Topps Cards That Should Have Been: 2014 Marlins

 

I will give Topps credit for a few things in 2014 regarding the Miami Marlins, who were still mostly bad at this point. They actually did make Marlins cards of Rafael Furcal, Donovan Solano, Randy Wolf and Reed Johnson, some fringe guys who, if they hadn't done flagship cards of them, I'd have to. 

However. It still left some very important work for me to do for 2014. VERY IMPORTANT WORK.

For instance. Two of their biggest rookies of the 2014 season came in after the cutoff. One of them has become one of the best catchers in baseball, and that's J.T. Realmuto. In 2014, he was still going by Jacob, and still trying to break in behind Jarrod Saltalamacchia. In 11 games, he hit .241 7 hits and 9 RBIs, not a bad ratio whatsoever. It was a prelude to the next several seasons of excellent catching and hitting we'd see from him.

Jeff Baker and Garrett Jones got cards as Marlins, but the guy who would actually get the 1st base job in Miami, Justin Bour, also didn't make the cutoff. He had a stronger rookie debut than Realmuto, with a .284 average, 11 RBIs and 21 hits in 49 games. His numbers would dilute over time with the Marlins and he was last spotted hitting .170 in the Korean leagues. 

As for another Marlins rookie who didn't make the cutoff, Anthony DeSclafani had 13 games as a Miami Marlin, which a lot of people forget after his tenures with the Reds and Giants. He started 5 games, and struggled in that position, with a 7.40 ERA and 2 losses. He'd fare better as a bullpen piece. After the season he'd be traded for Mat Latos, become an option in a dead Reds rotation, and the rest would be history. But he is one of those players whose early uniform is so unfamiliar that I wished Topps would have done something with it. 

Same with this guy. Like with Disco, Enrique Hernandez' Topps cards begin after his trade to a better market, in this case being Los Angeles, but Hernandez' time in Miami is thanks to a trade that brought Jake Marisnick and others to Houston. So already Topps missed his Astros tenure [and I'll get to that eventually], but they also missed his 18 games in Miami. Because he hadn't BECOME Kiké Hernandez yet, his numbers weren't great, he hit .175 with 6 RBIs and 2 homers, but his defensive numbers are what caught the eye of the Dodgers, and led them to trade for him when dealing Dee Gordon. 

Brad Hand had cards in the previous two Topps sets, so as he was settling into a role as a modest reliever, Topps thought they didn't need to make cards of him as often. So they missed Hand's 2014 season, where he had a 4.38 ERA and 67 Ks in 32 games, 16 of which were starts. Once he'd become a full time reliever he'd blossom, take the ninth, and, yes, get more Topps cards. 

With a visual as strange as this, you would think that Topps would have to put it in Update. Brad Penny, 2000s Marlins hero...in 2010s Marlins garb? I talked about seeing Xavier Nady in 2014-era Padres duds, this is just as strange. At 36, Penny was still pitching, though he was nowhere near as powerful as he was in the mid-2000s, and with a lack of great options, the Marlins did start Penny for 4 games. Honestly, his best numbers of the season were in these starts, with a 5.21 ERA and 2 wins. He'd yield 8 earned runs in 4 relief appearances, though, and that inconsistency would lead to his dismissal, and subsequent retirement. For a great career, especially as a Marlin, Brad Penny really should have had a Topps card in 2014. But, alas, he has one here.

Tomorrow, some very strange 2007 Mets that I have been waiting a while to post.

Not Especially Wild Bour

...so Mike Trout is an absolute beast. That much is absolutely true.

Unfortunately, so far that seems to be the main story out of Anaheim. You saw what this team looked like without Trout: that man holds up the team like it's his damn job. Without him, you see the major flaws- too many bloated hitters who can't hit for average, and literally just Lucroy, Goodwin, Pujols and Fletcher are hitting over .200. It's a very paltry, sad lineup made up mostly of obligations.

At the very least, the rotation is better. Trevor Cahill, Felix Pena and Tyler Skaggs have had good starts, but there's a lot of boilerplate elsewhere. The bullpen is minimal, and not especially spectacular, despite a rising season from Cody Allen.

The Angels have become what they've feared...a team that cannot survive without its flagship star. They're the 2017 Cavaliers of baseball. Trout is dragging this team by the waist, and thank god he's wrapped up for the rest of his career. Where they're gonna get into trouble is the weeks when he's injured, because...

...oh, hell, the Angels have to be better than THIS. I mean, come on. Andrelton Simmons is on this team, and he's a pro. Kole Calhoun can't hit sub-Mendoza. Zack Cozart can't be playing this poorly. This has to be chalked up to slow starts, right?

