Topps is clarifying that the redemption card in the just-released 2011 Topps Chrome Baseball stating “ You have just received a set of 2011 USA Baseball Collegiate National Team Autograph Cards” is good for either a 5 or 6 card pack of USA Autographs and not all 22 subjects.

All USA Autographs are incremental hits on top of the 2 on-card Rookie Autographs guaranteed per hobby box.

USA Autographs are also featured on the following parallels:

Refractor
Blue Refractor
Gold Refractor
Atomic Refractor
Red Refractor
Superfractor
Printing Plates

Incoming search terms:

• 2011 topps chrome usa auto set
• gold refractor usa team bb set
• 2011 topps usa auto plate redemption
• 2011 topps usa baseball

This break comes from my very good customer Will in Kansas.  Most of the cards from his case will be on eBay under the name willcvincent.

Here are some of his better hits from the case:

Incoming search terms:

• 2011 topps chrome football hobby atlanta sports
• 2011 absolute memorabilia austin pettis card value
• 2011 topps chrome football atlanta sports cards

Atlanta Sports Cards Presents: “The State of the Hobby Address, Sunday August 28th, 2011″

ASC.com is the only retail site where not only can you get whatever wax you could want, and sometimes incredible memoribila, and also be treated like you’re the most important customer in the world, and at the same time, know that the site owner has the cojones to write reviews and recommnedations, good or bad, for the exact product we have in stock!  Some rival sites will post a message board, but it is treated as completely independent from the company owners.  Many of you may say, “Jamie, you are just a glorified Message Board blog writer!” I disagree wholeheartedly.  This last year writing for Josh at ASC was not an overnight event that happened one day.  It has evolved into a team effort resulting in a blog that has proved it has some of the most important, behind the scenes information of any blog on the ‘net.  The response we get from Facebook is proof positive.  But, because I am lucky enough to be able to pick ASC owner Josh P’s brain for hours on end sometimes, I am able to convey to the reader what I see and relate it to my 25 years in the hobby and also what Josh sees. Which is like seeing behind the Wizard of Oz’ curtain. 

Personally, I check this blog right away when I sign on….only after a) I have checked the Baseball America Hot Sheet:(http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/prospect-hot-sheet/2011/2612257.html) and the chat that accompanies it (the last one was published this last Friday afternoon as the minor league season winds down), and b) Kevin Goldstein’s daily minor league recaps, and on Mondays, his Monday Morning “Ten Pack.”  But, like many outlets, “the best things in life are free” does not ring true over at Baseball Prospectus.com, as I spend $100 a year just to read Mr. Goldstein’s ruminations.  But to me they’re well worth it.  Baseball America is free only for about 10% of their content, so instead of spending good money to read “okay” articles (when Kevin Goldstein, the Editor-In-Chief, left in 2007/2008, BA.com got markedly worse, which makes sense to me as a fellow writer, as its all about the specific people writing on the website.  Kevin brought a TON of readers to Baseball Prospectus when he left Baseball America), I only use their free parts (at Baseball America), which luckily includes the weekly Hot Sheet.  Both websites will be out of season in the next 7 days. 

So, will Atlanta Sports Cards’ blog, which concentrated on baseball in particular these last 6 months, go out of season??  Not a chance!!  The new hot sheet here at Atlantasportscards.com has been unveiled and now includes the top moving Ebay individual cards of any sport that is currently in season.  So you will notice that Football Cards have been added to the most recent Top 20: http://atlantasportscards.com/blog/2011/08/25/atlanta-sports-cards-presents-brand-new-weekly-hobby-hot-sheet-top-20-cards/

You will notice, because baseball now extends into November, and Winter Leagues/The Arizona Fall League and offeseason moves keep plenty of “Hot Stove” action on baseball cards, baseball will always chart on the Hot Sheet.  Football will last all of the preseason, and will only wrap up appearances after the Super Bowl has ended, and the winning team’s stud players have finally ceased to move any higher.  And if there are certain cards that increase in the offseason, those will now be aknowledged.  Hockey and Basketball will also be added, starting with the two sports respective preseasons.  And other sports, such boxing, MMA, sports entertainment (i.e.- WWE/TNA cards), and any other sport (such as tennis or golf), that either a) has their own specific release, or b) is released within a set with a wide array of different sports autos (such as Allen & Ginter), will now also be included.

