What do you do when it's Friday night and you have to work late into the evening? Reward yourself beforehand with a stop at the local hobby shop. Topps Pro Debut is out for 2015. Not sure how long it's been out for, but I definitely wanted to sample a pack.
8 cards in a hobby pack. With all the bright, young players in the game right now let's see if I actually recognize anyone here...
Swing and a miss out of the gate! Never heard of Austin Hedges, but he appears to be a pretty talented backstop in the Padres organization. He's depicted here with AA San Antonio, the team he spent 2014 with. This year he started with AAA El Paso, and was swatting the ball effectively enough to make his Major League debut back in May.
Austin has appeared in 20 total games for the Padres to date. This card represents what the Pro Debut set should be; players who
actually make, or are likely to make, their pro debut in 2015.
Alen Hanson has not yet appeared in an MLB game. He spent 2014 with the AA Altoona Curve, as depicted here, but was elevated to AAA for this season. At just 22 years of age he seems to be advancing quickly through the Pirates' organization. To me, seems like another sound choice for the checklist.
We're 0-3 in terms of "have I heard of this guy before?". Definitely the most questionable choice for inclusion in the set so far here. The Dayton Dragons are an A ball team. Nick is still in A ball this year, only with the
Daytona Tortugas. He also hails from Connecticut, which is the state I grew up in. Moving on...
Never heard of this guy either. He's still with the AA Jackson Generals (Seattle Mariners organization), and is having what looks statistically like a mediocre season. Halfway through and this one was starting to look like a dud pack.
It only got worse when it came to my one non-base card, this "Promo Night Uniforms" insert of Daniel Carbonell. I'm glad to see that Topps doesn't reserve their ugly and boring inserts for
just the big league sets. Off to the trade box with this one. At this point I was questioning why I spent $3 on this lousy pack of cards, but things kind of turned around a bit towards the end of the pack...
It always helps getting a brand new Red Sox card for my collection. This Blake Swihart was the perfect card to redeem the pack. He hasn't exactly been impressive at the plate with Boston this year, and he's injured at the moment, but he's still just 23 years old.
Hey, another guy I've heard of! If I decide not to chase after this set then this card will likely be headed in an envelope to Delaware in the future.
Luke Weaver was drafted by the Cardinals in the first round of the 2014 draft. Currently pitching with the Palm Beach Cardinals in the Florida State League.
Well, that's a wrap. Swihart and Syndergaard really saved the pack for me, and thanks to those two cards I actually feel like it was $3 well spent. I could see myself picking up some more of these if the price was right...
5 comments:
Technically all of these guys did make their pro debuts. Most of their MLB debuts have yet to come.
Regardless, Pro Debut has turned into a set that became the who's who in the minors showcase set so you can't really go wrong with most of the players in it.
Hah very true! Yeah, I really enjoy this set each year. I never seem to find it all that often so was happy to be able to grab a pack today. Thanks for reading and for your comment!
If nothing else I like seeing the minor league duds.
I'd heard of 5 of the guys in that pack... Maybe you got my pack by mistake.
I was thinking of getting a box of Pro Debut, or at least a hand-collated set. Then again, I've also feeling guilty about how many cards are coming into the house vs. the number of cards going out of the house, so maybe not. They *do* look very nice, and I usually enjoy Pro Debut...
I wasn't a fan of Pro Debut (or Heritage Minors) at first, but I'm on board now. Just wish it was available in retail format. (C'mon Topps!!) I also wish Topps would resurrect the ML Debut set they used to do in the early '90s. To me that's way more interesting. Plus, most of the guys in the Pro Debut set have been in pro ball for several years already, so it's not even their "pro debut."
P.S. It would be kinda neat to chase that set, but if you decide not to I think it would be okay! :-)
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