...RIGHT???

Because if this is how this thing is gonna go, and it looks like it might...maybe the extension was a bad idea. Maybe the Angels SHOULD have given up Trout.

I guess we'll see as the season rolls on.

Coming Tomorrow- It felt wrong to see him in any other uniform, but here he is...playing like a pro.

Uncustomed Heroes of 2018: Phillies

This was my first year living consistently in the Philly area since high school, so I got to witness the Phillies' rise and fall first hand. They rose in May, thanks to Herrera, Nola, Arrieta, and some amazing bullpen work. They fell in September, thanks to the Braves, the Nats, and the failure of the lineup to do anything. But in between, it was definitely a fun season, as the Phils added a ton of bullpen talent from the get, and a ton of trade deadline pickups as well.

But...seeing Pat Neshek back as a Phillie after the sad departure last year felt...right. Neshek's 2018 wasn't as good as his 2017, but he was great whenever he was on the mound. Still had a 2.60 ERA in 30 appearances. Not bad at all.

Zach Eflin was the fifth man of the rotation, and while he came nowhere near the awesomeness of the Nola-Arrieta-Velazquez-Pivetta combo, he still posted solid numbers, with an 11-8 record and 123 strikeouts.

 Scott Kingery, seen here in a very cool custom with a very cool sabermetrics-inspired graphic tank top, didn't especially live up to expectations as 'shortstop of the future', but still got 102 hits, and played over 140 games, so...got your playing time in, rook. Good luck backing up Jean Segura.

 Another fun rookie from this year who'll likely be covering the bench is Roman Quinn, who finally hit well in the majors, with a .260 average in 50 games. I still expect him to get some starting time next year, even if it'd be shared with Nick Williams.

And then there's Seranthony Dominguez, who FINALLY took the reigns from Hector Neris in the ninth, after posting great middle relief numbers, and came up with 16 saves in 20 opportunities, a .93 WHIP, and some closing dominance that hasn't been seen since Papelbon. Hope he keeps it up.

...Then there's the deadline additions...

 Asdrubal was the first to make an impact, giving modest but not Mets-level numbers, and being a definite upgrade at shortstop. He hit .230, with only 17 RBIs. Not great, but for a rental, not terrible.

 Wilson Ramos' acquisition took a bit to kick in, as his injury left him out for a lot of August, but when he got here? Even if we didn't really NEED an upgrade from Jorge Alfaro, he was pretty fantastic, hitting .337 in 33 games, with only one catching error compared to Alfaro's...11. We will miss Ramos, no matter where he lands.

 Then, after the deadline, we snuck Justin Bour out of Miami, which must have been nice for him, but...he could have done better than his .224 average. He was basically a classy bench addition, and notched 5 RBIs when he could. He mostly deferred to Santana though, which...may not have ULTIMATELY been the goal, but...kinda was.

And then...there's Joey Bats.

Bautista's not one of my favorites, so to see him suit up for one of my teams was...odd. Very odd. And even if it was for a month, I still couldn't really wrap my head around Jose Bautista in Phillies colors. He only hit 2 of his trademark homers over 27 games, though he hit a fine .244 average. I'm not sure if he's done after this year, but...I'm glad his Philly tenure wasn't a complete disaster (as his Atlanta tenure was).

Coming Tomorrow- They were listless, then for a while THEY WERE FANTASTIC...and then suddenly they were in fourth again. Fun team, though.

Could You At Least Wait Until After I've Posted The Custom to Trade the Guy?

Less than an hour after I made this custom yesterday, I hear news that the Marlins have traded him to Philadelphia.

Which...okay, not a BAD move, just...I was planning on posting this damn thing in a few weeks, when it came up in the rotation. And now I have to take it out of the rotation right after making it, and post it now so it doesn't feel belated. That's what I just had to do with the Fernando Rodney custom.

I mean...either I should stop scheduling customs so far in advance, or teams should just stop making big trades after July 31st. Because it's hard to do customs this month without hitting a minefield.

Again, I appreciate the move in terms of bringing a big hitter to Philly, but...now I've gotta make another Marlins custom, and I don't like doing that!

Wild Bour

It's weird- last year I was saying that the Marlins were a bit too good to be a third place team. Now...they're lucky to be as high as third.

The middle bit of the NL East is just this endless cavalcade and musical chairs act. Mets, Braves, Marlins. Who's better, who's worse. And they just keep going around in circles, never really deciding which one is truly the best or the worst, and just going by a week-to-week basis of how well they've been avoiding completely falling apart.