This card, which just sold at $40, was a recommened buy when he started to become the focus of the WWE 2 months ago.  Anyone picking up this WWE relic auto made 400%.  Not bad.  The “Money Where my Mouth Is” columns highlighted MANY high gainers, such as 2010 Sterling Black Refractor Autos of Red Sox wunderkind Ryan Lavarnway, which, if bought at the then Ebay price of under $60, would now see another 400% gain, as there has been just 1 on Ebay in 30 days,  Price?  $250

The end of the baseball season will also free up time to mention things like what’s going on in the world (I’m kidding!  Its a sports card blog)  But this picture (which I took at my next door neighbor’s house 3 hours ago)

now has a home besides my desktop!  Many don’t know, but have found out as we’ve spoken over the phone during my 8 months of writing at ASC.com, that I live a thousand miles from ASC HQ’s in Atlanta (I reside in Cape Cod, MA, and Naples FL in the winter)!  This picture shows a tree uprooted earlier today, during Tropical Storm Irene, which barely touched us!  Residual gusts of winds no higher than 40mph caused this! 

I made a living  a few years ago inventing an internal auditing business, where I would keep Waste and Recycling companies, renowned for ripping people off, in-check, for Fortune 500 companies, which started at Staples HQ in Framingham MA, and now serves over 80 of the Fortune 500 companies.  I was the best at making sure my clients were not getting ripped off.  I am taking this crusade to the baseball card companies, which, in many cases, do unscrupulous things.  My dissection of 2011 Bowman Platinum and they’re hatchet job of the checklist was widely read.  Did the owner of this company object to my “whistleblowing,” despite selling the same major-release product I reamed?  The answer is, no, he didn’t, which means if you are an ASC customer, you know that the most honest, no-nonsense guy will take care of you, and never push “clearance” items on you like they were essential buys.  (BPP anyone?) 

Many that follow this blog has seen my many references to, our outright articles devoted to, redemption cards starting to overrun each and every Topps release.  I vow, with the blessing of the owner of this progressive company (Josh Pankow), to make sure his customers never have the shades pulled over their eyes.  Whether its a “day-of-release” case break, or grading out future releases’ checklists, we want to have the smartest customers in the world, and like Waste Management (who keeps customers in the dark about how to save money), the other big trading card wholesale websites would also like to keep you in the dark.  Let’s be honest, not all products are hits, but online-retailers don’t want you to know that.  We are going to attack that stigma going forward here in 2011 and beyond…..

(I think this is one of just of 2 Topps Inception Football’s exchange cards…..Of course, I had to pull it.)

***********************************************************

The baseball card market usually hits its peak in June/July, and then trails off starting in September, at least as far as single cards are concerned.  New baseball products yet to be released will thrive or wither depending on how good, and more importantly, how short supplied that product is.  Gypsy Queen sits at $190/box, a 300% gain in just a few months since its release.  2011 Topps Tribute (nice catch JP!) baseball doubled in price, and anyone who didnt rip their wax, cleaned house on unopened sales soon after release.

It is literally impossible to break even if you buy a bunch of Gypsy Queen boxes at $190 apiece.  While some of the low #d cards have held some value, the current box price doesn’t make sense.  In a way, trading-card economics don’t make sense.  What we have here is your classic stalemate: Sellers are asking in excess of $200 for Gypsy Queen, because it is so scarce at this point and they’re probably in to it for close to that.  Now, the collector is intrigued that this product is rising in value, but because this collector is educated, he knows that he will never make out on breaking a case, let’s say, and thus won’t pay the $190-$230 a box going rate.  So the 2 parties agree to disagree.  This is happening now with Gypsy.

