Atlanta Sports Cards

Weekly Hot Sheet

June 23, 2011

By James Kennedy and Jimmy Graham

1. 2011 Bowman Michael Pineda Retail Autograph

The difference between Pineda and the other guys, is, he’s doing it in the majors.  This first licensced auto surges $20 to $60.

2.  2010 Elite Extra Nick Castenellos Autographs

Castellanos has managed to make up for a horrid May with a torrid June.  Its all starting to click for the Tiger’s best hitting prospect in a long time.  With only the Elite availabale, it has zoomed from $12 to $33.

3.  2010 Elite Extra Matt Moore Autograph /819

We’ve touted Moore from the rooftops this year!  If you were on board you were rewarded by the first 9 inning no hitter in the Minors in a year, the BA.com Number 1 slot, and 30-50% upward movement on the Elite autos, including an Emerald /25 that flew $50 to $130.

4.  2010 Bowman Sterling Ryan Lavarnway Autographs

Also portrayed in “Money Where My Mouth Is,” it seems more are on board than thought.  The forgotton man in that column gained themost.  $3 per to $15 dld.  Huge gains.

5.  2010 Elite Extra Josh Spence Auto

A .49 cent card becomes a $5 card.Newsworthy only for its 1000% gain as Spence debuts in MLB as a reliever.

6. 2009 Bowman Sterling Tom Mendonca Autograph

“2-for-3, HR (15), 2 R, 3 RBI, K. 26-for-49 (.531) in last 11 games and up to .332/.382/.599 overall, and improved approach goes more reason to think there is some level of reality here.”

As little as $1 10 days ago, these now sell in the $10 ballpark.  Mendonca is putting a Triple Crown type year in the Rangers organization.

7. 2011 Bowman Sterling Taijuan Walker Autographs

After a 11 strikeout performance, no Walker card can be had under $10 dlvd.  All of his autos have gained 50% this week.

“Walker had another one of those outings on Friday night where everything clicked; he struck out 11 batters over seven innings while allowing just two hits. While he dominated primarily with a mid-90s fastball that touched 97-98 on plenty of occasions, he also flashed a plus power curveball that could turn him into a monster if he can be more consistent with it. One scout put it best by saying, “The thing I like best about him is his birthday,” as the ultra-athletic righty doesn’t turn 19 until August. He arguably has the highest ceiling of any pitcher in the Midwest League, but the amazing thing is there are plenty of nights that he’s one of the best pitchers on the circuit right now. ”

8.  2010 Bowman Chrome Arodys Vizcaino Autographs

Atlanta keeps churning out front line prospects.  Arodys is no different, and has a different, if not more intriguing ceiling than teammate Julio Teheran.  After 6 weeks of giving up hardly any runs, people are on notice as the chromes surged ahead this week.

With Vizcaino, the stuff has never been the question, but his health always has been. So Vizcaino’s recent promotion to Double-A Mississippi is notable both because it makes him one of the younger pitchers in the Southern League and also because with 66 innings, he’s on pace to blow past his career high of 85 last year. His stuff compares pretty favorably to fellow Braves prospects Julio Teheran and Randall Delgado. Teheran, Mike Minor and now Delgado are all getting starts in Atlanta because of injuries. Vizcaino isn’t ready to make that jump just yet, but he’s not far behind.

9.  2000 Ryan Vogelsong Rookie Cards

Sent off to Japan for many years, Vogelsong is looking Koufax-esqu.  For now.  These once negatively-valued chrome cards pictured above have now lost their status as “waste,” and is now “recyclable.”  To the tune of $10 per card, a far cry from literally a penny.

10.  2010 Bowman Dustin Ackley Gold Refractor Auto /50

Ackley has looked so-so in his debut.  But better than Rizzo or Moustakas.  This issue burns up the Hot Sheet going from $310 to $465

11. 2010 Bowman Draft Taylor Lindsey Gold Refractor Auto /50

14. 2010 DONRUSS ELITE RONALD TORREYES AUTO RC /799

“Torreyes was the talk of Reds camp this spring, as even big-league manager Dusty Baker was publicly praising the 18-year-old Venezuelan’s hitting ability, a rare feat for a player who entered the year with just 24 games of experience in North America after hitting .390/.468/.606 for the Reds’ Venezuelan Summer League affiliate. Expected to begin the year in a short-season league, the Reds surprised many by putting him on the Dayton roster over the weekend, where he went 4-for-8 in his first two games. Listed at 5-foot-9 and 140 pounds, Torreyes is hardly an imposing physical presence, but he combines excellent bat speed with fantastic hands and an instinctual feel for hard contact. Throw in plus speed and excellent defensive skills, and a player that was expected to be one of the ones to watch in the Pioneer League is going to give us much more information by being challenged at a higher level.”

Honorable Mention: Michael Choice 2010 Bowman Draft Autos

BONUS!!!   “Who’s #1?”

Everyone anxiously awaits -as do I- Baseball America’s Hot Sheet each Friday.  So on Thursday nights, Im going to try and give blog readers a heads up, and predict who will be #1.  Let’s see how many I can get!

Thursday Night: Prediction: #1 on Hot Sheet tomorrow is Jonathan Singleton, Clearwater Phillies

Tags: arodys, atlanta sports, Auto, auto 50, auto 6, auto rc, availabale, bowman chrome, castellanos, Castro, Click, dld, Draft, dustin ackley, Elite, Extra, Hot, innings, james kennedy, June, matt harvey, mendonca, Moor, prospect, reds, refractor, Rookie, rookie cards, ryan vogelsong, Sheet, sports, sports cards, strikeout, themost, Topps, torrid, upward movement, Vizcaino, Weekly

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