There's probably a better way of putting this.

Right now, the order goes Braves, Marlins, Mets. We know who's going to be in first. We know who's going to be in last. But for now, it's a foot race.

The Marlins' deal is that they have a really great lineup, of people who are hitting tremendously well. Justin Bour's having his best season, Giancarlo Stanton's having a great return-to-form year, Marcell Ozuna is nearly topping last year, and the performances of JT Realmuto, Dee Gordon, Christian Yelich and Martin Prado can't be ignored.

However, like a ton of the down teams this year, the pitching is keeping them from truly succeeding. No matter how well Dan Straily's doing, no matter how many no-hitters Edinson Volquez has, no matter how good Jose Urena looks...the injuries have dealt this rotation a very bad hand, and they don't have a ton of back up plans. Plus, being in the same division as the Nationals, they not have the best chance to succeeding.

The good news is that people, in a month's time, will be caring about the Miami Marlins. The bad news is that it's probably just going to be for the All Star Game.

Coming Tomorrow- Probably the best catcher in baseball?

Uncustomed Heroes of 2016: Marlins

The Marlins, as usual, came in third in the NL East, and it was a pretty hard third. This is a team that's been stockpiling some definite talent over the last few years, and everything's beginning to click. Christian Yelich had another really nice season, and is hitting for average and playing nice outfield. It's becoming evident that maybe HE'S the future of the franchise, and not Giancarlo Stanton.

Tom Koehler was, in Jose Fernandez' absence, the ace, and did a pretty nice job given the circumstances. He's better fit for a 3-4 spot, but he had a nice enough season. The Marlins are probably gonna be reshuffling the rotation a bit for 2017, as Edinson Volquez is probably going to take the top spot, so Koehler will likely get placed a smidge lower.

Adeiny Hechavarria is still a great defensive option in the infield, and is still a nice average hitter. He doesn't always shine as much as other parts of the lineup, but he's a solid piece, and he's due for more success next year.

I love this card so much.
AJ Ramos remains a perfectly viable closer option for the Marlins, even if he was injured for a spell this year, causing a still-rocking-it Fernando Rodney to ride in and cover for him. He's probably gonna do well again next year, though for some reason I think the Marlins are concerned.

Justin Bour was injured more often than not this season, but he's still a nice 1st base option, and he can still hit. A full season in 2017 will probably due him some good.

Coming Tomorrow- The Mets almost made the playoffs, and a few of these guys were reasons why.

Uncustomed Heroes of 2015: Marlins

It's hard to exemplify a season through just one guy, but Dee Gordon was basically like the Marlins in 2015. Started strong, was injured for a bit, finished decent enough. If it hadn't been for injuries to Giancarlo Stanton, Henderson Alvarez, Jose Fernandez and Dee Gordon, the Marlins might have been able to compete this year. But sadly, they came in third.

Dee Gordon, meanwhile, is still an ASG-caliber second baseman, with enough speed to keep them rolling for a while.

Jose Fernandez didn't get a ton of playing time in 2015, but when he was on, he was unstoppable, and is still one of the strongest arms in the NL, regardless of the time he's missed on the DL. It's looking like he might be traded this month, though you really never know.

I love this card, and I already adore Ichiro. Even if he wasn't the main focal point of the Marlins lineup, he still did a lot off the bench, and still was able to get a ton of playing time late in the season thanks to the carousel of injuries in the outfield. Plus, he's sticking around for one more season in Miami.

Martin Prado...man, he could have been a Yankee in 2015, but we so BAAADLY wanted Garrett Jones and his limited bench ability, didn't we? Still, Prado had a nice season, playing great 2nd base and hitting well...stuff he could have been doing in New York this year...

In Fernandez' absence, Tom Koehler was the main guy in the rotation this year, and for what it was, he didn't do the worst job. True, some people are very excited to have Fernandez back next year, but Koehler is a great arm, and had some very nice games this year.

Justin Bour came up at first this year, and replaced Garrett Jones, and this was another reason the Marlins got the better end of the deal, because Bour was wonderful, getting a ton of hits and keeping the infield strong, like a Matt Adams-type.

JT Realmuto took over for Jarrod Saltalamacchia at the plate, and was a defensive upgrade, giving some youth and talent to the position, and making things a little easier for the pitchers.

Finally, AJ Ramos took over the ninth inning job after Steve Cishek he was more suited for a setup-man position (in St. Louis), and did a very nice job, getting 30+ saves.

Coming Tomorrow- That little 'ol NL East team that almost won the World Series.