So when does one know that a “stalemate” is in effect?  The best way is to use a AUCTION : BUY IT NOW ratio.  Type in the name of the product in Ebay: (2011 Gypsy Queen), and then seperate them into “Auctions” (of which there are currently 908) and compare that to “Buy it Nows” (of which there are 10,882).  Divide 10882 by 908 and you come up with a 12:1 ratio.  Think about what that says:  Buy it Nows are used ONLY when a seller knows that putting a card up for auction may not bring the desired amount.  By using “Buy it Nows.” a dealer is saying “I will take $500 for a Koufax GQ auto, but not much less.”  This is smart because in the last week, Koufax GQ autos have ranged from $325 to $500 at auction.  Instead of taking that chance that yours will go for $325, knowing $500 is also reasonable, you use a Buy It Now.  But when BIN/Auction ratios get high like at 12:1, this stalemate or “gridlock” has occurred.

Let’s look at a product with a ratio lower than 12:1.  When typing in “2011 Inception,” I get approx 2000 Buy It Nows, and amazingly 2000 auction only items.  This is a 1:1 ratio.  What does this tell us?  It tells us that just as many dealers or sellers are “taking a chance” that they will get top dollar for their card than there are sellers who feel the need to use Buy It Now, because essentially they fear if it goes to auction, it will not bring as much as they’d like.  Inception, a popular, recent Football release, will have low ratios by nature, because there are enough people in a 7 day span to have the auction get as high as it should.  Gypsy Queen, with its predominantly “Buy it Now” listings, shows that there is a big difference between individual card/box/case value, and what people are willing to pay.

So why again is Gypsy so high?  And this is vitally important: Low supply.  The sell sheet looked blah, the checklist looked even more blah, and the cards were the color of sour milk.  So dealers, and thus distributors, didn’t order any.  So Topps didn’t produce any.  And, the final result is what is impossible to understand:  A mediocre product that no one really wants to buy is the biggest wax gainer of the year on a percentage basis.

So is it possible to predict if a product would be good?  The answer is yes and no, but you have to grasp the dichotomy that exists here.  If a product looks weak, dealers will err on the side or NOT ordering it, due to the fact that they will lose money if they are right and the product doesn’t sell.  But if one thinks contrarily, they will order the product they don’t like for sole reason that they believe no one will order it, replicating a Gypsy Queen phenomenon.  I spoke with Josh the day of release of Gypsy, and asked if he had a certain amount of boxes for sale, despite the fact that myself, like everyone else, didn’t pre-order it.  Josh said that morning, without having cracked any or having watched anyone crack GQ that this product would explode (Of course it did in the short AND long terms).  How could he know?  Easy.  It didn’t matter to him what was in there, all that mattered was that it was quite evident to him, that barely ANY of this product existed, despite being a fairly mainstream Topps release.  Which brings us to today.  Sure GQ wax is over $200/box (cost neared $70 I believe).  But the amount of single cards actually selling, pales in comparison with the amount available.  This is the 12:1 ratio.  If you wish to get the most for your cards, check the Ebay ratio I described…If its close to 1:1, you will likely get full value at auction.  Anything higher than that means you may have to sit on certain singles to move them.  Neither proves anything about a product’s long term value; instead, it looks at how liquid the product is at the present time.

**************************************************************

The happy medium here is that you evaluate a product before release, the bottom line is simply that if you like the product and the design and the checklist, you now considering pre-ordering the product.  2011 Topps Inception Football was absolutely not talked about before release.  With nothing to compare it to, it seemed like a crapshoot, although it seems, and I don’t have data to back this up, like Topps products are holding their value/increasing in value this year at a higher rate than Panini, Upper Deck (who seems to be content to wind down their hobby presence, that used to be so omnipresent), and certainly Sage and Press Pass and Tristar.  Which leaves Leaf, who is about to drop a Family Guy product that should certainly benefit from the show’s incredibly wide demographic.  This should help Leaf’s reputation even further, as they are making baby steps in an effort to be the next impact card manufacturer.

