it, but I think the Astros are going to come away with the division again. The AL West isn't a particularly good division, but the Astros still seem in control. I would love to see the Rangers win it -- they have made many more strides to improve their team than the Astros -- but they're probably underdogs in the division. The more I think about it, the more I think the Rangers are going to take the division. I was really close to changing the guess, but I'm sticking with it, even though both my gut and my heart disagree with me.

AL Central: Detroit Tigers (55.2% consensus, first place)
    I do really like to say this one. I have been following and rooting for the Tigers for a little bit and was stoked to see their magical run in 2024. And they've gotten better this year, with signings like Jack Flaherty (really burned the Dodgers on that trade), Gleyber Torres, and Tommy Kahnle. Man, this team is going places.

AL East: New York Yankees (72.4% consensus, first place)
    They lost Juan Soto. They just acquired Cody Bellinger and Paul Goldschmidt, as well as a few others. I really hope Goldschmidt can rebound and end his career on a high note. I'm not particularly liking the AL East opponent's chances to take the division, but I can see the Orioles or Red Sox possibly taking it.

NL West: Los Angeles Dodgers (93.1% consensus, first place)
    Well duh. The D-Backs will probably be decent, and the Giants could possibly be decent. The Padres will likely be good, but the Dodgers are ridiculously good. They've had one of the greatest off-seasons in baseball history. None of the other teams in the division stand a ghost of a chance against them. I don't want to be too much of a hater. I mean, they're the ones willing to spend the money, and few other teams are. It's just annoying to see all these epic off-season additions when you're not a fan. 

NL Central: Chicago Cubs (24.1% consensus, second place)
    I've been rooting for the Cubs for so long, and it looks like they may have their chance this year. The Brewers, who have been in control of the division for the last few years, have lost some valuable pieces, most notably Willy Adames. Yet the consensus was still in their favor, with 41.4% of answers predicting them to hold the division. We'll see. 

NL East: Philadelphia Phillies (24.1% consensus, third place)
    This was a hard one because of the three headliners of the division: Phillies, Braves, and Mets, who have all gotten better in the off-season. The Mets did sign Juan Soto, but the starting pitching still isn't there for me, and the Phillies line-up is still stacked. It also helps that they have Jesus Luzardo now. The Braves took about 48% of the consensus, and the Mets about 28%. This surprised me a little bit.

    Now I will move on to the second portion of my predictions for the year, which is the awards earned after the season.

 AL Rookie of the Year: Roman Anthony OF, BOS (20.7% consensus, second place)
    I don't know as much about the rookies as I would like, but Anthony is ranked #2 on MLB's Top 100 Prospects list. Looking at his minor league stats, Anthony looks like the real deal. He was a career minor league slash of .284/.398/.474 and is coming off a really nice year in 2024. He's giving a strong showing in spring as well, as he hunts for that Opening Day roster spot. The highest percentage of votes went to the 'Unsure' option at over 50%.

NL Rookie of the Year: Dylan Crews OF, WSH (20.7% consensus, third place)
    It would make all logical sense for me to predict Roki Sasaki, and it's probably the correct decision (second-most voted behind 'Unsure'), but when I thought about it, I couldn't not go with Crews. I just have a feeling about him. Though his 2024 debut wasn't too shiny, he did have his bright spots, and is currently slashing .357/.455/.429 in spring. He's going places. 

AL Cy Young Award: Tarik Skubal, DET (not on form)
    For some reason I left Cy Young and MVP off the poll.
    Tarik Skubal was nuts last season. He won the triple crown, and doesn't seem ready to stop yet, as he'll try to lead the Tigers on another playoff run. What some people don't understand is that he's a completely new pitcher since his time from 2021-2023. The mechanics have been improved as well as a new pitch mix (new as of 2023) that allows him to dominate. He's got the heart and the talent to pull off another incredible season.

NL Cy Young Award: Paul Skenes, PIT (not on form)
    Paul Skenes had a 1.96 ERA in 2024. I don't expect numbers quite that insane to repeat, but I still see Skenes as a dominant force on the mound. He's added a cutter and two-seam to his already impressive arsenal this off-season - it'll be fun to see how those pitches work against MLB hitters.

AL MVP: Bobby Witt Jr. SS, 3B, KC (not on form)
    I was one of those weird people who thought Witt should have won the MVP over Aaron Judge. Bobby Witt is just so talented at everything he does at a difficult position (shortstop). It's either going to be Witt or Judge. And I'm guessing Witt.

NL MVP: Shohei Ohtani DH, P, LAD (not on form)
    He hits, and now he pitches again. Need I say more? The only thing not going for him is that he won last year and maybe the voters won't want a repeat? Probably not. Shohei's the man.

    And finally, I saved this one for last: World Series prediction. It's always fun (yet unpredictable) to predict a World Series in advance. Took a quick look on Sportsbook to see what the projections were.

World Series Matchup: Dodgers vs. Tigers (7% consensus)
    The surprising bit here is obviously the Tigers. But personally, I love what they have done to their team this off-season, and think they have a really solid squad that can take them to the Fall Classic. I don't know what I was thinking when I made these predictions before, but this one just felt right. Now, if I had to guess who won, I'd say Dodgers in six games.

    Well, those are my predictions for the upcoming season. Let me know in the comments what you think of my predictions and what y'all predict to happen. Good luck to your teams, thank you for reading, and happy collecting!