Each day this week we will preview an upcoming product.  Not just reading the sell sheet, which is basically what your dealer would regurgitate to you at a show (“4 hits, 1 guaranteed auto,”) but getting down and dirty by examining the checklist and any known pack odds, and looking for innovative measures like including new players yet to have autos (Hosmer in Topps Chrome was great, welcome news to me), while speculating on print runs and possible hobby hype.

Stick with us here at ASC.  We won’t let you down.  The biggest difference between ASC and any other company, is that Josh prides himself on Customer Service, the lowest prices in the world, and not playing favorites with manufacturers by allowing op-ed pieces written on his webpage.  This, and constant new innovations, like a new, meaty blog this year, and trying new things like case breaks, plus things in the works for the future, make this the ONLY company in the WORLD I would want to share my opinions on.  I guess I am that blessed. 

Thanks Josh, and members of ASC Nation.  It will always be my pleasure.  See you next week,

Jamie Kennedy

Incoming search terms:

• 90\s baseball box breaks
• nolan arenado blue autograph refractor

A customer opened 4 cases of the 2011 Panini Americana and left me the cards to sell.  I was pretty impress with the stuff and I think some of it is going to sell really well.  Here are some of the highlights from the cases.

These are just a few of the bigger hits.  More of the stuff will be listed as well.  I think the stuff looks pretty sweet.

Incoming search terms:

• 2011 panini americana case
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ATLANTA SPORTS CARDS

MINOR LEAGUE UPDATE, TUESDAY, JULY 26

By Jamie Kennedy

We start by giving you a daily home run rundown courtesy of TPA! (A better twitter account there isnt!  @MinorLeagueBlog if you’re not there already!)

http://topprospectalert.com/2011/07/26/tuesdays-notable-minor-league-home-runs-2/

Goldschmidt passes Wheeler with his 30th HR, Tommy Mendonca mashes in a breakout year with his 21st HR (and a great story on tragedy in his life: http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110726&content_id=22311238&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb).

 Pitchers too are lighting up the box scores in the last few days: Justin Nicolino has allowed just 1 hit total in 2 of his last 3 starts, giving up no hits the other night over 5 IP, Drew Smyly continues his torrid pace as he gave up just 2 hits over 7 innings and struck out 10, and Arodys Vizacaino was just promoted to AAA.  

We cant say enough about Arodys’ upside on his cards.  As featured in “Money Where My Mouth Is,” we told readers to pick up Gold Refractor 2010 Bowman autos @ $100, and to be honest, after seeing him in the Futures Game, I think he has a chance to be better than Teheran, and we know what Gold Teheran autos do!  Don’t sleep on Arodys!

Harpermania takes center stage tomorrow as his Bowman Platinum card is released, and despite strong early sales on a miniscule amount on Ebay, Harper is mired in a 4-30 slump, despite doubling twice last night.  Keep in mind though, he is just 18 years old and in AA.  Not common at all. 

Smyly, Nicolino, Ronald Torreyes, Matt Moore, Nick Castellanos, Cody Buckel, Jurickson Profar, Tyler Thornburg, and SPs of Gary Brown, Manny Machado and Matt Harvey are all loaded into 2010 Elite Extra Edition Baseball.  At $67/box, we forecast a 300% increase n the next 3 years.  These guys are all exclusives!  Try finding Nicolino, Smyly and Matt Moore in any quantity on Ebay!

TOPPS CREATES EXCLUSIVE 2011 HERITAGE ROOKIE CARDS FOR NATIONAL

Topps announces it will issue 5 rookie cards (via wrapper redemption) at this year’s National Collector’s Convention that were not included in 2011 Topps Heritage Baseball.  Each card will be sequentially numbered to just 299 copies and one subject will be given out per day.

To obtain any one of these cards, collectors must open 5 packs of 2011 Topps/Bowman branded trading cards at the Topps booth.  Each customer will be limited to one card per day.

The subjects and dates of availability are as follows:

Wednesday, Aug. 3rd Dustin Ackley (image attached)

Thursday, Aug. 4th Dee Gordon

Friday, Aug. 5th Mike Moustakas

Saturday, Aug. 6th Michael Pineda

Sunday, Aug. 7th Zach Britton

Incoming search terms:

• 2011 topps hertigae minor lague rwrapper redemption

ATLANTA SPORTS CARDS

By James Kennedy

SPOT TO WATCH

Adam Warren, P, Yankees AAA

Yankees seem to be afraid to lean on their prospects in times of need, Warren was one of my main exhibits, and he helped prove my point with six shutout innings on Saturday to lower his ERA to 2.87. To be clear, Warren isn’t some kind of savior or future star, but he should be able to hold his own in the big leagues thanks to a plus fastball and average secondary offerings. Why go through all the machinations to add Brian Gordon to the roster and leave Warren down on the farm? Only the Yankees know for sure.

Rob Erlin, P, AA Rangers

After dominating the Carolina League for the first two months of the season, the Texas League hadn’t been as kind to Erlin, who entered Sunday’s start with a 5.28 ERA thanks to more than a hit per inning. Some were wondering if his extreme strike-throwing ways were starting to catch up to him. He put many of those doubts to rest with a career-high 14 strikeouts over 6 2/3 innings while throwing 77 of his 105 pitches for strikes. Struggles for a 20-year-old in Double-A are more than understandable. A 14-strikeout game for a 20-year-old is more than a bit impressive. He still profiles as a middle-of-the-rotation starter and the kind of player who exceeds projections.

Nick Franklin, SS, AA-Seattle

For two-and-a-half months, Franklin was a disappointment. The 2009 first-round pick led the Midwest League with 23 home runs last year, and with a move to High Desert this year, big things were expected, or at least big numbers. Instead, we got a baffling .275/.356/.411 line with just five home runs in 258 at-bats. Nonetheless, the 20-year-old was moved up to Double-A as part of the Dustin Ackley domino effect that bumped Kyle Seager to Triple-A. While Seager was busy going 9-for-18 in his first four games for Tacoma, Franklin was the bigger surprise, with four straight multi-hit games that put him at 9-for-16 in his first four Southern League games with a home run. Being disappointing at one level and then being great after moving up is always a confusing combination. We need more data before making any conclusions.

Aaron Hicks, OF, Hi-A Twins

We’ve been talking about his tools nonstop since he was a first-round pick in 2008, but the numbers haven’t been there, including the first two months of this season. All of a sudden, he’s arguably the most dynamic player in the Florida State League; with a 4-for-10 weekend that included two doubles and three walks, he’s hitting .333/.477/.507 in 19 June games and .275/.390/.410 overall. A plus-plus center fielder with a plus-plus arm, Hicks has plenty of defensive value, and he’s always had a patient approach. Now that’s he’s hitting, and with scouts believing that many of his 19 doubles in 229 at-bats will turn into home runs down the road, there’s real reasons for optimism here.

Ryan Lavarnway, C, AAA-Red Sox

Lavarnway has always hit. He has put up big numbers since he was selected out of Yale in the sixth round in 2008, including a .356/.420/.667 line in 11 Triple-A games after a 5-for-13 weekend that included two doubles and a home run. Combining a quick bat with massive strength, scouts have no problem projecting him as a big-leaguer at the plate, but the debate rages about his abilities behind it. He’s big, thick, and slow, and while that’s not rare for a catcher, he doesn’t move well behind the plate, and it takes a long time to get his 6-foot-4, 225-pound frame out of a crouch, leading to problems controlling his running game. Still, scouts are quick to say he’s getting better back there, possibly to the point of adequacy, and a September look should give us a better idea of where his future lies with the Red Sox.

Angel Sanchez, P, Lo-A Dodgers

Few players in the minors have been more of a pop-up prospect than Sanchez, who had his best outing as a pro on Saturday with five no-hit innings to lower his ERA to 1.83. Signed last year out of the Dominican as a relatively old 20-year-old, Sanchez made his pro debut in late May with the Loons, moved into the rotation this month, and has limited the league to a .143 batting average by allowing just 17 hits in 34 1/3 innings while striking out 37. At 6-foot-3, skinny and long-levered, Sanchez has a smooth delivery that cuts loose 91-94 mph fastballs with good movement, to go with a solid curveball that he has trouble controlling at times and a changeup that is a true plus offering. I’m not going to lie; I hadn’t even heard of this guy heading into the season, and now he’s someone Midwest League scouts can’t stop talking about.

Trevor May, Hi-A Florida

May might be starting to put it all together. The Phillies’ 2008 fourth-round pick struggled in high Class A last year, going 5-5, 5.01 in 70 innings before a midseason demotion to low Class A, where he remained the rest of the season. Inconsistent mechanics leading to poor control were May’s undoing last year, but he’s made significant strides this year. His 37 walks in 78 innings this year might not sound especially impressive, but when you consider where he’s coming from—61 walks in 70 innings for Clearwater last year—it’s clear there’s been some progress.

May, who was also the winning pitcher in the Florida State League all-star game last Saturday, hasn’t allowed more than three runs in 11 consecutive starts dating back to April 19. Against Tampa on Wednesday, May had a no-hitter for five innings and his fastball sat consistently in the 90-95 mph range. He touched 94 in the seventh inning, and Tampa’s hitters only hit a couple balls hard all night.

May struck out the side twice on his way to matching his career-high with 14 strikeouts. He fanned eight of 10 batters from the third through fifth innings. Unfortunately for May, Tampa came back to tie the score after he departed, and the game wound up being suspended due to rain in the 10th inning. The way he’s going, May could very well be in Double-A by the time the game is completed.

Drew Smyly, HiA- Tigers

Smyly just loves pitching at Daytona. Smyly’s best two starts of his brief professional career have come on the road against the Cubs’ affiliate. This week, Smyly struck out a career-high eight batters in seven innings, matching his longest start. In his last start in Daytona, he threw seven no-hit innings and struck out seven. Overall, Smyly has brushed off some elbow concerns that hampered him early in the year and has a 2.92 ERA in eight starts.

Tyler Skaggs, HiA- Angels

Tyler Skaggs continued his domination of the high Class A California League last Friday, in his final start before the all-star break. The 19-year-old struck out seven batters in six innings, pushing his season total to a league-leading 102 in 83 innings. That matches his whiff total from all of last season .

COLLECTORS TO DETERMINE NEW DIE-CUT DIAMOND CARDS

Collectors unlocking codes online as part of the Topps Diamond Giveaway know that the Diamond Die Cut cards as some of the most sought after prizes in the program.

The gorgeous set will now get an additional 3 cards (1 Legend, 1 Veteran and 1 Rookie), but there’s one catch…the collectors will decide the subjects!

Logging onto www.facebook.com/topps (click the “more” link on left side) enables participation.  The “Legends” voting is underway, so vote now (once a day max) as Round 1 of the bracket ends 6/19.

Legends (Round 1)

Don Mattingly v. Ryne Sandberg

Frank Robinson v. Ozzie Smith

Reggie Jackson v. Roberto Alomar

Frank Thomas v. Johnny Bench

Please check out the link to the Case Break Listing (this is for the Red Sox)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220794068543&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

Hit “see other items from seller” to get the other teams.

*********GIVEAWAY*********  The NY Mets is not for sale….I will be giving it away to an ASC customer or reader!

TRY AND GET IN OUR FIRST LIVE CASE BREAK!  IF YOU BUY A TEAM FOR THE MARQUEE BREAK, YOU WILL GET FIRST SHOT AT THAT TEAM FOR ALL OTHER BREAKS!

BONUS WAX WILL BE BROKEN AS A THANK-YOU AT NO EXTRA COST!

THIS 12 BOX CASE WILL HAVE A CASE HIT – AN AUTO /10 THAT IS MIND BLOWING.   240 TOTAL CARDS….EACH TEAM SHOULD AVERAGE 8 HITS

THE CONTEST:  FIRST PERSON TO GUESS THE TOP 3 PLAYERS ON TOMORROWS HOT SHEET WINS THE METS CARDS FROM THE BREAK!

JAMES KENNEDY

ATLANTA SPORTS CARDS

MINOR LEAGUE UPDATE

FOR THE GAMES OF MAY 24, 2011

BY JAMES KENNEDY, ASC WRITER

Jason Kipnis, AAA-Indians

2-3, 2 R, 2B (10), HR (5), 2 RBI (29)

Desmond Jennings, AAA-Rays

1-5, HR (7), RBI (20)

Brandon Guyer, AAA-Rays

1-4, HR (7)

Lonnie Chisenhall, AAA-Indians

2-4, R, 2B (12), RBI (25), batting .283

Adam Warren, AAA-Yankees

8 IP, 3 H, ER, BB, 4 K, W (3)

VERY HOT IMPACT PROSPECT

Julio Teheran, AAA-Braves

6 IP, 6H, 0ER, 2 BB, 6K, W (4-0), ERA: 1.65

Lance Lynn- AAA-St. Louis

6.1 IP, 5H, ER, 3 BB, 7K, W (4-3)

Derek Norris, AA-Nationals

1-3, 2 BB, 2 R, HR (4), 2 RBI (11)

Still struggling to get untracked, the highly regarded Norris is very young, and despite a .225 average on the year (he’s been hurt for awhile), he’s still the Nats catcher of the future.  Time to scoop his cards.

SLEEPER PROSPECT OF THE FIRST 8 WEEKS:

Eric Surkamp, AA-Giants

7 IP, 7H, 0ER, BB, 5K, W(3), ERA: 1.53

I can’t think of a better performing player in the minors, that has fewer cards that are affordable, than Surkamp.  Everything I hear from scouts is the same:  He has no plus offerings, he just gets it done.  Well, isn’t that better than having 4 plus pitches, and NOT getting it done??  I love Surkamp and his LONE CARD: 2008 Upper Deck USA Autographs.

Extremely Hot Impact Prospect

Robbie Erlin, HiA-Rangers

6 IP, 5H, ER, 0BB, 6K, LOSS (3-2) ERA: 2.14

Danny Rosenbaum, HiA-Nationals

6.2 IP, 6H, ER, 2 BB, 3K, LOSS (2-2) ERA: 2.91

PROSPECT LINE OF THE NIGHT

Joe Kelly, HiA-Cardinals

Lost No-Hitter in 8^th inning

7.1 IP, H, ER, 4 BB, 4K, WIN (2-2), ERA: 2.91

Kelly, who can throw 100 MPH, has been under the hobby radar since his cards debuted in 2008 UD USA, and then 2009 Elite Extra, and then 2010 Bowman Platinum On-Card Auto.  We are HUGE Kelly fans and we believe he has HUGE upside.  Give his cards a look.

Adrian Salcedo, LoA-Twins

4.2 IP, 7H, 5ER, 4 BB, 2K, L (3-3).

Raises ERA to 3.66, for the high-upside, 19-year old fireballer who’s first cards were released in 2011 Bowman.

SURPRISE LINE OF THE NIGHT

Patrick Schuster, LoA-Diamondbacks

6 IP, 2H, 0 ER, 4 BB, 7K

Huge start for Schuster from 2010 Bowman’s offering.  Born in 1990, he remains an intriguing sleeper that has a bowman chrome that doesn’t bring $2.  Nights like this make you take a look at players that are just so cheap. He’s 3-2 with a 3.74 ERA in LoA, but remember, he’s just 20 years old, and despite being picked in 2008 in the 13^th round, the fact that he can do this in pro ball is impressive,  The DBacks are showing lately that they have some really great scouts over there. (Late rounders Paul Goldschmidt and Bob Bochering and the Owings’ brothers are all good recent examples)